Social Justice Through Law and Labour: Redefining the Legal Architecture of Work and Wages in Nigeria’s Inclusive Development (Published)
Nigeria’s deepening income inequity and inequality, including persistent poverty amidst abundant human and material resources is not only a consequence of micro and macro-economic variables. It pertains more to legal, regulatory and institutional deficits in work, wage, and wealth governance in Nigeria. This article argues that to redefine the legal architecture of work, wage and wealth in Nigeria and ensure transition to inclusive development, regional and international frameworks domesticated and applicable in Nigeria provide the robust normative basis to approach work, wage and wealth governance as a human rights issue. Against this background, this the article demonstrates how working poverty is ultimately perpetuated in Nigeria through the actions or inactions of labour regulatory and oversight institutions, especially the failure in the redistributive functions of labour through the legal exclusion of informal workers.Anchored on articles 2, 3, 15 and 22 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’Rights (ACHPR), this article draws on foundational guarantees relating to non- discrimination in the enjoyment of Charter rights, equality before the law, the right to work under equitable and satisfactory conditions, and the right to development. It further relies on articles 2(2), 3, 6 and 7 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which prohibit discrimination in the exercise of Covenant rights, affirm the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of those rights, recognise the right to work, including access to employment and livelihood, and guarantee the right to just and favourable conditions of work, including fair wages, equal remuneration for work of equal value, a decent living standard for workers and their families, and safe and healthy working conditions.At the national level, the article situates these obligations within Nigeria’s domestic labour law framework, including the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Labour Act, the National Minimum Wage Act 2019, the Employees’ Compensation Act 2010, and related labour regulations. While these instruments formally recognise rights to work, wages, and workplace protection, the article demonstrates that their limited scope, weak enforcement, and exclusion of informal and non-standard workers significantly undermine the redistributive and protective functions of labour law, thereby entrenching working poverty and inequality.
Keywords: Human Rights, Informal Sector, International Covenant on Economic, Nigeria, Social Justice, Social and Cultural Rights, african charter on human and peoples rights, labour rights, right to development, wages, work