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ARC Journal of Addiction
Volume 4, Issue 2, 2020, PP 17-33
www.arcjournals.org
ARC Journal of Addiction Page 17
Modernisation or Modern Slavery: The Concept of
Casual/Contract Labour and the Dilemma of Economic Growth
in Nigeria
Badmus Bidemi Gafar1*, Oladiran, Afolabi2, Badmus Adedayo Taiwo3
1Political Science Department, DLC, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
2Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, Nigeria
3Psychology Department, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
1. INTRODUCTION
Undoubtedly, the evolutions of science and
technology occasioned by industrialization and
globalization pressure have led to both
competition, quest for cheap labour, mass
production and frequent disputes between
employers and their workers in many
organizations. The foregoing has provoked
social protection of employee against undue
vulnerability to high risk of working
environment, exploitation by the labour union
and other stakeholders in labour management.
The potential benefit of workforce to both
economic and political development of a
country cannot be overemphasized given the
interwoven relationships that exist between
human resources and material resources.
Classical economists like Ricardo and Karl
Marx reckoned with labour as the source of
production, basis of consumption, vehicle of
exchange, source of distribution and a critical
instrument for development of economic
growth. The unguided quest for profit
maximization among private investors and the
new invocation of public-private partnership,
coupled with the over-saturated labour market,
jobs in a conducive working environment has
been mortgaged by many employers of labour in
Nigeria.
Undoubtedly, the change that comes from the
orthodox mode of permanent employment to
contract/casual workforce has transited
exploitation of those who want to provide
labour. Thus, this new development has
generated question such as how does a change
in employment practice open the door to
exploitation and affected economic growth?
Consequently, the invention of machine in 1750
signaled Industrial Economy that ushered in the
industrialization, modernization and
globalization which led to increase in the
number of job seekers.
However, prioritization of profiteering and
efforts at reducing production cost has
increasingly suffocating and sacrificing
traditional permanent employment in favour of
contract/casual recruitment in recent time. The
crux of this study is to interrogate the current
trends in contract/casual labour employment and
Abstract: Against the backdrop of all rationales, the consideration for profit maximization and quest to cut
cost by the ownership of industries seems to be the core driver that is currently dictating paradigm shift of
hiring in labour market particularly, among the private industries in Nigeria. Thus, the effect of widespread
of casualization among the private firms has encouraged the emergence of casual/contract workers in the
public establishments. This study argues that the supposed benefits of utilizing casual/contract workers by
employers in Nigerian is inconsequential compare to its negative impacts on employees’ socio-economic
status, industries productivity and the economic growth of the country. This is so, because the rise of casual
workers would automatically suffocate the existence of middle class, weaken the level of industries
productivity as a result of deprivation, exploitation and job insecurity that usually occasioned casualization
and create excessive burden on government welfare and infrastructural system due to inability of casual
worker to add value to social, political and economic development of the country as result of lack of
purchasing power.
Keywords: modernization, modern slavery, casual labour, contract labour, economy growth
*Corresponding Author: Badmus Bidemi Gafar, Political Science Department, DLC, University of
Ibadan, Nigeria, E-mail: badmus.bidemi@dlc.ui.edu.ng
Modernisation or Modern Slavery: The Concept of Casual/Contract Labour and the Dilemma of
Economic Growth in Nigeria
ARC Journal of Addiction Page | 18
its implications for a long time economic
development in Nigeria. Suffice to say is that,
industries utilization of contract/casual
workforce has grossly been mismanaged and
conceived as cash cow to the owners of
industries especially in private organisations.
Not weighing its advantage and benefits
compared to regular/permanent labour. Thus,
there is existing paradigm shift in the labour
market which is more favourable toward
modernization of labour management relations.
As observed by Kazeem, (2004), it is not an
exaggeration that exploitation of casual/contract
personnel is more prominent in many
organisations in Nigeria. Conventionally, labour
exploitation is more evidence in terms of poor
remuneration, meager wages and late payment
of salary, lack of motivation and training, none
or pseudo promotion exercise, lack of job
others.
In same vein, casual/contract employment often
creates disputes and acrimony which is
prevalent in contractual agreements and
interpersonal relations between contract/casual
workers and their permanent staff counterparts.
Given the foregoing background, this paper is
divided into five sections which includes;
introduction, conceptual/theoretical framework,
phylogeny of casual/contract labour,
casual/contract employment and the dilemma of
economic development in Nigeria and
conclusion/recommendations.
Casualization can be define as work
occupations in which the demand for
employment is highly variable such as port
work, farm migratory work and other jobs of
unskilled intermittent nature. Also,
Casualization is a form of involuntary servitude
for a period of time. Labour exploitation is
pervasive in many organizations in Nigeria
(Kazeem, 2004). It manifests itself in one form
or the other including poor salary, wages and
salary arrears system, training, promotion,
motivation, sense of belonging, job
satisfaction and dehumanization of work
and workers.
Casualization is the other name for a temporary
employment, which is manifest in industries,
whether in transnational, multinational, public
or private and in the informal sector. As
Campbell, (2004) aptly notes, definitions of
casual employment are often a site of
confusion and controversy, marked
by tensions between vernacular, regulatory and
contractual meanings.
Casualization can be define as work
occupations in which the demand for
employment is highly variable such as port
work, farm migratory work and other jobs of
unskilled intermittent nature. Also,
Casualization is a form of involuntary servitude
for a period of time Modernization is an
encompassing process of massive social changes
that, once set in motion, tends to penetrate all
domains of life, from economic activities to
social life to political institutions, in a self-
reinforcing process. Modernization brings an
intense awareness of change and innovation,
linked with the idea that human societies are
progressing. Historically, the idea of human
progress is relatively new. As long as societies
did not exert significant control over their
environment and were helplessly exposed to the
vagaries of natural forces, and as long as
agrarian economies were trapped in a steady-
state equilibrium where no growth in mass
living standards took place, the idea of human
progress seemed unrealistic ( Jones 1985;
McNeill 1990). The situation began to change
only when sustained economic growth began to
occur (North 1981; Lal 1998). After 8,000 years
of agrarian history, economic growth began to
outpace population growth in a sustained way
only with the rise of pre-industrial capitalism in
sixteenth-century Northwestern Europe (North
1981; Hall 1989; Lal 1998; Landes 1998). As
this happened, the philosophies of humanism
and Enlightenment emerged. The idea that
technological innovations based on human
intellectual achievement would enable societies
to overcome the limitations nature imposes on
them gained credibility contesting the
established view that human freedom and
fulfillment can come only in the after-life.
Science began to provide a source of insight that
competed with divine revelation, challenging
the intellectual monopoly of the church (Weber
1958 [1904]; Landes 1998).
The idea of human progress was born and with
it theories of modernization began to emerge.
However, the idea of human progress was
contested from the beginning by opposing ideas
that considered ongoing societal changes as a
sign of human decay. Thus, modernization
theory was doomed to make a career swinging
between wholehearted appreciation and fierce
rejection, depending on whether the dominant
Modernisation or Modern Slavery: The Concept of Casual/Contract Labour and the Dilemma of
Economic Growth in Nigeria
ARC Journal of Addiction Page | 19
mood of the time was rather optimistic or
pessimistic Industrialization vastly expands
technological human control over the natural
environment. Humans spend most of their
activities in an entirely man-made environment
and are no longer helplessly exposed to the
vicissitudes of natural forces. Everything, even
the political order, seems to be a question of
human engineering and all problems can be
solved by science: everything, from economic
growth to space exploration, is subject to human
rationality. These perceptions in the industrial
world favor the emergence of secular-rational
values. The industrial phase of modernization
links secular-rational values with conformist
values that emphasize group discipline over
individual liberty. The reason for this is the
standardization of life in the industrial world.
This is particularly true for the working class
whose members experience little personal
autonomy, spending most of their lives at the
assembly line or in their apartment buildings, in
homogeneous groups, living under strong social
controls and group pressures Contract labour is
a significant and growing form of employment.
The practice is employing contract labour is
observed all over the world and has been in
operation since ages. Contractor means , in
relation to an establishment a person who
undertakes to produce a given result for the
establishment , other than a mere supply of
goods of articles of manufacture of such
establishment , through contract labour or who
supplies contract labour for any work of the
establishment. The advent of Contract Labour
can be traced back to the emergence of the small
scale industries which found it economically
unfeasible to undertake all activities of
production process themselves and therefore get
some part of work done from workers hired
through contractors. The contract workers
generally belong to the unorganized sector as
they lack bargaining quantum of power, have
little or no social security and are often engaged
in tedious tasks which are injurious to their
safety. They have little or no security of
employment. However, factors like lack of
continuity of work, difficulty in ensuring closer
supervision by the employer, higher output or
productivity of such workers, cost effectiveness,
flexibility in manpower deployment, facilitation
for focusing on core competencies, etc,
constitute advantage of the system of contract
labour.
2. CONCEPTUAL/THEORETICAL
CLARIFICATION
2.1 Casual/Contract Labour
Importantly, unambiguous and clearity of
definitions of concept are necessary prelude to
any meaningful academic discourse and
analysis. Hence, this paper attempt to provide
conceptual clarification to the following terms;
contract/casual labour, modernization, modern
slavery, and economy growth.
More often than not, both contract and casual
employment are been use interchangeably
although both concept portends slight different
in meaning. For instance, both circumstances,
employment are often specified the condition in
which an employee must remain in the
employment of the employer for a given period
of time or, upon resignation from or termination
of his employment by his/her employer.
Succinctly put, both contract and casual
employment refers to a situation in which
employee is hired for a particular job and they
are paid at a specific rate which may be different
from other permanent categories of employees.
Thus, both contract and casual employment is
for particular time duration which does not
extend beyond that stipulated period and are not
entitled to certain benefits accrued to permanent
staff.
Existing works on the subject matter have uses
different terms to describe casual workers. In
many occasions casual workers are referred to
as; contract staff, contingent workers, part-time
workers, dispensable workers and non-core
workers (Hampton, 1988). To Buckley and
Endewuik (1989) casual workers are described
as labour only sub-contractors. According to
Williams (1993) casual workers are also known
as flexible workforce and peripheral workers. In
developed economies of Europe and American,
casual work is described as contract work, on-
call work, part-time, fixed term contract and
temporary work (Francoise, 1998).
The International Labour Organization ILO
(2007) defines casual employment as workers
who have an explicit or implicit contract of
employment which is not expected to continue
for more than a short period, whose duration is
to be determined by national circumstances.
Specifically, in Europe and the United States
casualization is commonly described as non
standard work arrangements (NSWAs).
Modernisation or Modern Slavery: The Concept of Casual/Contract Labour and the Dilemma of
Economic Growth in Nigeria
ARC Journal of Addiction Page | 20
In the same vein, Basso (2003) stressed that
casualization may be associated with under-
employment which connotes two different
interpretations. It is often used loosely in
international literature to refer to the spread of
bad conditions of work such as employment
insecurity, irregular work hours, intermittent
employment, low wages and absence of
standard employment benefits. Traditionally,
casual labour referred to work conducted for
defined periods and during peak business
periods when individuals are called to
supplement full time workers in times of high
business activity, particularly in retail, but the
situation has changed in the contemporary
labour market. Similarly
argued that, in legal terms, casual employee is
seen as a worker engaged for a period of less
than six months and who is paid at the end of
each day.
According to Okafor (2010), there are two
forms of employment under casualization in
Nigeria, namely; casual and contract labour. The
terms and conditions of employment of this
category of workers are not regulated by the
Nigerian labour laws, in the sense that their
status is not defined and no provisions are made
for the regulation of the terms and conditions of
their employment, hence the mass exploitation
of these workers by employers.
Given the position espoused by Okafor and
considering the focus of this paper, both casual
and contract labour would be used
interchangeable. Notably, the use of casual
workers has been on the increase. It has spread
across industries from manufacturing to services
and other occupations, including construction
workers, registered nurses, bankers, information
technologists, and so on. Similarly, the number
of companies using casual workers is on the
increase as global competition increased and the
urge to cut down on costs of undertaking
businesses in order to remain competitive rises.
According to Foote (2004), in the past three
decades and beyond, there has been a worldwide
upsurge in the number of organizations that use
or employ casual workers. This has been
attributed to economic uncertainty or turbulence
(Greer, 2001). The use of casual workers can
mainly be attributed to an increase in global
competition and the urge to reduce the cost of
doing business. Casual employment is perceived
as resulting from continuous changes in the
working arrangement around the world and has
become a key concern in the last three decades
(Foote, 2004).
The usual attributes of casual works are the
different in terms of hours of work, job security,
payment system and even location of work from
the traditional permanent employment jobs
which has been a dominant feature of industrial
relations in many developed economies and
developing ones for much of the twentieth
century (Kalleberg, 2000).
According to Okougbo (2004: 67) casual worker
demand for employment is high. Such as in port
work, farm work, farm migratory work and
other jobs of unskilled and intermittent in
labour is a form of involuntary servitude for a
experienced in the United States of America till
the end of the 19th century with draconian laws
to enforce its existence before its prohibition. In
fact, causal workers are supposed to work
occasionally and intermittently with any
company, usually unskilled and always moving
with seasonal fluctuating demands of the labour
market.
In a more practical sense, casual labour has been
categorized as follows; Part Time Casual labour
(PTCL)- more often than not shares
responsibility and protection like that of a full
time employee with the difference in terms of
the number of working hours. Part time
employee generally has limited working hours
which may or may not be clearly stated. They
also have a fixed rate of payments which is
often decided based on number of hours an
employee work or work completed against the
project. Fixed term Casual labour, they often
have specified contract requirements which
when completed leads to termination of
employment. Agency Casual Staff- this is an
employment provided by third party service.
Mostly the agency recruited casual staff for an
organization however; the payment, terms and
conditions of casual staff are determine by the
agency not the organization they are working
for.
Voluntary employment Here a worker works
according to his/ her will. Most volunteers are
not compensated but appreciated for their
contribution towards the work. This type of
work earns accolades and rewards which might
not be beneficial in nature but highly satisfying.
Zero Hour Contract: This calls for skilled labour
Modernisation or Modern Slavery: The Concept of Casual/Contract Labour and the Dilemma of
Economic Growth in Nigeria
ARC Journal of Addiction Page | 21
and is on call work. Here employment
opportunities are available from time to time
and the employees are called for a job pending.
Once the work is done, the employees are at
liberty to search for other employment
opportunities. Safety is the major benefit
employees receive when they are working. This
kind of employment allows employees to look
for other work due to temporary and uncertain
nature of work.
Several factors associated with the
administration of casual workers have been
highlighted which may lead to higher-than-
necessary rates of departure prior to contract end
dates (Autor, 2001). As succinctly captured by
Autor, these factors include perception of
injustice, exclusion from decision making,
inadequate socialization, unmet expectations for
permanent work, limited motivation, lower age
requirement and tenure, lower tolerance for
inequity and low levels of commitment.
As observed by Kaleberg, (2000), casual
employment is a significant part of that group of
employment arrangements that are collectively
known as nonstandard, contingent, atypical,
precarious and alternative work arrangements in
international labour law. Hence the traditional
work arrangements were the basis of the
framework within which labour law, collective
bargaining and social security systems
developed. In Nigeria this form of employment
is not usually part-time or temporary; it is
usually a long-term employment (Danesi, 2011).
2.2 Economy Growth
From David Ricardo (1891) classical
postulations of growth, to Robert Solow (1956),
to a great extent economy has been described as
a form of machine that produces economic
output, through the process of some inputs such
as capital, labor, and technology. Thus,
augmenting different factors considered in
growth models up to that time such as
increasing capital, labor, education, better
infrastructure, and better health were shown by
Solow to explain a relatively limited part of the
actual amount of observed economic growth
since the Industrial Revolution.
Economic growth is a primary focus of
macroeconomists, who rely on quantifiable
metrics such as gross national product or
aggregate income (Feldman, Hadjimichael, et.
al, 2014). It has also been argued that the same
ingredients that generate aggregate growth can
be counted on to deliver qualitative
improvements in human welfare. They further
argued that there is a strong correlation between
per capita income and the Human Development
Index (HDI), in the range of 0.95 suggests that
the development and growth are interrelated
(McGillivray and White 1995).
Paradoxically, it has been noted that the real
sequence in terms of space and time and space
for improving income must start with directly
improving human welfare, will deliver the
growth that will, in turn, deliver further
improvements in per capita income, and
subsequently better human welfare (see Barro,
1991; Dasgupta and Ray, 1986).
Unconvincingly, professional practice in poor
countries emphasizes direct improvements in
welfare as the kick-started to growth, while in
developed countries policy tends to emphasize
kick-starting growth, based on the implicit
assumption that growth will increase human
welfare (Easterly, 2012).
In the classical definitions of growth, from
David Ricardo (1891) to Robert Solow (1956),
the economy is a kind of machine that produces
economic output, which is a function of inputs
such as capital, labor, and technology. The
different factors considered in growth models up
to that time
infrastructure, and better health -- were shown
by Solow to explain a relatively limited part of
the actual amount of observed economic growth
since the Industrial Revolution.
In the opinion of Kuznets (1947), growth is a
concept whose proper domicile is in the study of
organic units, and the use of the concept in
economics is an example of that prevalent
economic growth has essentially objective
content which is relates to phenomena which
can be defined and identified in terms of
potentially measurable criteria. It implies an
appraisal of economic performance in terms of
criteria which reflect personal and social
values.
The critical interpretations of the concept of
economic growth are well documented in the
works Kuznets (1955). He argues vehemently
s essentially a
make substantial progress in the empirical and
theoretical analysis of the growth phenomenon,
we must consider the quantitative aspect as
Modernisation or Modern Slavery: The Concept of Casual/Contract Labour and the Dilemma of
Economic Growth in Nigeria
ARC Journal of Addiction Page | 22
basic. In general, considering the overall
aggregate welfare concept of economic growth,
thus, it is clear that the measurement of growth
and hence the operating definition of growth
must involve the evaluation of economic
activities in terms of its contributions to the flow
of welfare generating and want-satisfactions.
2.3 Modernization
The modernization theory is a product of the
technological progress would give humanity
increasing control over nature. Antoine de
Condorcet (1979 [1795]) was among the first
scholars to clearly connect technological
innovation and cultural development, arguing
that technological advances and economic
growth would inevitably bring changes in
Similarly, Edmund Burke (1999 [1790])
formulated such an anti-modern view in his
Reflections on the Revolution in France, while
Thomas R. Malthus (1970 [1798]) developed a
scientific theory of demographic disasters.
Adam Smith (1976 [1776]) and Karl Marx
(1973 [1858]) propagated competing versions of
modernization, with Smith advocating a
capitalist vision, and Marx advocating
communism idealogy. Competing versions of
modernization theory enjoyed a new resurgence
after World War II when the capitalist and
communist superpowers espoused opposing
ideologies as guidelines for the best route to
modernity. Although they competed fiercely,
both ideologies were committed to economic
growth, social progress, and modernization, and
they both brought broader mass participation in
politics (Moore 1966).
More importantly, both sides believed that the
developing nations of the third world would
follow either the communist path or the
capitalist path to modernization, and the two
superpowers struggled to win them over.
with theories of underdevelopment. In the post-
war US, a version of modernization theory
emerged that viewed underdevelopment as a
characteristics, especially its traditional
psychological and cultural traits (Lerner 1958;
Pye & Verba 1963; Inkeles & Smith 1974). This
perspective was strongly influenced by Max
capitalism, which viewed underdevelopment as
a function of traditionally irrational, spiritual,
and communal values values that discourage
human achievement motivation. From this
perspective, traditional values were not only
mutable but could and should also be replaced
by modern values, enabling these societies to
follow the path of capitalist development. The
causal agents in this developmental process
were seen as the rich developed nations that
nations through economic, cultural, and military
assistance. This version of modernization theory
was not merely criticized as patronizing, it was
pronounced dead (Wallerstein 1976).
Neo-Marxist and world-systems theorists argued
that rich countries exploit poor countries,
locking them in positions of powerlessness and
structural dependence (see Frank 1966;
Wallerstein 1974; Chirot 1977, 1994; Chase-
Dunn 1989). Underdevelopment, Frank argued
that, to the poor countries poverty has nothing to
do with their traditional values rather it is the
fault of global capitalism agenda.
In the 1970s and 1980s, modernization theory
seemed discredited; dependency theory came
into vogue (Cardoso & Faletto 1979). Adherents
of dependency theory claimed that the third
world nations could only escape from global
exploitation if they withdrew from the world
market and adopted import substitution policies.
In recent years, it became apparent that import
substitution strategies had failed. The countries
that were least involved in global capitalism
were not the most successful they actually
showed the least economic growth (Firebaugh
1992). Export-oriented strategies were more
effective in bringing sustained economic growth
and even, eventually, democracy (Barro 1997;
Randall & Theobald 1998). The pendulum
swung back. Dependency theory fell out of
favor and the western capitalist version of
modernization regained credibility. The rapid
development of East Asia, and the subsequent
democratization of Taiwan and South Korea,
seemed to confirm its basic claims: producing
low-cost goods for the world market initiates
economic growth; reinvesting the returns into
human capital qualifies the workforce to
produce high-tech goods; exporting these more
expensive goods brings higher returns and
enlarges the educated urban middle class; and
once the middle class becomes large enough and
confident about its strength, it presses for liberal
democracy the natural political system of
middle-class societies (Diamond 1993; Lipset et
al. 1993). Evidence for this sequence discredited
Modernisation or Modern Slavery: The Concept of Casual/Contract Labour and the Dilemma of
Economic Growth in Nigeria
ARC Journal of Addiction Page | 23
world-systems theory. However, one should be
aware that the dispute between modernization
and dependency/ world-systems theory was not
a dispute about whether modernization takes
place or not. It was a dispute about its causes
and the repeatability of the Anglo-Saxon model
in other parts of the world. Dependency
theorists and world systems theorists did not
deny modernization took place, nor did they
reject modernization as a goal for societies in
the third world. They only claimed that the
global power structure does not allow peripheral
countries to modernize by integrating
themselves into the international division of
labor. They recommended dissociation from the
2.4 Modern Slavery
There is no universally agreed definition of
range of exploitative practices including human
trafficking, slavery, forced labour, child labour,
removal of organs and slavery-like practices.
According to United Nations Convention to
Suppress the Slave Trade and slavery, Geneva,
1926, Article 1, slavery is defined as the
condition of a person over whom any or all of
the powers attaching to the right of ownership
are exercised. The definition of slavery was
expanded by the 1956 Supplementary
Convention to the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave
Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to
Slavery to apply to slavery-like practices,
including debt bondage, serfdom, servile forms
of marriage and exploitation of children.
Modern slavery has also been define as the
recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring
or reception of persons, including the exchange
or transfer of control over those persons, by
forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of
deception, of the abuse of power or of a position
of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of
payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a
the purpose of exploitation.
It is important to note that modern slavery can
take many forms and in any place across the
globe. The existing literatures on modern
slavery (MS) have highlighted various forms of
MS which primarily include forced labour, the
trafficking of people, exploitative labour,
servitude and slavery. Inter alia, the term
modern slavery captures a whole range of types
of exploitation of man by his fellow man. In
general, the exploitation can also include but not
necessarily limited to: sexual exploitation and
sexual abuse, domestic servitude, forced labour,
criminal exploitation, and cannabis cultivation
among others. Sexual exploitation and sexual
abuse, forced prostitution and the abuse of
children for the production of child abuse
images/videos. 34% of all reported trafficking
victims in the UK are victims of sexual
exploitation. Domestic servitude involves a
situation in which the victim being forced to
work in usually private households, usually
performing domestic chores and childcare
duties. Their freedom may be restricted and they
may work long hours often for little or no pay,
often sleeping where they work. 11% of all
potential modern slavery victims in 2016 were
subjected to domestic servitude.
Forced labour victims in the other hand, may be
forced to work under poor condition for long
hours with meager or no pay under verbal or
physical threats of violence to them or their
families. This pratise usually happen in various
industries such as, manufacturing, construction,
agriculture, laying driveways, food packaging,
hospitality, maritime and beauty (nail bars).
More often than not, the victims are housed
together in one dwelling for monitoring and
security purpose. About 47% of potential
victims of Modern Slavery reported to have
been exploited in the UK are subject to forced
labour. 18% of all reported forced labour
victims in the UK are children an increase of
62.5% since 2015. 81% of all reported victims
of forced labour taking place in the UK are
male.
Criminal exploitation is another form of modern
slavery and it involves the process of luring or
forcing another person to commit a crime by
criminal gang. The atrocity usually take the
form such as pick-pocketing, shop-lifting,
cannabis cultivation, drug trafficking and other
similar activities that are subject to penalties and
imply financial gain for the trafficker. In the UK
in 2016, 34 potential modern slavery victims
were also involved in fraud or financial crime
whereby perpetrators force victims to claim
benefits on arrival but the money is withheld, or
the victim is forced to take out loans or credit
cards. Lastly, cannabis cultivation is the highest
category of criminal exploitation with 33% of
those being a minor at the time of referral, the
majority being Vietnamese. In addition, there
are other forms of exploitation which can
include removal of vital organs, forced begging,
Modernisation or Modern Slavery: The Concept of Casual/Contract Labour and the Dilemma of
Economic Growth in Nigeria
ARC Journal of Addiction Page | 24
forced benefit fraud; forced marriage and illegal
adoption.
In the same vein, modern slavery can also be
identified by some prevailing indicator
attributed to the victims. These indicators
include; legal documents
possession of their legal documents (passport,
identification and bank account details) or are
these being held by someone else? Victims will
often be forced to use false or forged identity
documents. Medical care -does the person have
old or serious untreated injuries? Have they
delayed seeing a healthcare professional, and are
they vague, reluctant or inconsistent in
explaining how the injury occurred? Appearance
-does the person look malnourished, unkempt,
or appear withdrawn? Are they suffering
physical injuries? Do they have few personal
possessions and often wear the same clothes?
What clothes they do wear may not be suitable
for their work. Behaviour -is the person
withdrawn or appears frightened, unable to
answer questions directed at them or speak for
themselves and/or an accompanying third party
speaks for them? If they do speak, are they
inconsistent in the information they provide,
including basic facts such as the address where
they live? Do they appear under the
control/influence of others, rarely interact or
appear unfamiliar with their neighbourhood or
where they work? Many victims will not be able
to speak English. Fear of authorities -is the
person afraid of the authorities? Are they scared
of removal or what might happen to their
families? Debt bondage -Does the victim
perceive themselves to be in debt to someone
else or in a situation of dependence? Context -
victims may often encounter authorities whilst
being trafficked from one area to another or if
found in a situation that potentially criminalises
them, such as a police raid or an immigration
raid. https://assets. publishing.
service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uplo
ads/attachment_data/file/638368/MS_-
_a_briefing_
NCA_v2.pdf
3. THE EVOLUTION OF CASUAL/CONTRACT
LABOUR
It is pertinent to note that there are no clear cut
accounts in terms of the origin or historical
underpinning of casual/contract labour apart
from the reference that the term was first used
by a government enquiry into the dock workers
practices in Britain in the 1920s, where the use
of casual labour was the norm for unskilled
workers. Although, more recently, studies have
shown that this distinctive work relation has
come to embrace both the semi-skilled and
highly skilled labour force (Encyclopedia of
Marxism, 2014).
However, despite the lack of accurate
information on evolutional account of casual
labour, social analysts have placed the
occurrence of casualization on globalization and
emergence of new technologies. As observed by
Atilola (2014) she opines that, the increasing
wave of globalization and trade liberalization
across the world have continues to impacted on
employment relationship. Thus, the need to cut
cost remains competitive in the world market
which has thrown up new forms of work, with
According to Dayo Lawuyi, President National
Employers Consultative Association (NECA)
the casualization has become a means of
managing increasing labour cost in the face of
hot competition While, Duru, (2001a) further
buttressed that, globalization is unarguably a
major cause propelling the current global labour
regime. This disposition owes its strength to the
perceivable political, economic and social
changes that has resulted in a more open and
liberal world economy; as different national
economies are now intertwined in the global
economy and consequently the escalating level
of competition existing among businesses
operating in what has become an international
market place.
Incidentally, the early 1750 witnessed a reform
of the rules governing wage labour in England,
with the removal of legal support for the guilds
and the repeal of statutory wage regulation. In
addition, the disciplinary labour legislation
-
a criminalization of breach of the service
contract by workers quitting without permission
strengthened (Simon, 1956). Sadly, there was
enactment of new forms of statutory control of
the service relationship, which tilted the balance
of power in favour of employers (Steinfeld,
2002; Hay, 2000).. Partly to paved way for new
forms of employment which eventually
metamorphosized into the modern day casual or
contract employment.
coined by a government enquiry into dock
labour practices in Britain in 1920, where casual
Modernisation or Modern Slavery: The Concept of Casual/Contract Labour and the Dilemma of
Economic Growth in Nigeria
ARC Journal of Addiction Page | 25
labour was becoming the norm for unskilled
workers. It was in the fight against those
conditions that the first great unions of unskilled
workers were established, including the British
dock workers in the early 20th century (Broad,
1995). The re-launch of an apparently rudderless
administration according to Milne, (2008)
turned out to be a return to the neoliberal
certainties of Blairism, just at the point when the
failure of global financial market was cutting the
ground from beneath. Undoubtedly, it comes as
derail an attempt by Labour MPs to win equal
rights for the 1.4 million agency and casual
workers, whose growing exploitation goes to the
heart of the casualization and security of
casual employment remains at a high level and
it rose to nearly 32 percent in 2002 (Gonzalez-
Rendon, 2004).
More precisely, in Nigeria, According to Ubeku
(1984) the history of casualization is dated back
to when the government resorted to the use of
daily paid workers, particularly in the technical
departments. Perhaps this explains why most of
labour unrest at the time came from artisans and
labourers in the construction, building and
engineering departments. The most celebrated
case was that of the staff of public works
department who complained of having their
salaries unceremoniously slashed overnight by
the colonial Governor, Sir Mccallum, who
argued that the existing wages as at then was too
high. The introduction of this piece-meal
payment structure marked the beginning of
casualization of labour practices in Nigeria.
The growing literature as observed by Wandera,
(2011) shows that casual employment grew
exponentially over the last decade, accounting
for 10 percent of net employment growth in the
United States alone in the 1990s. The foregoing
was supported by findings from some case
studies and business surveys attest to dramatic
growth in the outsourcing of functions to
contract companies as well (Houseman,
2001).In general, casual employment is viewed
as phenomenon of short-time employment, as a
result of the consequence of a major push by
governments and employers mostly in
industrialized countries in order to promote
more flexible labour markets and to cut down
the labour costs (Golden and Appelbaum, 1992).
Arguably, Kalleberg (2000) concludes that,
more often than not, casual jobs pay poorly, it
lack health insurance and pension benefits, are
of uncertain duration, and lack the protection
that trade unions and labour laws afford and in
the end they are problematic for workers.
Globally, there has been a dramatic increase in
casual jobs owing to such factors as: massive
unemployment, globalization, the shift from the
manufacturing sector to the service sector and
the spread of information technology among
other factors. Thus, with the emergence of more
and new technologies in the workplace, the
unskilled workers become more liabled and
vulnerable (Campbell and Brosnan 1999).
Meanwhile, Australia has the second largest
casual workforce in the world, after Spain. This
has triggered considerable debate as to whether
government intervention should be used to
improve job security for the growing number of
casual workers (Munn, 2004). For instance, the
number of casual employees has witnessed a
surged over the past 15 years, from 18.9% of all
wage and salary earners in 2008 to 27.6% in
2011. Munn (2004), further stressed that In
1998, 69.9% of the net jobs created were casual
-
time, with casual workers currently representing
13.8% of all full-time employees and 60.4% of
all part-time employees.
Ironically, in Nigeria, apart from introduction of
new technologies and globalization pressure on
workplace and national economy, corruption,
unemployment, inflation and economic
instability have forced many able bodies to be
willingly ready to compete for casual/contract
works. The forgoing situation has encouraged
the employers to develop the incentive to utilize
casual/contract workers for exploitative,
oppression and servitude purposes which are
detrimental to sustainable economic growth in
Nigeria.
4. CASUAL/CONTRACT EMPLOYMENT AND
THE DILEMMA OF ECONOMIC GROWTH IN
NIGERIA
There is a general notion that, casual/contract
employment is a kind of contract used in labour
law to attribute rights and responsibilities
between employees and employers in order to
strike bargain. Thus, such bargains in more
often than not are always unequal terms which
tend to favour employers. The contract is
between an "employee" and an "employer". It
has arisen out of the old master servant law,
used before the 20th century. There is a general
notion that, the casual/contract of employment
Modernisation or Modern Slavery: The Concept of Casual/Contract Labour and the Dilemma of
Economic Growth in Nigeria
ARC Journal of Addiction Page | 26
denotes a relationship of economic dependence
and social subordination of employees to
a confusing manner. Thus, many sorts of casual
employment involving one person working for
another for the purpose of earning wages is
usually on contract basis. Instead of being
considered an "employee", the individual could
be considered a "worker" (which could mean
less employment legislation protection) or as
having an "employment relationship" (which
could mean protection somewhere in between).
Consequently, the epoch of globalisation has
given rise to profound changes in the way
labour is utilised, specifically in terms of
employment patterns as well as the related
issues of earnings, job security, unionization and
so on. In effect, the way the worker is used by
the firms in the industry is determined solely by
the dictates of capitalism, that is, the profit
motive. In Nigeria for instance, unemployment
and underemployment are the main features of
the labour market occasioned with weak and
unstable economy unable to absorb all those
willing to be engaged productively (Damachi,
2001; Onyeonoru, 2008; Okafor, 2011).
However, the account of accurate
unemployment rates is very difficult in Nigeria
due to undocumented figure of people working
in formal and informal sectors.
Undoubtedly, the problem of casual
employment is very pervasive in many
establishments, whether in indigenous,
transnational or multi-national firms and also
common in both public and private industry.
Particularly, in telecommunications sector, oil
and gas sector, power sector, banking sector
(both old and new generation banks), and
education sector among others. (see Okougbo,
2004; Onyeonoru, 2004; Okafor, 2007; Idowu,
2010; Aduba, 2012).
The period from 2014 and 2016 saw rapid
waves of global economic pressure and intense
economic recession inter alia with its associated
uncertainties on economic growth, low
productivity and loss of jobs which paved ways
for increase demand for cheap labour among the
employers and such situation also cause surge in
the labour market. Sadly, the prioritization of
cost effectiveness in terms of cutting down the
cost of production and service provisions have
continue to drives many employers of labour for
utilization of casual and undocumented workers
which are considered to be reasonably cheaper
than the workers on documented and permanent
basis.
Ironically, in spite of the Nigerian enormous
natural and human resources with recurrent
laudable electioneering promises of political
leaders, the achievement of impressive
economic growth and decent employment
remains a mirage. Sadly enough, from a cursory
look at the Nigerian data on employment level
and real GDP, it appears that the recent
economic growth trends and patterns have been
insufficient to make any appreciable impact on
employment generation and poverty reduction,
but this has not been sufficiently investigated
empirically in the literature (Oni, 2006;
Patterson et al 2006).
According to Sodipe and Ogunrinola (2011), the
high rate of labour force growth vis-a-vis the
low and dwindling rate of formal sector job
growth has made the labour market in
developing nations to exhibit some peculiar
characteristics. First is the widening of the
informal sector where many who would have
remained in open unemployment take up low-
wage jobs or even self-employment while still
hoping to pick up formal sector job when
available. Second, the unemployed in the labour
market in poor nations do not enjoy any form of
unemployment insurance or any social benefit
from the government. Third, the reported
unemployment rates in official documents are
usually very low due to high rate of disguised
employment and underemployment in the
informal sector. Fourth, self-employment, part-
time employment, and unpaid employment in
family enterprises have a disproportionate share
in total employment. All these are pointers to
the need for a search for solution to employment
problems in developing nations.
More historically, contract employment/hiring
became a key feature of the Nigerian Labour
market in the late 1980s, particularly, with the
adoption of Structural Adjustment Programme
(SAP) under the General Ibrahim Badamosi
Babangida, then the Military Head of State. This
was in line with neo-liberal policies prescribed
by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Hence, contract staffing/hiring became an idea
of employability of neo-liberal ideology which
conceived casual/contract staffing as a moral
obligation on human organisations to maximize
their cost advantage in labour market.
Modernisation or Modern Slavery: The Concept of Casual/Contract Labour and the Dilemma of
Economic Growth in Nigeria
ARC Journal of Addiction Page | 27
Several major industries in Nigeria are
predominantly saturated with casual/contract
workers; especially in firms that have more than
two thousand workers. In such situation, about
one thousand five hundred of the work forces
may be casual/contract workers. Unfortunately,
as observed by Okougbo, (2004) many local
industries particularly within the informal
sector, virtually all their employees are casual
staff despite of the fact that some of the casual
workers have either professional or
administrative skills such as higher education
qualifications, skilled technicians, experienced
drivers, clerical staff with administrative skills
among others.
As postulated in the Dual Labour Market model,
generally, organizations are made up of two
major groups of workers: the core (or primary)
group and the peripheral (or secondary) group.
permanent employees. Thus, the peripheral
group is mostly nonstandard or casual workers
(Connelly and Gallagher, 2004). The core
employees work under the standard employment
relationship (SER), which has some typical
characteristics such as continuity of
employment, which gives the workers a certain
level of security regarding their working
others (De Cuyper et al. (2008).
It is important to note that, the casual/contract
types of employment are quite different from the
standard employment in terms of fringe benefits
and supervision, working hours and their terms
of the contract. Most of the companies have a
certain number of casual workers as a way to
deal with periods of decreased productivity or
lower demand of products. Given the foregoing
explications on casual/contract employment, as
observed by Wandera (2011) there are basically
three major justifications why employers make
use of casual workers such as: flexibility of
staffing, reduction of costs and ease of dismissal
processes.
4.1 Staffing Flexibility
The pervasive increase in competition among
companies and the growing innovative in
science and technology have propelled many
companies to established policies of flexibility
and adaptation to the economic changes for the
purpose of maintain high profit (Kalleberg,
2000). Given that employment situations all
over the world has become more competitive
and unstable, many companies and
organizations have inclined to present more
flexible employment conditions, focusing on
prospective tribulations (such as lower demand
of the market) and the possibility of lay-offs
(OECD, 2002). Most companies experience
variable demands of work. For instance, when
demand for company products or services are
high, the usual response is overtime work and
sometimes the company can augmente their
attempt to meet up with the demand by
recruiting casual workers (Graham and Benett,
1995).
4.2 Reduction of Costs
According to Allan, (2002) the major benefit in
utilizing casual employees by most companies is
the potential to cut down recruitment costs. The
instead of their eventual employers (Forde,
2001). Recruitment of workers via agency
reduces employee costs and it represents a
critical aspect of strategic human resource
management due to competitive global market.
For instance, in a survey of 979 workplaces
conducted by Atkinson et al. (1996) it was
revealed that 59.4 per cent of the employers
used casual workers for short-term cover whilst
staff members were away on holiday or sick
leave. Long-term and short-term recruitment
costs may be kept at a minimum by using casual
workers.
4.3 Ease of Dismissal
Casualization of worker offers an opportunity
for ease of their dismissal by the employers.
Undoubtedly, the lack of costs linked with
laying-off casual workers, it became an
attractive option in USA and other highly
industrialised countries (Gunderson, 2001). It is
also common practise in many organizations
that operated in the unpredictable market of
workload (Allan, 2002). In the UK, a strategic
use of casual workers was to adjust the
workforce to match demands. This gave
organizations an advantage in terms of
numerical flexibility, employing just in time
workers to cope with increased or decreased
demand without resorting to making permanent
employees redundant.
However, the effects of utilization of
casual/contract employees have encouraged the
use of casual/contract employees among the
public organizations in Nigeria with
Modernisation or Modern Slavery: The Concept of Casual/Contract Labour and the Dilemma of
Economic Growth in Nigeria
ARC Journal of Addiction Page | 28
manifestation in lukewarm approach to
emergence of ghost workers which has resulted
in gross corruption in Nigerian bureaucratic
system. Thus, in the long run, the supposed
benefits of utilizing casual/contract staff to
industries and the Nigerian economy at large
could result into backlash that would
automatically overturn such benefits due to
deprivation, exploitation and job insecurity
among other challenges that usually occasioned
the status of casual/contract workers within the
organization By and large, the incessant job
loss, labour right abuse, economic
disempowerment and the psychological lack in
sense of belonging on the part of casual/contract
workers are all detrimental to sustainable
economic growth in Nigeria.
Similarly, Okafor (2007) argued that losses
suffered by casual employees include: abysmal
low wages, absence of medical care allowances,
no job security or promotion at work, no
gratuity and other severance benefits, no leave
or leave allowance, jeopardized freedom of
association, no death benefits or accident
insurance at work, no negotiation or collective
bargaining agreement. The foregoing situation
as presented above by Okafor also manifest in
terms of low commitment, low autonomy and
lack of opportunities to develop skills.
In addition to some of the problems associated
with utilising casual/contract workers,
permanent employees may not like the extensive
use of casual workers, especially if they feel
their employer would like to substitute them
with more precarious working arrangements.
This was found in the USA by Pearce (1993),
who states that the employment of contractors
resulted in negative attitudes towards the
organization by permanent workers. These
negative attitudes have also been extended to
US-based nurses employed with casual and
agency nurses and with UK permanent call
centre workers working with agency workers
(Biggs, 2003).
Importantly, the question to be asked is who
loses and who benefited in the utilization of
casual/contract employment? Without
gainsaying, there is no clear beneficiary in
utilising casual/contract hiring particularly,
between the casual employees and the
employers. However, there are clear losers in
the whole process and the losers are
casual/contract employees, employers and
economic growth in Nigeria. On the part of
employees, Okafor (2007) argued that, losses
suffered by casual/contract employees include:
abysmal low wages, absence of medical care
allowances, job insecurity or lack or delay in
promotion at work, no gratuity and other
severance benefits, no leave or leave allowance,
jeopardized freedom of association, no death
benefits or accident insurance at work, no
negotiation or collective bargaining agreement.
The precarious condition of casual workers
makes them vulnerable to exploitation.
It is also important to note that, in nearly every
economic sector, good jobs are falling prey to
corporate cost-cutting moves at the expense of
the working families. Too many jobs are being
outsourced, contracted out, or reclassified under
a barrage of legal definitions designed to keep
pay down, benefits low, and unions out. Such
precarious situation affects worker experience at
work, how he or she makes decisions about
work and political issues and how such
individual relates to the broader labour market.
The growth in irregular work has changed the
nature of employment from a labour relationship
to a commercial relationship, with the worker
taking all the risks. There is now a sharp
worldwide rise in casual employment and a
parallel rise in the gap between wages and
benefits of permanent and casual workers. The
number of casual workers in Nigeria is hard to
pin down. In every full-time work there are four
casual workers. According to the International
Labour Organization (ILO) (using trade union
figures), the estimated ratio was about three to
employees, are hired directly by the company.
In addition, the negative consequences for
individual casual employees and instability that
follow leads to economic insecurity for the
workers and their families.
On the other hand, the employers that is utilising
casual/contract worker may also suffer some
loses as observed by Okafor and Rasak (2015),
such loses range from unscheduled turnover,
low morale of workforce and low levels of
employee productivity. Such situation may also
follow by lack of commitment by workers, lack
of initiative autonomy and poor communication
between the employees and employers among
other challenges that are not favourable to
organization survival and growth.
Casualization however brings in numerous
consequences on the employer. One of it is job
Modernisation or Modern Slavery: The Concept of Casual/Contract Labour and the Dilemma of
Economic Growth in Nigeria
ARC Journal of Addiction Page | 29
dissatisfaction which Udeozor (2007) identifies
as the bane of poor employee commitment and
lower productivity. It could also lead to
increased level of indiscipline on the side of the
employees. The rise in fraud perpetrated in
banks in the country could be connected to the
rampant cases of casualization of staff by the
financial institutions. Again, casualization could
also lead to employee turnovers. It also creates
the challenges of continuity and process
inconsistency as turnovers will mean constant
distortion of organizational activities,
socialization of new employees and their
training as well. These processes as short as
their duration may seem will create gaps in the
Apart from the issue of casualization is the
country high level of unemployment and
coupled with widespread poverty. These two
issues have bred a dangerous work environment
and have given much aid to the prevalence of
casualization of workers, as many desperate job
seekers in the labour force are willing to take
any job no matter how dirty or degrading it is.
Casual workers occupy a precarious position in
the workplace and society and they represents
new set of slaves and underclass in the modern
capitalist economy.
With regard to national economy growth, the
casualization of workers has great tendencies
destruct economic growth in a gradual but
consistent manner. Consequently, the country
would be dominated with large number of
retirees who have over-worked themselves with
little earnings and low or no savings to sustain
their retirement period, which would result in
the surge of population who still depend on the
government for survival and create burden on
both the government welfare strength and the
society at large.
As rightly observed by Hall (2000) casualization
may have untold negative effects on key aspects
of national economic performance such as skill
formation and development. Within such
framework, the labour force of the nation will
continue to suffer and be greatly affected. Hall
further stressed that casualization of workers has
potential to underminel economic progress due
to incessant agitations, industrial actions,
breakdown in production and services that
usually occasioned casualization mode hiring.
There is a general notion that casualization may
also increase the rate of brain drain and capital
flight in the country, since the nation labour
force will begin to run to other countries with
perceived better employment conditions and
working environment as has been witnessed in
Nigeria. More so, it renders the citizens who are
supposed to be the major beneficiaries of
economic investments impoverished and
completely hopeless. Again, it leads to disparity
among households over time
Given the fact that economic growth requires
robust and effective tax regime, casualization do
not contribute to the economy growth, due to
absence of tax from the earnings of casual
workers. Casualization it is not subjected to any
form of tax, and so they do not contribute to
(Enoghase: 2007). Similarly, casualization
equally creates recurring poverty and disruption
of family life. For instance, most of the youths
engaging in casual work often end up in
irregular jobs: as their job as soon as securing
the job which makes them more vulnerable to
social vices that could expose them life threaten
diseases such as HIV/AIDS. In the same vein,
companies have also scaled down education and
training as a way of cutting costs that lead to
skill reproduction insecurity, which will affect
industry and the whole economy in the long run.
More importantly, economic growth of any
nation would suffer a great setback especially,
when the middle class is fast approaching the
state of extinction or when they are suffocated
by the political system. The existence of a
robust middle class in developed economies of
the world has contributed immensely to their
economic growth, unlike in their developing
world counterpart. In the former, middle class
status is the norm, with a reasonable standard of
living enjoyed by the bulk of the population,
while in the latter, an estimated 3 billion people,
around half of all inhabitants in the developing
world, remain poor, living on less than US$2
per person per day (measured at purchasing
power parity).1 http://iresearch.worldbank. org/
PovcalNet/index.htm
Similarly, the growth of the middle class itself
has remained a key driver of the development
process in developed economies, with
widespread benefits to labour markets and the
broader economy. In essence, the role of middle
class in economic growth cannot be
overemphasised as argued by many scholars.
According to Amoranto et al. (2010) the middle
class hold values associated with higher rates of
economic growth, such as greater demand for
Modernisation or Modern Slavery: The Concept of Casual/Contract Labour and the Dilemma of
Economic Growth in Nigeria
ARC Journal of Addiction Page | 30
political accountability. Likewise, Loayza et al.
(2012) find that a growing middle class
improves democratic participation, reduces
corruption, increases spending on health and
education as a percentage of GDP, and leads to
reduced tariffs on international trade. In the
opinion of Easterly (2001) stressed that there is
having neither strong class differences nor
ethnic differences, which is a critical driver of
differences in the pace of economic
development, leading to higher rates of growth,
more human capital, infrastructure
accumulation, and more democratic societies.
As noted in the report by the African
Development Bank (2011) which revealed that
growth in the middle class is an important
medium and long-term development indicator in
Africa, as its growth is strongly linked with
faster rates of poverty reduction. Banerjee and
Dufflo (2008) and Chun (2010) argue that
because of the skills, income and values
characteristic of the middle class, growth in this
group leads to widespread gains in living
standards, as middle class workers are able to
invest in productive activities with broad
benefits to economies. In this sense, there is a
reflects on the middle class as a source of
entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as a
driver of domestic consumption, which results
in product differentiation, expanded investment
in production and marketing of new goods
(Kharas, 2010).
5. CONCLUSION
There is a wide spread of casualization of
workers virtually in all sectors of Nigerian
economy and the unprecedented increase in the
casualization mode of hiring is gradual
becoming acceptable norm of labour practice in
Nigeria. The forgoing trend of labour practise
has become an issue of great concern to
stakeholders as result of palpable fear from
workers about their jobs security, wages,
conditions of work and the long term negative
consequences of casualization on overall
economic growth in Nigeria. Notably,
casualization of workers regime becomes more
prevalent particularly, in the decade that follows
privatization, downsizing, contracting out and
restructuring policies in Nigeria. However, the
supposed anticipated benefits by the industries
that are utilising casual/contract workers have
the potential to produce some backlash that
would outweigh its benefits for employers and
the larger market.
Importantly, the question to be asked is who
loses and who benefited in the utilization of
casual/contract employment? Without
gainsaying, there is no clear beneficiary in
utilising casual/contract hiring particularly,
between the casual employees and the
employers. However, there are clear losers in
the whole process and the losers are
casual/contract employees, employers and
economic growth in Nigeria.
Thus, for casualization as mode of hiring of
workers to offer any benefit to employees,
employers and the Nigerian economy, its usage
must be, regulated, standardised, targeted at
mutual benefits of employees, employers and
the economy. The process should be design as a
step for acquiring requisite knowledge
particularly, by potentially inexperience
workers, non skilled workers and students that
are seeking temporary job either for financial
benefits or skills acquisition purposes. In
addition, their wages, conditions of service and
terms of contract must not be obscure and
should be reasonable enough for dignity of
human existence and there must be a justifiable
means of redress in case of infraction on the
rights of casual/contract workers.
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Citation: Badmus Bidemi Gafar, Oladiran, Afolabi, Badmus Adedayo Taiwo. Modernisation or Modern
Slavery: The Concept of Casual/Contract Labour and the Dilemma of Economic Growth in Nigeria. 2020;
4(2): 17-33
Copyright: © 2020 Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
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