Labour Law must safeguard human dignity - NICN President







Justice Benedict Kanyip, the President, National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) says labour law must safeguard human dignity.  


Kanyip said this during the Employment and Labour Law Conference 2025, organised by the Employment and Labour Lawyers Association of Nigeria (ELLAN), on Wednesday in Lagos. 


The theme of the conference is: ``Employment Law at Crossroads: Reflecting on the Past Decade of Decent Work Advocacy and Charting the Next''.  


Giving the keynote address on the theme, the NICN President said that historically, it was the collectivisation of employees, in terms of collective self-regulation and legislative intervention that characterised labour law. 


He said that the main goal was to compensate for the inequality of bargaining power that existed between workers and employers. 


Kanyip, who is also a member, International Labour Organisation (ILO) Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR), said that the law being at crossroads must start with the terminological difference between employment law and labour law. 


According to him, labour law is referable more to collective employees' relations, while employment law is referable more to individual rights of the worker/employee. 


``Employers generally prefer, and they do work for, the individuation of workers’ rights. They prefer to stand against an individual worker/employee, certainly not against the collective power of the workers/employees as represented by trade union power. 


``All this naturally cumulates to compound the issues and so make not just employment law, but also labour law, to be at crossroads. 


``Even within the context of employment law strictly speaking, it is often with great difficulty that employers agree with workers/employees over issues of wages and hours of work, discrimination at the workplace, and wrongful termination.  


``It is often with great difficulty that employers agree with employees over issues of leave (whether paid or unpaid), workplace safety, and, given the intrusion of digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) into the workplace, privacy rights in the workplace,'' he said. 


The NICN president said that the labour market was not a market like any other, hence, could not follow the same rules as other markets do. 


He said that personal dependency was the core problem of labour law, as it was used to differentiate employees from independent contractors. 


According to him, it is a key factor in determining whether an individual is entitled to employment protection rules/regulations. 


``The dependency relationship is accordingly a hallmark of an employment relationship, which triggers the application of labour law. 


``Since human dignity may be endangered by the employment relationship, labour law must safeguard human dignity. 


``Labour law is not merely for the employment relationship, it has to cover all needs and risks which have to be met in an employee’s life, including the law on creation of job opportunities, as well as post-employment rights/benefits. 


``The application of labour law goes beyond those who are working, that is, in subsisting employment. It encompasses those who are out of work, either searching for work (applicants) or have left work (retirees),'' he said. 


Giving her welcome address by Omono Omaghomi, the Chairperson, Conference Planning Committee of the 2025 Employment Law Conference, said that the theme of this conference was deliberately chosen to stimulate informed discussion on the evolution of employment and industrial relations in Nigeria over the past decade. 


Omaghomi, who is a Partner at Streamsowers & Köhn, said that key to this conversation were contemporary issues such as workplace diversity, innovation, and the far-reaching implications of the Third Alteration to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.


``This amendment, particularly Section 254C (1)(a–k) and subsections (2) through (6) grants the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) exclusive jurisdiction over matters relating to labour, trade unions, industrial relations, and employment disputes. 


``Notably, the amendment also empowers the NICN to apply international best practices in the adjudication and resolution of labour disputes, thereby aligning Nigeria’s labour justice system with globally recognised standards.


``The conference will also explore the practical application of these best practices within the workplace, highlighting the importance of proactive internal mechanisms for conflict management, effective dispute resolution strategies, and institutional policies that promote industrial harmony. 


``As we reflect on past developments and assess the impact of these constitutional reforms, we must also look ahead towards strengthening our legal and institutional frameworks, to better serve the dynamic needs of Nigeria’s workforce,'' she said.