For the first time in 42 years, the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) made a major show of its new legal year celebration with befitting special court session and public lecture. Eric Ikhilae reports.
THE management and staff members of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) broke from what was becoming a tradition, when between October 5 and 6, they rolled out the drums to celebrate the court’s 2020/2021 legal year.
Although the court had witnessed many legal years since it commenced operations in 1978, following its establishment, under the Trade Dispute Decree No. 7 of 1976, the 2020/2021, it chose to celebrate this one in a unique way.
The court’s President, Justice Benedict Kanyip explained the departure while addressing the special court sitting on October 5 in the “President’s Court” within the court’s new imposing headquarters building.
He said it was the first time, since the court commenced operations 42 years ago and under four successive Presidents, that it would hold a special court sitting to mark the commencement of a legal year, owing to physical space constraint.
Justice Kanyip added that it was also his first year in office as the court’s fourth President, having been sworn in on December 13, 2019 following his confirmation by the Senate on November 5 last year.
He spoke about the various achievements recorded by the court within the first year of his leadership and dwelt on efforts being made to improve on the court’s performance. He assured of the court’s commitment to fostering the preservation of the dignity of labour through its commitment to ensuring labour justice.
The NICN President sought the cooperation of all stakeholders, particularly lawyers, to ensure the court deliver on its mandates, key among which is the promotion of industrial harmony, with the aim of aiding the nation’s industrial and economic developments.
The 2019/2020 legal year
Other speakers at the special court sitting, including the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, leader of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN), Abdullahi Ibrahim (SAN) and the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata commended the court’s performance in the previous year.
Represented by the Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Dayo Apata (SAN), Malami applauded the efforts of the court in upholding the rule of law and the attainment of stable industrial relations in the country.
Malami noted that the court’s commitment to its constitutional mandates has contributed positively to the resolution of trade disputes and other industrial relation matters in the country.
He assured the court’s leadership of his support in the promotion of “genuine cooperation without undermining the independence of this hallowed arm of government.”
Represented by Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), Ibrahim particularly noted that the court’s “recent timely judicial interventions in industrial disputes all over the country have justified the wisdom” in its creation.
The BOSAN leader commended the court’s leadership for facilitating the massive deployment and application of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in all the court’s divisions, a development he noted, has “resulted in quickening the period for conclusion of cases.”
Represented by a former Chairman of the Abuja branch of the NBA, Affam Osigwe, Akpata noted that, by its mandate, the court is well placed to catalyse the nation’s industrial development and economic growth through its decisions and pronouncements on salient labour-related disputes.
Akpata added: “I am happy to confirm that this honourable court has not been found wanting in that regard,” stating that the profound decisions of the court have not only helped to instill decorum in the nation’s labour relations and improved stakeholders’ confidence in the labour and trade sectors of the economy.
Justice Kanyip highlighted his efforts to improve the court’s capacity to deliver on its mandates. These, he said, include emphasising staff welfare and the provision of needed work tools.
He praised the court’s judges and staff for their commitment to duty, which he noted, resulted in the court’s impressive outing in the last legal year, which include the handing out of 939 decisions, comprising 724 judgments and 215 rulings by the court’s 32 judges October 1, 2019 and October 2, 2020.
“For the fourth quarter of 2019, the Judges disposed of 627 cases. For the 1st quarter of 2020, the figure for disposed cases was 619.
“And for the 2nd quarter of 2020 (the period in which the COVID-19 lock down was most severe), the figure dropped to 240. This is understandable. In all, between October 2019 and June 2020, 1,486 cases were disposed of,” he said.
The 2020/2021 legal year
Projecting into the new legal year, Justice Kanyip promised to work on ways, including the promotion of enhanced utilisation of the court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) centre, to ensure that cases were promptly determined.
“The future of the court looks very bright. We will continue to strive to attain excellence by improving on the justice delivery mechanisms allowed us by law, so that access to justice is easy and affordable to all who require the services of the court,” he said.
Justice Kanyip assured audience at the public lecture, which had as its theme: “Dignity of labour and labour justice,” that his court would continue to uphold labour justice through the application of the principles of justice, equity and good conscience in the course of performing its duties of enforcing contractual rights and preventing unfair labour practices.
He said the court has, through its various decisions, emphasised the twin concepts of dignity of labour and labour justice in terms of the right to work, which is not just about the right to be employed, but to be given work when employed.
“In a number of cases, we have upheld, especially the dignity of the female employee in the work place. And so, we have ruled against harassment, bullying and discrimination of, especially female employee.
“As a specialised court, so long as justice is not sacrificed, the dictates of labour justice requires that we be guided by principles of flexibility and speed when adjudicating. We have never ceased to stress that an employer cannot treat an employee shabbily and expect a pat on the back,” Kanyip said.
Other speakers, included the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, former president of the NICN, Justice Babatunde Adejumo (retired), The Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Reverend Matthew Kukah, President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, Director general, Nigeria Employers Consultative Assembly (NECA), Timothy Olawale and Justice Peter Affen of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
They stressed the need for players in the nation’s labour sector, particularly governments, at all levels, to always emphasise the dignity of labour and labour justice.
Represented by Justice Uwani Abba Aji (of the Supreme Court), the CJN assured that the Judiciary would continue to uphold the right and dignity of the nation’s workforce.
Kukah argued that it was impossible to ensure labour dignity and justice in a society that abhors justice and equality for all. He cautioned the leaders against promotion of nepotism and other parochial divisive tendencies.
Referring to verses of the Bible, Father Kukah urged the political leaders to purge themselves of discriminatory inclinations and work to ensure socio-economic justice and development for all.
Wabba observed that the twin concepts of dignity of labour and labour justice have consistently been denigrated in the country owing to the avaricious tendencies of the nation’s leaders, particularly members of the political class.
He urged the Judiciary, particularly the NICN, to ensure that the scale of justice was not tilted against the interests of the workers, who mostly form the bulk of the victims of harmful policies of governments and other employers.
