Obituary of Michael Olatunde Agbe-Davies

Michael Olatunde Agbe-Davies was born on 04 January 1946 to Mr. Mackinson Bolarinwa and Mrs. Felicia Olawunmi Agbe-Davies (both of blessed memory) in Lafiaji, Lagos (British) Colony (now Lagos State).  Michael passed away on July 10^th, 2023, in Sugarland, Texas at the age of 77. Michael was married to Abiola Adetoun Agbe-Davies and he is survived by her, his children, many grandchildren, and a host of other dear family and friends.

After his elementary and secondary education, Michael worked briefly at Bata Shoe Company and the then Sanyo Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of A.G Leventis Nigeria Plc. He studied Trade Union Management at the Fritz Heckert Trade Union College, Berlin, Germany and Industrial Relations and Labour management at the International Institute for Labour and Co-operative Studies, Tel-Aviv, Israel. He attended several courses, seminars, and workshops both locally and internationally. Michael attended senior executive course 13 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, where he earned the prestigious membership of the National Institute (mni) in 1991. He spent the bulk of his career in Industrial Relations and Trade Management. He worked in various capacities and has over 30 years’ experience as a national labor leader. He last worked as Assistant General Manager, Industrial Relations at International Enamelware Group of companies. Prior to that, he had worked extensively in Trade Unionism, International Relations, Labor and Manpower Management.

Of significance, he served as Vice President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) between 1992 and 1994. He also served as a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC), Central Working Committee (CWC) and National Administrative Committee (NAC) of the NLC for over twenty years. In these roles, he was involved in the canvassing for better working conditions, including minimum wage agitations on behalf of the Nigerian workers. He also served on several government committees including those set up at various times to review minimum wage and the price of fuel products, as well as the committee on the alleviation of poverty during the Babaginda regime. He also served as a board member of the National Council for Management Development (NCMD) of the Center for Management Development (CMD) from 1992 to 1994. He was on the delegation of the Nigerian Labor Congress that participated in the study tour of USA electoral process during the campaign of President Clinton for the first time in office and served in Chicago.

Michael was a long-standing member of the All-Saints’ Anglican Church, Yaba, Lagos, where he worshiped for over four decades. During this period, he served in the Lord’s vineyard in various roles. By the grace of God, he ascended to the holy city of Jerusalem in 1981 and he was a graduate of the Lagos Anglican Bible College. He also served as a Reader for the Anglican Church from 2001. As part of his work in evangelism, he participated in coordinating worship services at the Chapel of Hope, Yaba Psychiatric Hospital for many years.

Michael was also a member of St. Thomas of Canterbury Anglican Houston, Texas where he worshiped whenever he was in the Houston area until his passing.

A visitation will be held for Michael at Clayton Funeral home in Pearland, Texas on Friday, August 18th from 6 to 8 pm. (5530 W. Broadway, Pearland, Texas 77581) His funeral service will be held the following day, Saturday, August 19th at St. Thomas of Canterbury Anglican  Church (REC/ACNA), beginning at 10 am. (14007 South Fwy, Houston, TX 77047)