There are a number of public sector organisations where the workers are denied the fundamental human right to join and organise in trade unions. These include the security services including the armed services, police, DSS, EFCC, IPCC, Federal Road Safety etc, but also other organisations that previously had this right including the Customs and Excise Department, the Immigration Department, the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Limited, the prison services and the Central Bank of Nigeria. This means that trade union organisation is banned in more government departments in Nigeria that almost any other country.
The Customs & Excise and Immigration Staff Union (CEIMSU) was banned by Military Decree 25 of 1989 and since then its President at de-registration Abdulkadir I Isa and others have been working to try and ensure that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) takes this issue more seriously.
The following downloadable pdf document includes extensive background information on this subject including:
- A letter from Abdulkadir I Isa to the NLC President dated 1st September, 2012 informing him about a report on this issue from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and calling for the NLC to intervene (page 1).
- Appendix 1: An ILO report dated 2012 on the Application of International Labour Standards in Nigeria. ILO asks the Government of Nigeria to amend section 11 of the Trade Union Act to allow the wider right for public servants to join and organise in trade unions (page 4).
- Appendix 2: Letter from the Ministry of Interior dated 12th March 2008 saying that CEIMSA cannot act as a Joint Consultative Committee in the Customs & Excise and Immigration Departments.
Letter from CEIMSA dated 10th December, 2007, to the Ministry of Interior asking for CEIMSA to be recognised as a Joint Consultative Committee in the Customs & Excise and Immigration Departments (page 9). - Appendix 3: CEIMSA paper dated 12th June, 2011 providing background on CEIMSA (page 15).
- Appendix 4: Letter from Abdulkadir I Isa (ex – CEIMSA) to President of NLC dated 10th July 2001, asking if certain correspondences had been received and calling for support of the NLC (page 23).
- Letter from ILO to Abdulkadir I Isa (ex – CEIMSA) dated 29th September, 1999 introducing ILO Report Dated 1999 (page 31).
- Report of 1999 of ILO documenting how Nigeria fails to meet ILO Standards (page 32).
- Report of 2018 of ILO documenting how Nigeria fails to meet ILO Standards (page 35).