LASU Journal of Employment Relations and Human Resource Management
(LJERHRM)
ISSN: 2705-3482
Volume 6, No. 1, 2026
Pages 120-144
DOI: 10.36108/ljerhrm/6202.60.0190
Algorithmic Management, Digital Surveillance, and Worker Voice among App-Based Delivery Riders in Lagos State, Nigeria: A Structured Integrative Review
Azeez Busayo KEHINDE
National Data College, Institute of Data Processing Management (IDPM), Lagos, Nigeria
Abstract
This article examines how algorithmic management and digital surveillance shape worker voice in app-based delivery work, focusing on delivery riders in Lagos State, Nigeria. It responds to four persistent weaknesses in the literature: a tendency to treat management, surveillance, and voice as separate conversations; the relative neglect of delivery labour compared with ride-hailing; the limited visibility of Global South settings; and insufficient attention to how Lagos-specific frictions alter platform control in everyday practice. Drawing on a bounded structured integrative review informed by PRISMA-ScR reporting principles and JBI scoping-review guidance, searches undertaken between 1 and 6 April 2026 across Google Scholar, targeted publisher platforms, institutional repositories and citation trails produced 312 records. After duplicate removal and staged relevance screening, 31 sources were retained for synthesis, comprising 19 peer-reviewed journal articles, 1 doctoral dissertation, 7 institutional or policy reports, 1 scholarly book, and 3 methodological guidance sources. The resulting corpus strengthens delivery-specific and recent coverage while maintaining clear evidential boundaries. Five challenge domains recur: opaque allocation and evaluation; surveillance-driven behavioural discipline; asymmetric risk transfer and income insecurity; weak procedural voice and fear of retaliation; and fragmented but expanding collective representation. The article develops a voice-reconfiguration governance model in which decision opacity, surveillance intensity, sanction uncertainty and risk transfer suppress direct voice. At the same time, Lagos-specific frictions redirect voice into extra-platform collective channels. The central claim is simple: worker voice is not diminished by technology alone; it is redistributed through the governance architecture of algorithmic control.
Keywords: Algorithmic Management; Digital Surveillance; Worker Voice; Delivery Riders; Platform Work; Gig Economy, Lagos State, Nigeria.