Stakeholders are worried about anticipated job losses as a result of the economy’s escalating robotization.
However, they urged the federal government to take proactive measures to increase social protection.The presidents of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), Benedict Bakwaph Kanyip and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, expressed concern over Nigeria’s gradual entry into the fifth industrial revolution, which is driven by advanced technology and artificial intelligence (AI), and called for the protection of the rights of both employers and employees.
Justice Kanyip agreed that since robotized workplaces have increased the risk of most, especially the unskilled workers, losing their jobs, both employers and employees should always refer to the court’s jurisdiction in resolving trade and other industrial disputes as it lies within the context of the law while delivering the keynote address at Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association’s (NECA) organized forum National Labour Adjudication in Lagos.
Comrade Ayuba Wabba, for his part, restated his appeal for workers’ social protection, training and retraining through capacity development to keep them afloat, and job security in the face of one robot performing the tasks of many workers.
