International Workers’ Day: Decent Work, Poverty, and Security in Nigeria

Published By Jerry Adesewo On May 2, 2026

International Workers’ Day: Decent Work, Poverty, and Security in Nigeria

By Professor Ojo Emmanuel Ademola

On Friday, 1 May 2026, between 11:00 and 11:45 a.m., I had the privilege of engaging listeners on WASH 94.9 FM, Nigeria’s first health-focused radio station based in Lagos, in commemoration of International Workers’ Day. The interview provided an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of work in Nigeria, the growing crisis of poverty and insecurity, and the urgent need to reclaim the idea of decent work as a foundation for national renewal.

International Workers’ Day, celebrated globally, is not merely a ceremonial occasion. It is a day that compels societies to pause and consider the conditions under which their citizens labor, the dignity attached to work, and the responsibilities of governments, employers, and communities in ensuring that work contributes to human flourishing. In Nigeria, where millions toil daily under precarious circumstances, the day assumes even greater significance.

The Meaning of Work in Nigerian Society

Work in Nigeria has historically been more than a means of earning a wage. Traditionally, it defined identity, conferred dignity, and connected individuals to family and community. A farmer was not simply someone who cultivated crops; he was a custodian of land, a provider for his household, and a contributor to communal survival. A trader was not merely a seller of goods but a bridge between communities, sustaining networks of exchange and trust.

However, over time, economic pressures, unemployment, and weak social protection systems have distorted this understanding. Today, many Nigerians work long hours yet remain poor, revealing a dangerous gap between employment and dignity. The erosion of work’s meaning has created a society where labour is often stripped of respect, reduced to survival, and disconnected from broader notions of identity and contribution.

Poverty as the Absence of Choice

During the interview, I emphasised that poverty in Nigeria is not only the absence of income but the absence of choice. When people are poor, their freedom to decide where, how, and under what conditions they work is severely limited. This condition gives rise to what I described as coercive jobs. These are forms of work accepted under compulsion rather than choice, driven by hunger, fear, job scarcity, and social pressure.

Such jobs often involve low pay, unsafe environments, delayed or unpaid wages, and, in some cases, outright exploitation. A young graduate may accept a teaching position in a dilapidated school for a pittance because there are no alternatives. A mother may hawk goods on dangerous highways because her children must eat. A labourer may endure hazardous construction sites without protective gear because refusal means starvation.

Poverty actively creates these coercive jobs. As poverty deepens, people accept work that undermines their health, dignity, and future because refusal is not an option. Children are pushed into labour, young people into exploitative apprenticeships or dangerous informal work, and adults into endless cycles of survival labour with no security or progression. In extreme cases, poverty opens pathways into forced labour, trafficking networks, and criminal economies. These are not chosen livelihoods but enforced responses to deprivation.

The Vicious Cycle of Poverty and Insecurity

The discussion further explored the strong link between poverty and insecurity. Poverty fuels insecurity by breeding frustration, hopelessness, and vulnerability. A young man without prospects may be lured into criminal gangs. A displaced farmer may join armed groups out of desperation. Communities stripped of livelihoods become fertile ground for unrest.

In turn, insecurity destroys livelihoods, farms, markets, and investments, thereby deepening poverty. Villages abandoned due to violence lose their agricultural productivity. Businesses shuttered by kidnappings and robberies reduce employment opportunities. Families uprooted by conflict face destitution in urban slums.

This vicious cycle cannot be broken by security spending alone. Weapons may suppress violence temporarily, but only decent work can remove its root causes. A society where people can earn fairly, live safely, and plan for the future is less vulnerable to the temptations of violence and crime.

Defining Decent Work in Nigerian Terms

I defined decent work in clear Nigerian terms as lawful and productive work that pays fairly, protects life, respects dignity, and offers hope for the future. Decent work is not limited to white-collar employment. Farming, trading, artisanal skills, digital work, and public service can all qualify as decent work if they provide fair income, safety, respect, and opportunity.

Conversely, any job that dehumanises, endangers, or permanently impoverishes a worker cannot be regarded as decent, no matter how widespread it is. A factory that pays below subsistence wages, a mine that disregards safety, or a household that exploits domestic workers cannot be celebrated as sources of employment.

Decent work is therefore both an economic and moral category. It is about numbers, but it is also about values. It insists that work must sustain life, not destroy it; must build dignity, not erode it; must open futures, not close them.

Nigeria’s Informal Economy and the Decent Work Deficit

In addressing the reality of Nigeria’s informal economy, I stressed that most Nigerians are not unemployed but underprotected. They work without contracts, health cover, pensions, or job security. This situation creates what global development experts describe as a ‘decent work deficit’.

Closing this gap requires policies that prioritise job quality, skills development, ethical leadership, and gradual expansion of social protection rather than focusing solely on job numbers. It is not enough to boast of millions of jobs created if those jobs are exploitative, unsafe, or unsustainable.

For instance, a market woman who sells goods daily is employed, but without access to credit, healthcare, or retirement savings, her work remains precarious. A motorcycle rider who ferries passengers is employed, but without insurance or road safety enforcement, his work remains dangerous. A digital freelancer who earns online is employed, but without legal recognition or taxation frameworks, her work remains insecure.

Policy Failure and National Renewal

International Workers’ Day must be more than a ceremonial observance. It should serve as a national mirror. A country where people cannot work safely or earn fairly will struggle with poverty, violence, and social breakdown. Every coercive job is a sign of policy failure, while every decent job created is an investment in peace, health, and national stability.

Nigeria’s challenge is not simply to create jobs but to create decent jobs. Meeting this challenge requires a multi-pronged approach that goes beyond numbers and addresses the quality of work itself. Economic diversification is essential, reducing dependence on oil and expanding opportunities in agriculture, manufacturing, and technology. Alongside this, education and skills development must be prioritised so that citizens are equipped with the competencies needed for modern economies.

Social protection systems such as pensions, health insurance, and unemployment benefits must be established to provide security and stability for workers. Ethical governance is equally critical, ensuring that corruption is combated and public resources are directed towards serving the people rather than private interests. Finally, community empowerment must be strengthened by supporting cooperatives, local enterprises, and grassroots initiatives that give people agency over their livelihoods. Without these measures, work will remain coercive, poverty will persist, and insecurity will escalate. With them, however, work can become a pathway to dignity, prosperity, and peace.

Dignity as the Soul of Work

I ended the interview by reminding listeners that dignity is the soul of work. Where decent work thrives, poverty retreats and insecurity loses its appeal. For Nigeria to move forward, work must once again become a pathway to life, not a sentence to survival.

The challenge before us is immense, but the vision is clear. A Nigeria where farmers cultivate safely, traders sell fairly, artisans create proudly, and professionals serve ethically is a Nigeria where poverty diminishes and insecurity fades.

International Workers’ Day calls us to this vision. It reminds us that work is not merely an economic transaction but a moral covenant. It is a covenant between society and its citizens, promising that labour will be rewarded with dignity, safety, and hope.

If Nigeria can honour this covenant, it will not only reduce poverty and insecurity but also restore the meaning of work as a source of identity, dignity, and community. That is the true essence of decent work, and that is the path to national renewal.

Professor Ojo Emmanuel Ademola is the first African Professor of Cybersecurity and Information Technology Management, Global Education Advocate, Chartered Manager, UK Digital Journalist, Strategic Advisor & Prophetic Mobiliser for National Transformation, public intellectual, and African governance thinker and General Evangelist of CAC Nigeria and Overseas