The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) to fully comply with the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which affirmed workers’ right to embark on strike action under international labour standards.
Reacting to comments made by NECA’s Director-General, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, who argued that strike action must still conform with provisions of Nigeria’s labour laws, particularly the Trade Disputes Act, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the matter had already been conclusively settled by the ICJ.
Ajaero described attempts to reinterpret or downplay the ruling as unnecessary and counterproductive, stressing that international conventions ratified by Nigeria must be respected in their entirety and not selectively applied.
According to him, Nigeria’s ratification of the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 87 commits the country to uphold workers’ freedom of association, including the right to strike as recognised by the world’s highest court.
“The law must be obeyed wholly and not selectively. Now that the ICJ has ruled that the right to strike is implied in Convention 87, all parties, including employers, must comply with the decision unconditionally,” Ajaero stated.
He further emphasized that strike action has never been the first option for workers, but rather a last resort after dialogue, negotiations and dispute-resolution mechanisms have been exhausted.
The NLC President also noted that the issue had passed through several stages within the International Labour Organisation before reaching the ICJ, where the final judgment was delivered in favour of workers after employers’ groups challenged the interpretation of the convention.
Ajaero urged employers to avoid adversarial interpretations of the ruling and instead embrace mutual respect, constructive dialogue and adherence to the rule of law in industrial relations.
The labour movement maintains that respect for international labour standards remains critical to protecting workers’ rights and sustaining industrial harmony in Nigeria.
