A former Special Adviser to the late President Umar Yar’Adua on Media and Publicity, Olusegun Adeniyi, has said the informal sector of the economy is not protected by Nigeria’s labour laws.
He said this during a lecture to mark the new Legal Year 2024/2025 of the National Industrial Court with the theme “Is There Justice for Workers in Nigeria?”
Citing the first quarter of 2023, of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) ‘Nigeria Labour Force Survey, Adeniyi noted that despite 92.6 per cent of workers in informal sector, the laws were designed to protect the formal sectors and their entities.
He said, “The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) ‘Nigeria Labour Force Survey of the first quarter of 2023 shows that 92.6 per cent of workers in Nigeria were in informal employment, which if the agricultural sector is excluded, will still be 89.4 per cent of people in informal employment.
“To enthrone labour justice, there is a need for effective enforcement of labour laws. But it is important to also note that labour laws in Nigeria are complex and with outdated provisions that make their interpretation and application challenging.
“This complexity has often led to unpredictable judgments and uncertainty in labour relations and justice.
“These are some of the issues that should concern the National Assembly whose members seem obsessed with where and how Mr Bobrisky was sleeping when serving his jail term.
“There is therefore an urgent need to align these laws with current realities and international labour standards.”