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Collective agreement just like any other contract is bedevilled with enormous challenges. This paper examines the fate of Nigerian employees against the backdrop of the practice of statutory and common laws associated with the enforcement of duly concluded collective agreements in Nigeria. However, as this paper will reveal, a somewhat latitude to enforcing an ensuing collective agreement has evolved since the introduction of the National Industrial Court Act 2006 and the Constitution Federal Republic of Nigeria (Third Alteration) Act 2010. The findings expose several inconsistencies in the judicial approach, with the majority of its decisions being predicated upon the rule that collective agreements are not binding which is a relic of the antiquated common law principle that a collective agreement is merely a 'gentleman agreement'. This paper, in reflecting on the core labour standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), suggests policy reforms and positive change in judicial attitude as panacea to bridge the gap and pace up the lag behind international labour standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]