United Labour Congress of Nigeria, ULC, has reported the Buhari led federal government to the International Labour Organisation, ILO, protesting perceived refusal of Nigeria Government to register it as a Labour centre in the country. Led by its Deputy President, Comrade Igwe Achese, the ULC held a four-man protest at the UN building, the venue of the on-going 107th Session of the International Labour Conference, ILC, to also draw the attention of the world body to the issue.
Speaking on the necessity of the protest, Achese said the move was to urge the ILO to compel the Federal Government to register and recognise the congress as a trade union center in Nigeria. The protesters carried placards with inscription such as “Unchain Nigerian workers, make our workplaces free’’, “ILO Stop, Nigeria Government from treating monopolies in trade union movement;” “Nigerian Workers demand full democratisation of Nigerian’s industrial relations sphere;’’ “Freedom to form unions is a fundamental rights’’.
Achese, who claimed ULC had met all the requirements said: “For the past two years, we have been denied registration of our new Labour centre after complying with all the processes as enshrined in the Labour Act. The Constitution of Nigeria talks about freedom of association. Today we are here to let ILO know that we have been denied that right by virtue of convention 198 and 92. We have been denied our right to association and the world should see what is happening in Nigeria. The ILO is aware formally, we sent a copy of our letter to their office in Abuja and we also sent a copy here (Geneva). But here, we are sending our message again physically. Of course we don’t see their response, they should be writing to us. That’s why we are here to make our message physically to the ILO secretariat.”
On whether the protest will not embarrassed Nigerian government, said; “No, I don’t think the Nigerian government will be embarrassed because we realised that at a point, politics have been set into it. But whoever that is responsible, we do not know. But today we are here to let the world know. And I’m sure our distinguished senators and House of Reps members that are here are also watching our protest at the global scene and they must go back to begin to take the right measures to democratise the labour movement as enshrined in the various ILO conversations which Nigeria is a treaty to.” Asked if ULC has met the requirements for registration, the Deputy President declared: “We have met all the requirements by the grace of God.”
