80-year-old labour activist, Comrade Jonathan Ihonde, has disclosed that he was arrested, detained and demoted from Grade Level 12 to Grade Level 4 as a civil servant in the then old Mid-West Region and later to Bendel State because he opposed privatization of government-owned establishments.

Narrating his experience to the younger ones who were seated to learn from him at the third edition of Health of the Mother Health (HOMEF’s) ‘Learning from the Wise series’ the playwright, unionist, progressive political organizer and teacher, said he was arrested and detained because he stood against the privatization of government’s establishments under which over 17,000 workers were earning their daily bread in the then Mild-West Region and later Bendel State under the Military government.

The unionist narrated: “The man I helped to become the governor of Bendel State then arrested and detained me because I was fighting for social justice. I was not fighting for my family; I was not fighting for my children but for the common interest of the public. In fact, the arrests got to a level that my innocent wife had to go and tell her father that she never knew she was married to an armed robber. According to her, only armed robbers are arrested that way.

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“The enemy of progress went to tell the authorities that Ihonde had started a ‘red revolution,’ so I was arrested at Dawson Road, Benin because I told the authorities that they cannot privatize a public organization that is very viable and profitable. It was during the military regime.

“When I was in detention at Oko Prison, the media world over, including Voice America, aired my arrest. The man who arrested me went to Urhonigbe Rubber Estate and said, ‘your stupid leader has been arrested; now resume your work. But they told him the man that called for the strike was yet to come and until he comes, they will not resume.”

He continues: “Why was I arrested you? We had in the then Mid-West Region and later Bendel State, one segment of our organization called MNDC now dissolved. The organization had Urhonigbe Rubber Estate; Ughelli Glass Factory; Ewohimi Oil Palm Plantation and Tenboga, Benin with more than 17,000 workers. Foreigners came from abroad to buy from these companies with hard currencies. With all these benefits, somebody just rose up and said he was going to sell these companies to private individuals. I then told my friend that that was not possible, so I resisted it.”

He warned the younger generation that the government’s claim that privatizing public establishments would make such establishments do better was a lie, just as he urged the public to resist such a move.

He warned: “Please be very careful. They will say the public (government) cannot manage its corporation well please, resist it, it is a big lie. Please resist it.”

He urged the younger generation not to be deterred by his ordeal but always be upright and fight for the interest of the public.

He added: “As younger people, don’t be deterred but don’t do any negative things. But be careful. You cannot be fighting for social justice and you are morally corrupt. If you want to fight against corruption, if you are fighting against oppression, you must not be guilty of all these.”

The octogenarian however said despite his fight for the interest of the common people, he was not appreciated by many including his immediate family until recently, adding that their point was that he did not use all the opportunities and the links he had to acquire material wealth.

The producer of the soap opera Hotel De Jordan on NTA in the then Mid-West and later Bendel State said: “People including my children believe that I wasted my time fighting for social justice. They believe that I did not use the opportunities I had to accumulate wealth. It is only recently that my children and some people started appreciating me and my works.”

The 80-year-old who was trained in the Soviet Union and a frontline leader in the Radio Television Theatre and Art Workers Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU), while commenting on the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), urged Nigerians to support ASUU in their request for a better education system.

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He added: “They are on strike; they are not fighting for themselves, they are not fighting for their pockets but for all of us; for a better educational system in our country; for a better education for our children.”

Earlier, initiator of the programme and Executive Director, HOMEF, Nnimmo Bassey, told those who were seated at the feet of the 80-year-old Playwright and author of Hotel De Jordan series on NTA years back, to learn from his wealth of experience, noted that the programme was a deliberate platform for forging a just and sustainable future through intergenerational dialogue with elders and knowledge holders.

Bassey, however, added that the third series with Comrade was not just the usual series as he said it was meant to celebrate and honour Comrade Ehonde on his 80th birthday and learn from his revolutionary wisdom.