Curbing Unfair-Dismissal of Workers in Nigeria: What Lessons from other Countries?

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Private Law, Faculty of Law, Delta State University, Oleh Campus, Nigeria

Abstract

The 1999 Nigerian Constitution bestows on the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine labour disputes relating to or connected with unfair labour practices, including unfair dismissal. There is, however, no general statutory rights, in explicit terms, accorded to workers under the Nigerian Labour Law, not to be unfairly dismissed and to claim compensation, re-instatement and re-employment for unfair dismissal. This paper reviews the practice of unfair dismissal of workers in Nigeria. The research methodology utilised by the author is basically doctrinal analysis of relevant primary and secondary sources. The paper finds that the unfair dismissal of workers in Nigeria is contrary to the United Nations (UN) International Labour Organisation (ILO) Termination of Employment Convention 158 of 1982 (Convention 158)as well as international human rights’ norms or treaties. The paper suggests that Nigeria should enact a Labour Rights Act that would accord to workers, in explicit terms, the rights not to be unfairly dismissed and to claim compensation, re-instatement and re-employment for unfair dismissal in line with the practice in other countries, including the United Kingdom (UK) and Kenya.

Main Subjects