The launch of the first National Industrial Relations Policy has been described by stakeholders in the workplace as a major institutional response to worsening workplace disputes and a weak collective bargaining culture.

At the formal unveiling in Abuja, the Federal Government said the policy would serve as a national framework for managing industrial relations, strengthening labour institutions and reducing the wave of disruptive strikes that have repeatedly paralysed critical sectors of the economy.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi, said Nigeria could no longer afford a fragmented industrial relations system at a time of economic uncertainty, insecurity, rapid technological change and rising unemployment.

Describing the policy as a decisive intervention, Dingyadi said industrial disputes that should ordinarily be resolved at the workplace level had increasingly escalated because the country lacked a unifying framework to guide employers, workers and government institutions.

He explained: “For decades, Nigeria’s industrial relations space has been guided by statutes, conventions and practice, but without a unifying policy framework.”

The Minister identified social dialogue, protection of workers’ rights and productivity-driven industrial peace as the three core pillars of the new policy.

He hinted that the government would strengthen institutions such as the National Labour Advisory Council and the Industrial Arbitration Panel to ensure faster dispute resolution while also rolling out nationwide training programmes for union leaders, human resource managers and labour officers on mediation and interest-based bargaining.

The Minister also disclosed the government’s plans to establish a National Industrial Relations Observatory, designed as an early-warning system to detect workplace grievances before they escalate into industrial action.

In what was described as a significant shift, the new policy seeks to extend labour protection and dispute resolution mechanisms to workers in the informal economy, including artisans, market associations and platform workers who make up more than 80 per cent of Nigeria’s workforce.

Dingyadi linked the initiative to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, insisting that job creation and poverty reduction could not succeed in an atmosphere of distrust, recurring strikes and poor labour relations.

“You cannot create jobs in an atmosphere of distrust. You cannot reduce poverty where wages are lost to avoidable strikes,” he said.

On her part, Director of the International Labour Organisation Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Vanessa Phala, described the policy as both symbolic and transformative, saying Nigeria had taken a courageous and forward-looking step at a time when industrial relations systems globally are under severe strain.

She commended the Federal Government, organised labour and employers for sustaining six years of consultations that produced what she described as a nationally owned policy rather than an externally imposed reform framework.

According to her, the policy responds not only to traditional labour concerns such as collective bargaining and dispute resolution but also to emerging pressures from technological change, ecological transition, demographic shifts and the future of work.

“What fundamentally distinguishes this National Industrial Relations Policy is the inclusive, participatory and nationally owned dynamic that shaped its development,” she said.

However, Phala warned that the real test would be implementation, pledging continued technical support from the ILO to ensure the policy translates into measurable gains for workers, employers and the economy.

The Nigeria Labour Congress also welcomed the initiative, describing it as a potential
turning point in the country’s troubled industrial relations environment.

In his goodwill message, the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the policy could help address persistent violations of collective bargaining agreements and restore respect for workers’ rights and workplace standards.

The NLC said the success of the framework would depend heavily on the willingness of all parties to uphold the principles of fairness, dialogue and mutual respect that shaped the process leading to the policy.

Labour leaders at the event also stressed the importance of stronger workplace monitoring, labour inspections and compliance mechanisms, warning that policies without enforcement often fail to produce meaningful change.

The launch of the initiative comes amid rising labour tensions across sectors already strained by inflation, stagnant wages, unemployment and economic reforms that have triggered repeated disputes between workers and the government.

Stakeholders believe the new framework could improve investor confidence and productivity if properly implemented, particularly in sectors frequently disrupted by industrial action such as education, health and public services.