NIC: the changing face of labour justice in Nigeria By KAYODE KETEFE A landmark event occurred in the history of labour law and industrial relations in Nigeria on March 4, 2011 when President Goodluck Jonathan signed into law the Constitution (Third Alteration) Bill. The signing by the President represents the final assent- a last ritual in the process of legislative law-making by which a bill becomes a law. It is all the more remarkable that this bill was not an ordinary bill, but a bill for constitutional amendment which had a more stringent requirements for its passage to sail through. For a constitution to be amended there is need for a compliance with the section 9 of the 1999 Constitution. Under the section a bill for constitutional amendment must be passed by the two-thirds majority of each of the two houses of our bicameral system, then the bill must be passed by at least two-thirds of the Houses of Assembly in the 36 states, this translates to at least 24 states. Thereafter, the bill must be assented to by the President to take effect. It was this assent that was appended to the popular bill on March 4 to mark a new beginning in the country's annals of labour justice. One notable point on this affair is that a whopping 33 state Houses of Assembly passed the bill, showing how popular it was; this also underscores the impression of many people that the innovations being introduced by the bill was not only needed but also long overdue. The development is a fact spewing some far reaching consequences in the socio-economic and political life of the nation. The cardinal effect of this third constitutional amendment is the strengthening of the NIC through its restoration as a superior court of record in Nigeria. The new empowerment establishes it as specialised court with full civil and criminal jurisdiction over labour, employment, industrial disputes and allied issues. The trade disputes as envisaged by the enlarged powers of the NIC involved, among other things, issues like, welfare of workers, emoluments, price level and government monetary/fiscal decisions, security, work rules, safety, disputes on pension, job security discrimination on grounds of sex and health such as HIV status etc. To those with ample knowledge on employment, labour and industrial dynamics, the latest development is readily discerned as an unprecedented and positive measure in labour jurisprudence in Nigeria. It will be recalled that 1979 Constitution omitted the NIC altogether, thus consigning it to the level of inferior courts. The original 1999 Constitution had, strangely enough, also left out NIC out of the court it specifically spelt out under its section 6. This omission was in spite of the fact that the 1976 Trade Dispute Decree was amended in 1992 via the promulgation of the Trade Dispute (Amendment) Decree No. 47 of 1992. In the said Decree, NIC had been declared a superior court of record with exclusive jurisdiction over trade disputes, inter and intra union disputes. The National Industrial Court Act, 2006 signed into law by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo on June 14, 2006 also followed the tenor of 1992 Decree by making the NIC a superior court of record. But since this provision was not carried to 1999 Constitution as said earlier, the court kept regarding it as an inferior court. There were also some conflicting judicial decisions over the years as to its precise place, powers and jurisdiction which have all helped to compound the problem of fixing the exact jurisdictional locus of the NIC in hierarchy of courts in Nigeria. However on February 25, 2010, the Supreme Court of Nigeria gave a landmark decision in the case of Bureau of Public Enterprise V. National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) to the effect that the National Assembly lacked the competence to bestow powers to the NIC in excess of its inferior status because it was not recognised by the 1999 Constitution. Immediately after this judgment, vociferous agitations began by numerous stakeholders to ensure the constitution was amended to give recognition to the NIC; it was that struggle that finally gave birth to the signing of the amendment bill by the President Jonathan on March 4. The amended 1999 constitution has now finally cleared the air; it has vested the NIC with the jurisdiction to hear and determine labour and employment causes arising from Occupational Health and Safety Act, Workmen's (now Employee Compensation Act, Factories Act, Free Trade Zones Act, Minimum Wage Act, Trade Unions Act and any other Federal and State legislations relating to labour, employment and industrial relations. The implication of this being that the NIC now has jurisdictions covering nearly all the known fields of labour and industrial relations. Now, there is a palpable and authentic expansion of the latitude of labour law and industrial relations featuring built-in mechanisms to ensure phenomenal overhaul of the hitherto moribund industrial resolution apparatus. The latest development has brought many benefits for prospective litigants in labour, and employment matters. Some of the said advantages are as follows. To start with, the problem of confusion on issue of the precise jurisdictional powers of the NIC with a resultant uncertainty as to venue of litigation has now been eliminated as the NIC has been expressly conferred with jurisdiction on these areas. Another notable benefit is the fact that the provision of section 12 of the 1999 Construction which makes it mandatory for any international treaties to be first specifically enacted by the National Assembly before they are applicable in Nigeria has been removed as far as labour and industrial relations treaties are concerned. Thus all labour-related international conventions, treaties and protocols ratified by Nigeria are now directly applicable to Nigeria.. Other novelties brought about by this legislative initiative is that the NIC, addition to other issues mentioned above, also has powers to hear causes or matters relating to child abuse, child labour and human trafficking. Up till now the said causes, being issues covered by the Child Rights Act, Child Rights Laws of various states and the National Agency on Prohibition of Traffic in Person Act, are under the jurisdictional competence of the Federal High Court, State High Courts and the Magistrate Courts of some special grades. Speaking at stakeholders' forum organised by the Lagos State House of Assembly to consider the bill on January 14, 2011, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Gani Adetola-Kazeem, had lauded the bill he said 'The NIC is a very important court in the administration of justice in Nigeria, especially as it relates to labour and industrial relations. Despite the strategic importance of this court, it was not provided for in the 1999 Constitution. 'NIC was established by the Trade Dispute Act and controversies had trailed its jurisdiction over the years. The present bill is seeking its listing in the constitution as a superior court of record with jurisdiction well spelt-out. 'I have digested the bill; the thrust of the bill is the listing of the NIC in the constitution while all the sections deal with the consequential amendments that would be engendered by the listing. This is a bill that it is worthy of support" Speaking at the same forum, the Presiding Judge of the Lagos Division of the NIC, Hon. Justice Benedict Kanyip, had said 'As an institution directly involved in the proposed amendment, we have looked through the Bill and found it meritorious, the amendments being sought will eliminate the confusions some people have about the jurisdiction of the court." This writer also sought the views of other lawyers on new regime of settlement of industrial disputes in Nigeria ushered in on March 4. Some of those who bared their minds included one of the foremost authorities on labour law in Nigeria, Mr. Dosu Ogunniyi. Others are the Executive Director of the non-governmental organisation which spearheaded the campaign for passage of the bill into law, Mr, Enebong Etteh, a human right activist, Mr Bamidele Aturu and the Chairman of the Ikeja branch of the NBA, Mr. Adebamigbe Omole. Ogundosu said "It is a very good development, the fact that in the 1999 Constitution the National Industrial Court was omitted as a court of superior jurisdiction is highly regrettable. Well if you think it is an omission you would be making mistake, I think it was deliberate because in the 1999 Constitution, it was omitted too among the superior courts in Nigeria. All developed countries of the world place a great premium on labour law and employment. You can develop the best electronic machine, the best computer in the world, but it is till human that would operate it, so the fact that the NIC was omitted and was not listed among the superior court shows that we do not place much premium on human resources." Etteh also lauded the development in the following words "This latest amendment has very far-reaching provisions with the effect of restoring the superior court status and strengthening the National Industrial Court to dispense justice expeditiously. More commendable is the bold move to establish it as a full-fledged specialised court in Nigeria with full civil and criminal jurisdiction over labour, employment and industrial disputes. It is a welcome development" 'Thus, the regular High Courts that are not as industrially informed as the NIC would no longer be in a legal position to nullify its decisions or stop it from entertaining cases as they could do at the moment. Trade unions, governments, employees, employers, labour lawyers and the general public would no longer be embarrassed by the utter confusion in this aspect of our jurisprudence. Second, the NIC would now be able to grant declaratory reliefs. The Supreme Court had, erroneously in my view, in the Western Steel's case held that the court could not grant declaratory reliefs as an inferior court" The chairman of the Ikeja Bar of the NBA, Mr. Adebamigbe Omole said 'It is a good thing because it will not only eliminate confusions surrounding the status of the court; it will also enhance the mechanism of labour and industrial relations in Nigeria. 'It is long overdue, but is better late than never, one looks forward to improved regime of resolution of industrial disputes in Nigeria" Never will the labour practice, the dynamics of employees/employers engagements and industrial relations remain the same in Nigeria with the latest successful amendment to the 1999 Constitution. |
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