By James Eustace
In 2019, report indicated that Nigeria has about 1.3 million (IOM 2019), and unofficial report said about 15 million Nigerians living outside, and over 1.4 million foreigners living in Nigeria (PWC, UN 2016).
Majority of migrant workers suffer and are neglected mainly in the informal economy, they are left stranded and not accommodated in the state measures and policy, especially those to curtail COVID-19 pandemic. The reason being that the Government approach to dealing with the pandemic has been singularly state driven without the involvement of Social Partners and other non-state actors.
The challenge is that migration governance in Nigeria is driven by the desire to harness the economic gains of migration with much emphasis on remittances from diaspora by state actors. According to the World Bank, in 2017 and 2018, Nigerians in diaspora remitted US$22 and US$25 billion in remittance respectively, which is equivalent to the nations crude oil earnings. This has led to downplay the Social Partners involvement and their roles in migration governance and the protection of migrant workers’ rights in Nigeria.
The question is, why are Social Partners critical to the protection of migrant workers’ rights?
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Social Partners are major stakeholders and actors in the labour market, therefore, their full involvement in policy development and implementation is pertinent for the protection of migrant workers rights. They will ensure that workers issues and interest are presented and well covered in policies and their implementations.
For Nigeria to move forward and address the governance challenges associated with migration and particularly to ensure a right based approach to labour migration and protection of migrants workers rights, especially at this critical period of COVID-19, Social Partners must be effectively involved in policy formulation and implementation with special focus on the protection of migrant workers’ rights.
There are policy approaches and options for the full involvement of Social Partners as provided in the Labour Laws and Migration Policies in Nigeria. The Trade Union Act, 2004, as Amended allows for Social Dialogue and Tripartite Consultation and recognizes the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC), which is the tripartite forum. The challenge is that the forum is moribund and has rendered Social Partners participation oblivious.
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Nigeria has ratified the relevant ILO Conventions and Recommendations on Tripartite Consultation and Labour Inspection, which are avenues to ensure effective participation of Social Partners in policies formulations and practices that protect migrants workers rights. Therefore, the revitalization of the moribund national tripartite forum and it effectiveness will give the Social Partners their rightful place in governance structure and discharge their role effectively in protecting migrant workers rights.
