Nigeria ratifies ILO Convention on violence, harassment in workplace

Nigeria has ratified (International Labour Organisation) ILO Convention No.190 on Violence and Harassment, which be submitted to the Director-General of the ILO by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ms. Kachollom Daju, revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari had signed the instrument at the opening ceremony of a two-day regional sensitisation workshop on ILO Convention No. 190 on Violence and Harassment and Eliminating Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the Workplace for Professional Officers in the three northern geo-political zones.

Daju said Nigeria is the fourth country in Africa and the eighth in the world to ratify the Convention.  She added that the ministry has already inserted prohibitions on violence and harassment, including sexual harassment in the just concluded review exercise of the National Labour Bills.

She stated that the ratification comes with an enormous responsibility and reporting obligation for Nigeria. She called on labour Officers in the states to put their best foot forward as they must implement, intercept and intervene in all cases of violence and harassment, and other related unfair labour practices in all workplaces after the convention is domesticated.

“The ministry will also be depending on you to generate and gather data for a comprehensive First Report of Nigeria’s implementation of the Convention to the ILO when the time comes,” she said.

The Permanent Secretary appreciated the ILO Regional Office in Abuja, and the International Labour Office, Geneva for providing the technical support for the workshop, and for its support in ensuring that Nigeria’s Labour Administration System operates in line with international best practices.

Earlier, the Director, Productivity Measurement and Labour Standards, Mrs. Juliana Adebambo, said that to facilitate widespread acceptance of the Convention, the ministry with technical support from the ILO had convened a series of preliminary activities across the six geo-political zones in the country and the two-day workshop was first in the line-up.