A civic organisation, The Inclusion Project (TIP) has congratulated Nigerian workers in both the private and public organisations while urging the Nigerian government and private employers to end all forms of discrimination in workplaces.
The TIP in a statement on Sunday obtained by SaharaReporters listed some forms of exclusion and discrimination including; the “prevalence of gender discrimination and exclusion in the workplace despite Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution, which specifically provides that a citizen of Nigeria shall not be subjected to any disabilities or restriction, expressly or in the application of any law or any executive or administrative action of the government just because he/she is such a person or be subjected to disabilities or restriction due to their place of origin, sex, religion or political opinions.”
The statement signed by the programme officer, Eniola Tikare, reads further, “Sadly, our Labour Act is rife with discriminatory provisions such as Section 55, which prohibits female nurses from undertaking night work or private industrial undertaking or any agricultural undertaking, and Section56, which further prevents women from being employed in an underground mine except for those employed in management, health and service training.
“Therefore, TIP calls on the National Assembly to amend the Labour Act and remove these discriminatory provisions in the Act. We also call on the federal, and state governments to immediately implement the removal of salary and promotion dichotomy in our tertiary institutions amongst holders of High National Diploma degrees and other University degrees as the same violates the provisions of Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
“TIP further calls on all tiers of Government in Nigeria and the private sector to remove all forms of employment policies that exclude some classes of individuals in the country, especially persons with special needs, pregnant and nursing mothers, and beckons on the Nigeria Government to implement the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act specifically Section 29 which mandates public institutions to reserve at least five per cent of employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.”
