Trade unions play a pivotal role in shaping employment policy and ensuring that the voices of workers are reflected in national development strategies, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said.
However, the ILO noted that effective engagement requires continuous capacity building for workers’ organizations, particularly as Nigeria grapples with rising unemployment, underemployment, and the growing informal economy where many workers lack adequate social and legal protections.
Dr. Vanessa Phala, Director of the ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Liaison Office for ECOWAS, stated this at the opening of a two-day capacity-building workshop for members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC).
Phala, who was represented by Inviolata Chinyangarara, ILO Senior Specialist on Workers Activities, reaffirmed the ILO’s commitment to promoting meaningful dialogue among social partners and enhancing their capacity to participate in and implement employment policies.
She said, “Recent labour market trends highlight rising unemployment and underemployment, alongside the expansion of informal employment often characterized by limited social and legal protections. These challenges underscore the urgent need to reinforce employment governance and advance our shared goal of full and productive employment and decent work for all.
“This workshop is designed to strengthen their technical and analytical capacities to engage effectively in employment policy processes, deepen their understanding of Nigeria’s employment landscape and governance frameworks, and enhance their skills for evidence-based advocacy and inclusive social dialogue.”
The workshop is organized under the Strengthening Employment and Employability Systems in Nigeria (SEESIN) project, and supported by the GIZ-SKYE II Programme.
Phala emphasised that the workshop presents a timely opportunity to build the technical capacity of workers’ organizations in social dialogue, strategic partnerships, and alignment with national employment priorities, including the National Development Plan (2021–2025) and the revised National Employment Policy (NEP 2025).
“Through the SEESIN initiative, the ILO and GIZ are working together to improve Nigeria’s labour market by strengthening employment governance frameworks, addressing skills mismatches, expanding access to quality services, and fostering inclusive opportunities for youth, women, and marginalized groups in a rapidly evolving world of work,” she said.
She explained that participants will also be equipped to develop and operationalize advocacy strategies and action plans that support the implementation of the NEP 2025 and promote decent work for all.
In his welcome address, Comrade Benson Upah, NLC acting General Secretary said workers organisations are committed in ensuring that the employment and employability systems in Nigeria are strengthened for the benefit of the people, not for private profit.
“We demand productive employment and decent work for all, not precarious jobs that perpetuate poverty,” he said.
He said further that, “it is our responsibility to ensure that rising out of this workshop that we are better equipped to effectively engage the nation’s governance framework especially at the level of policy to protect the world of work. We must ensure that the kind of employment relations existing in our nation provides adequate safeguards against slavish work. Work must not be turned into an ordeal and must not be used as a guise to create slave camps. It is our duty and that is why we are here.
“As representatives of the organised working class, we must resist every effort by the ruling elite to turn our nation into enclaves for the operation of sweatshops in the name of industrialization as any employment that does not protect the people eventually destroys the society. Only employment that guarantees the protection of workers’ rights can provide sufficient grounds for the attainment of Decent work. It is only the existence of trade unions that can guarantee this and nothing else.”
