Robust advocacy has been identified as key in achieving the implementation of the Trade Union Policy on Labour Migration in Nigeria 2025, a document already adopted by the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC and its partners in 2025.
Speaking exclusively to Voice of Nigeria in Abuja, NLC’s Focal Person on Migration, Comrade Eustace James, also recommended a workable implementation plan to guide the process.
“As you will recall, late last year we adopted the Trade Union Policy on Labour Migration in Nigeria and we believe that for the Policy to be impactful, we must have an operational plan in the form of an implementation plan that will guide the implementation of the policy.
“To achieve this, the NLC with the support of the International Labour Organisation ILO, organised a two-day workshop to strengthen the capacity of trade unions in organising migrant workers, negotiation of CBAs and advocacy for better return and reintegration of Returnee Migrant Workers,” he said.
According to the NLC Focal Person on Migration, the event which was held in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, created a platform for stakeholders to brainstorm on producing an acceptable and workable action plan for the implementation of the Document
“The two days activity was a platform for stakeholders, especially members of the trade union network on migration in Nigeria, to discuss the policy areas along the pillars of the policy, suggest activities, partners, and duration to meeting up each of the policy pillars and that we have just succeeded in doing in the past two days with a draft implementation plan just adopted.”
Speaking on the importance of celebrating implementation of the Policy rather than the Policy itself, comrade James stated beyond the policy, “We must have concrete actions that we should pursue deliberately, that will lead to achieving the goals of the policy and to be able to do that systematically, we need a guide, which is the action plan.
“Like we also identified, there are immediate actions, there are medium-term actions, and there are long-term actions.
“One of the immediate actions is around advocacy and sensitization, awareness creation on the policy.
“What we are doing now is part of it. When members of the public read the news or listen to this story, we are already creating awareness on the policy,” he said.
He said that people are already becoming aware that there is a policy that is adopted by the Nigerian Labour Congress adding that the action is continuous.
“We must begin to talk about the policy. We must begin to sell the policy to members of the public.”
On the issue of youth mobilisation and carrying along on the project, James disclosed that Like we all know, this issue we are discussing is specific to migrant workers the issue being discussed was not a general trade union organising issuesn saying there is a thematic pillar within the policy that talks about organising young migrant workers and women into the trade union as a strategy for expanding trade union membership.
“We also know that migration is driven by demography. The most privileged population that is migrating is the young population.
“We are targeting that demography for organizing. We are going to work with other structures of the trade unions.”
Fielding questions on the need to continue to build synergy with other sister organisations and partners locally, regionally and globally, Comrade James answered in the affirmative.
“No, synergy can never be enough. One of the key objectives of the Global Compact on Migration is about collaboration and partnership, no single agency or organisation can go it alone.
“That is why one of the pillars of the Policy is about alliance building and partnership.
“We must continue to identify allies. We must continue to identify partners and collaborate with them.
“We have already partners we are collaborating with but we also emphasize the point that we need to map out partners that are working in the migration governance space so that we also relate with them and collaborate with them,” he stated.