One of Nigeria’s most committed comrades of the Marxist-Leninist tradition, and among the few remaining genuine thinkers of the progressive left, Comrade Abiodun Aremu Abiola, passed away on Sunday, October 12, 2025, in the Sango-Ota area of Ogun State, following a motor accident. He had taken ill about a year earlier.
Aremu, fondly called Aremson, was a philosopher-king celebrated both locally and internationally as one of Africa’s outstanding Marxist exports. Until his death, he served as the Secretary of the Joint Action Forum (JAF).
Aremson was not only a teacher but also a passionate social activist whose early life was deeply rooted in labour struggles. He was actively involved in the trade union movement of his time and played a major role in shaping its ideological direction.
As a dedicated cadre, he discovered and trained numerous Nigerian youths through the Amilcar Cabral Ideological School, becoming not only an ideologue of popular struggle but also a strong pillar of the trade union movement.
He was a highly principled, forthright, and effective comrade who gave successive military regimes and dictators—both in Nigeria and abroad—serious headaches.
His deep passion for Nigeria and the masses, especially the downtrodden, was reflected in his sharp, incisive, and assertive writings.
Aremson’s tool of engagement was his intellect—he invested himself in nurturing younger generations and confronting oppressive powers through his many publications, which span a wide range of socio-political issues. His works remain timeless, relevant to both the Nigerian condition and the global socio-economic order.
He was among the few who foresaw the dangers of a global economic system driven by greed and exploitation, warning of its impact on humanity.
The labour and civil society movements in Nigeria will not forget his immense contributions to their ideological foundations, his activism in the streets, and his unwavering commitment to liberating the Nigerian people from neo-colonialism and internal oppression.
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Born in Surulere, Lagos, to parents from Ilota in Kwara State, Aremson collaborated with other intellectuals and activists to strengthen the moral and ideological force of the labour and civil society movements.
He co-founded the Odua Youth Movement (OYM) in the early 1990s alongside comrades such as Professor Femi Obayori, Rasak Oladosu, and Rasak Olokoba, among others. Through this platform, he championed the cause of the downtrodden masses against the grip of internal comprador bourgeoisie who had taken control of power from the colonial rulers.
In all social and political engagements, Aremson stood firm, guided by reason and open to dialogue within the bounds of shared values.
An unrepentant revolutionary, he believed that “the shackles of poverty, underdevelopment, and bad leadership that have engulfed Nigeria since independence cannot be broken unless there is a total revolution in the country.”
He often described Nigeria as “a country enslaved by poverty and underdevelopment, whose great potentials have been laid waste by successive bad leaders.”
Like a prophet, much of what he and his comrades warned about has manifested in today’s Nigeria in various forms.
Aremson died a fulfilled man, having fought tirelessly for the emancipation of the nation. His life reminds us that a man of principle lives forever—and that the path to true immortality lies in sowing oneself selflessly into the lives of others.
■ Olumuyiwa Jimoh, Former Deputy Majority Leader, Lagos State House of Assembly (Apapa Constituency II). He is currently a consultant to the Senate Committee on Marine Transport.
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