The President of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Justice Benedict Bawaph Kanyip, OFR has charged stakeholders in the judiciary on the need for caution in adjudications over labour/work-related matters.
Delivering the 2024 Annual Lecture in memory of Professor Anthony Adeyemi Adeogun on Thursday, June 27, 2024 at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Justice Kanyip raised concerns over what he termed an identity crisis of the Nigerian Labour Law and its applicability either as a policy which governs individual rights of parties or as one which guarantees collectivization of rights.
Themed Workplace Developments, Unfair Labour Practices and International Best Practices, the lecture saw the NICN President take the gathering which was graced by dignitaries and leaders across the Bar and the Bench as well as students, through the significant leaps in the operations, jurisdiction and processes of the National Industrial Court right from 1978 till date.
Justice Kanyip advocated the need for all legal practitioners to be abreast of the new labour jurisprudence while also working towards ensuring a just future of work in Nigeria.
Citing several litigations on labour/work-related matters, the Ahmadu Bello University Law graduate noted that apart from the Nigerian Labour Law, the National Industrial Court of Nigeria complies with all Treaties, Conventions, Recommendations and Protocols on Labour ratified by Nigeria.
He paid glowing tributes to the late Professor Adeogun for his milestones in Labour Law in Nigeria, highlighted some of the challenges to the future of work and stressed the need for Employment Contracts to be the core of labour protection.
Held at the Professor Ayo Ajomo Hall of the Nigeria Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), UNILAG, the 2024 Professor A.A. Adeogun Memorial Lecture featured inputs from the following discussants: Professor Joseph Abugu, SAN and Dr Philip Folarin both of the Department of Commercial and Industrial Law, Professor Chris Obisi of the Department of Industrial Relations and Personnel Management and Ms. Peace Adeleye. They all bore their minds on the theme of the lecture and also paid tributes to Professor A.A. Adeogun.
In her opening remarks, Chairperson of the event, Prof Chioma Agomo adjudged Late Professor Adeogun a leading light who gave her “a blank sheet to write and wings to fly”.
The retired Professor of Law gave her perspective of the workplace as a room to thrive especially with people like the Late Professor Anthony Adeyemi Adeogun.
In her remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG, Professor Folasade Ogunsola OON, FAS, described the annual Professor A.A. Adeogun Memorial Lecture as an attestation to the university’s commitment towards preserving and promoting the legacies of faculty.
Son of late Professor Adeogun, Dr Charles Adeogun was on ground to represent the family, he appreciated organizers of the annual lecture series, the Department of Commercial and Industrial Law and the entire Faculty of Law for keeping faith and sustaining the legacies of his father, a feat he described as heartwarming.
Born on March 1, 1935 in Igbajo, Osun State, Professor Anthony Adeyemi Adeogun is an Erudite Professor of Commercial and Industrial Law; Distinguished International labour law expert and successful legal practitioner. He joined the University of Lagos as a lecturer in 1967 rose through the ranks to become a Professor of Commercial Law in October 1979. He was at various times the Head of Department of Commercial and Industrial Law, and Dean of the Faculty of Law.
An accomplished scholar, late Professor Adeogun, authored many articles and edited journals and books. His inaugural lecture delivered in 1986 titled From Contract to Status, in Quest for Security remains the guiding light on employment contract in Nigeria.
Following his retirement on March 1, 2001, Prof. Anthony Adeogun remained active in academics and legal practice, until his death on May 13, 2005.
