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High unemployment rates have resulted in the proliferation of cheap and surplus labour, which is often exploited across various sectors, Prof Emeka Okafor, a scholar from the University of Ibadan and Professor of Industrial Sociology, has said.
He spoke during his presentation at the University of Ibadan’s 562nd inaugural lecture, titled: 'The Periphery of the Periphery: Exploring the Experiences of Non-Standard Workers' popularly referred to as casual employees.
He said casual employees were worst hit by the exploitative move and mostly vulnerable.
“These workers find themselves marginalised and exploited by employers, supervisors, and even regular employees within the organisational framework, especially when we view work organisations as systems with multiple actors,” he explained.
Professor Okafor emphasised that because casual or non-standard workers are unable to unionise, they endure severe and unstable working conditions in Nigeria just to make ends meet.
He urged both federal and state governments to enforce labour laws designed to protect these workers from exploitation.
According to him, “The inability of non-standard workers to join trade unions hampers their capacity to negotiate for better working conditions, including fair pay.
“They are also often denied access to other essential rights. Consequently, the concept of decent work, as advocated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), remains an ideal that is largely unattainable for most workers in non-standard employment situations.”
To address these issues, Prof. Okafor called on the Nigerian government, the largest single employer of labour, to ensure that labour standards and regulations protecting workers’ rights are rigorously enforced.
He urged the government to regularise non-standard workers in ministries, departments, agencies, and parastatals, providing them with stable employment and career advancement opportunities.
He also called for the need to strengthen labour inspection mechanisms to ensure compliance with safety standards and to provide timely compensation for workplace injuries and fatalities.
He said they include conducting regular workplace inspections to identify and rectify safety violations and combating corruption within the Inspectorate Department, which he averred, might allow unscrupulous employers to bypass regulations concerning the treatment of non-standard workers.
