Abstract
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 makes the Court of
Appeal the final court in civil appeals emanating from the National
Industrial Court. A critical examination reveals that the jurisdiction of the
Court appears to go beyond the mere interpretation of law to crystallisation
of labour jurisprudence in Nigeria. It is within this context that this paper
examines the suitability or otherwise of the Court of Appeal as the final court
to affirm the emerging labour jurisprudence. This paper analyses the
relevant law, the decisions of the National Industrial Court and the review
of same by the Court of Appeal. It reveals that the expertise at the level of
the National Industrial Court is absent at the Court of Appeal, thus,
resulting to a regime of conflicting decisions by the Court of Appeal. While
agreeing with the need for speedy dispensation of labour matters, the paper
argues that judges of the National Industrial Court should be elevated to the
Court of Appeal, or in the alternative, a National Labour Appeal Court,
which is expertly constituted, should be established to hear appeals from the
National Industrial Court.