Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Nigeria (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government's report has not been received. It notes the statement made by the Government representative to the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in June 1996, the discussion which followed and the resulting special paragraph in the Conference Committee's report.

With reference to its previous observation, the Committee notes that there has been no progress made in bringing the national legislation and practice into conformity with the Convention, despite the comments which it has been making for several years. It notes, in particular, the fact that Decrees Nos. 9 and 10 of August 1994 dissolving the executive councils of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) respectively have not been repealed and that these unions are still being run by a single administrator appointed by the Government.

The Committee also notes that a number of Decrees have been adopted recently which further violate the provisions of this Convention. In this respect, the Committee notes that the Trade Disputes (Essential Services Deregulation, Proscription and Prohibition from Participation in Trade Union Activities) Decree and the Trade Disputes (Essential Services) (Proscription) Order 1996 of 21 August 1996 proscribe and prohibit the participation in any trade union activities of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions and dissolve the National Executive Council and the Branch Executive Councils operating within any university in Nigeria in contravention of Articles 2 and 4 of the Convention.

Moreover, the Committee notes that the Government has once again restructured the previous 41 registered industrial unions into 29 trade unions affiliated to the Central Labour Organisation (named in the law as the NLC) through the promulgation of the Trade Unions (Amendment) Decree No. 4 of 5 January 1996. This Decree provides for the establishment of a determined number of trade unions for each occupational category according to a pre-established list further confirming the system of trade union monopoly. The Committee had been able to note in its previous comments that a similar restructuring by Government Notice in 1993 had been repealed, following the Committee's request to do so. Now Decree No. 4 goes even further in its restriction of the right to organize by providing under section 8 that "no question as to the validity of any act taken by any person or authority in pursuance of this Act shall be entertained by any court of law or tribunal in Nigeria". Noting further that Decree No. 4 also omits from the list of registered organizations 25 previously registered and recognized trade unions of senior staff and ten employers' associations, the Committee considers that the adoption of this Decree violates the right of workers and employers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing.

The Committee notes with deep regret the serious deterioration in the trade union situation in Nigeria. It urges the Government to take the necessary measures to bring the law and practice into conformity with the provisions of the Convention, particularly by repealing the above-mentioned Decrees, and to re-establish the right to organize and the right to elect representatives in full freedom, without interference by the public authorities, for workers' and employers' organizations.

[The Government is requested to supply full particulars to the Conference at its 85th Session.]