The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in partnership with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), is developing a digital reporting portal to enable workers to document and report workplace rights violations and unfair labour practices across Nigeria.
Joe Ajaero, NLC president, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at a two-day capacity-building workshop organised by the congress in collaboration with FES and ITUC.
Ajaero, represented by Kabiru Minjibir, NLC deputy president and president of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, said the digital platform would allow workers to report, monitor and document cases of abuse.
He said the initiative was necessary amid what he described as increasing violations of trade union rights, including arbitrary arrests and detention of labour leaders, violent crackdowns on protests and interference by employers and government authorities in union affairs.
Ajaero said Nigeria was ranked among the 10 worst countries in the world for workers’ rights in the 2025 International Trade Union Confederation Global Rights Index, adding that the country retained the ranking in the 2026 edition.
He said workers had an inalienable right to decent work, fair wages and conducive working conditions.
“The fight to defend workers rights is no longer a request; it is our collective historic duty!” Ajaero said.
He said the labour movement needed to develop new strategies and strengthen its capacity to defend workers’ rights.
“The truth is, we must take our fate in our hands. We must evolve new strategies, sharpen our tools of analysis, and strengthen our weapons of struggle,” he said.
Ajaero said the workshop was designed to improve the ability of labour leaders to systematically document violations, build alliances with civil society organisations, leverage international solidarity and use the media to advance workers’ rights campaigns.
Emmanuel Igbinosun, Director of Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, called for systematic monitoring and documentation of workers’ rights violations to strengthen labour administration.
Igbinosun said effective tripartism required collaboration among government, employers and workers’ representatives.
He said the absence of any of the three parties could undermine the tripartite structure.
In a goodwill message, Inviolata Chinyangarara, Senior Specialist on Workers’ Activities at the International Labour Organisation Abuja Country Office, said international labour standards remained important to securing decent work, economic security and human dignity.
Chinyangarara said workers’ organisations had a responsibility to expose, report and push for the resolution of rights violations.
She commended ITUC Africa for its advocacy for international labour standards and said conventions and recommendations adopted at the global level should translate into improvements in workers’ wages, occupational health and safety and general welfare.
Lennart Oestergaard, Resident Representative of FES Nigeria, also highlighted the importance of labour standards, workers’ rights and digital tools for reporting workplace abuses.
Oestergaard said dismissal of workers for joining trade unions was illegal, while noting concerns over unfair dismissals in some private companies.
He also said severe inflation had eroded the real value of negotiated wages, with some state governments struggling to meet the national minimum wage while workers faced worsening economic hardship.
The workshop, themed “From Violations to Justice: Strengthening the Nigeria Labour Congress to Document, Resist and Combat Trade Union Rights Abuses in Nigeria,” was attended by labour unions from across the country, journalists and representatives of development partners, including the ILO, FES and ITUC.
