The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) have jointly adopted the trade union labour migration policy.The policy was developed with support from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and is aimed at guiding trade unions’ participation in the labour migration governance space, ensuring that migrant workers’ rights are protected wherever they are.

Speaking at the event, the Director, ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Liaison Office for ECOWAS, Dr Vanessa Phala, said the finalisation and adoption of the policy is a demonstration of the role workers’ organisations play at the policy and practice levels of labour migration.

Phala commended the development and adoption of the policy, noting that the initiative will strengthen organised labour’s ability to protect workers, respond to migration challenges and shape policies that place human dignity at the centre.

She charged the trade unions to go beyond the adoption of the policy by ensuring effective implementation. She said: “Beyond the adoption of this policy today, the duty and responsibility to ensure effective implementation is a greater task.”

The policy draws inspiration from global, regional, and continental frameworks, including the 2017 ILC Resolution, the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, the ECOWAS Free Movement Protocols, the ECOWAS Labour Migration Strategy (2025 — 2030), the ECOWAS Common Approach, and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

“By aligning trade unions with these frameworks, the Policy provides a roadmap for institutionalising their participation in labour migration governance, while also embedding a rights-based and gender-responsive approach,” she said.
Phala argued that an effective labour migration governance architecture can contribute to better harnessing the gains of migration.

“For Nigeria and indeed West Africa, Labour Migration is a reality which, if well governed, can serve as a true driver of development, economic integration, and social progress. Nigeria, as a major country of origin, transit and destination, plays a pivotal role in shaping how migration is managed within the ECOWAS region. This underscores the importance of today’s adoption of the Trade Union Labour Migration Policy, a framework aligned with International Labour Standards and advancing the rights-based approach to Labour Migration Governance,” she explained.

In his remarks, the NLC focal person on labour migration, Eustace James, said the primary concern of the trade union movement is about the protection and defence of workers’ human and labour rights and the entrenchment of the Decent Work Agenda, including Migrant Workers and their families.

He said: “Labour migration is now a growing phenomenon, especially International Labour Migration. It has become a policy priority issue, giving rise to a need for labour market institutions, including trade unions, to respond equitably to the interests of migrant workers in countries of origin, transit, and destination. For Trade Unions to be effective in this sphere, they must develop and adopt policies based on substantial evidence, considering the peculiarities, dynamism, and emerging issues, including the number of international migrant workers involved, their characteristics, and their employment patterns, etc.”

Eustace assured that the NLC and TUC will engage with relevant stakeholders to build the capacity of its affiliates for effective implementation of the policy.

He added: “We are going to engage the different actors, especially the media, on these policies and their utilisation. The policy is a document, but if you don’t build capacity on the content, then it remains a document on the shelf. But with the adoption of the policy now, we ensure that we build the capacity of the different actors and operators within the migration governance space on the policy so that it can be utilised and also ensure effective publicity of the policy. If people don’t even know that you have the policy, they cannot consult it. But if people know you have the policy, they will consult it, and it will guide what they are doing.”