As Tinubu administration counts down on 2 years anniversary on May 25th the Federal government has been advised to strengthen labour market institutions to complement Renewed Hope Agenda with respect to decent mass employment, productivity improvement, industrial harmony and poverty eradication.
Comrade Issa AREMU,the Director General of Micheal Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies,(MINILS) Ilorin gave this advice on Saturday.
Speaking on the occasion of the commemoration of the first 4 year tenure as the substantive Director General of the Institute, Comrade Aremu praised Tinubu administration for appreciating labour as source of national wealth through revised national minimum wage and payment of outstanding pension arrears.
Reflecting on the growth and development of the premier National Institute for labour studies since it was inaugurated by the late President SHEHU Shagari in 1983, comrade Aremu disclosed that it was the need for “Nigeria first in labour Education that made Nigerian government to take over all foreign sponsored labour education institutions that made Nigeria to establish a National Institute for Labour Studies in 1975 Labour Policy.
The 5th Director General said it was remarkable that MINILS has impacted on hundreds of thousands of Nigerian workers in the past 42 years through its regular systemic educational service delivery. Aremu said on assumption of office as the 5th Director General of MINILS he made it a deliberate policy to direct procurement process of the Institute to purchase locally assembled vehicles among others in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He therefore urged other relevant agencies key to the initiative by President Bola Tinubu aimed at placing Nigerians at the heart of all business and economic activities in the country.
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP OF COMRADE ISSA AREMU mni DG MINILS SINCE 2021
On the state of the Institute since 2021 assumed office the Director General praised the management team and staff in the past 4 years who have tirelessly offered transformational leadership to reposition the hitherto underperforming Institute to a fast-performing visible agency of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment based on its statutory mandate. “For the first time in its existence, MINILS) initiated and inaugurated a corporate Strategic Plan (2022-2026) for the Institute. The Plan sets the framework and roadmap for the systematic growth of MINILS within the context of its enabling statute, and the legitimate expectations of stakeholders making MINILS more visible, and aligned in its activities with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The Institute has also been active in promoting industrial harmony at workplaces, labour/ government social dialogue, youth skill acquisition programme, youth and women inclusion, and mass digital literacy for self-employment and empowerment. Members of organized trade unions in Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) as well as members of Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) at Federal and the states regularly patronize MINILS today for labour education. As part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to promote workplace harmony for national development, MINILS Surpassed the 2024 Ministerial Deliverables Target of 1250 to over 3000 on-site/online at the Institute in Ilorin. The 8- 8-point agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Labour, Employment and Employment Programme (LEEP) initiated by the Honorable Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Nkiruka Onyejeocha aimed at promoting youth employment through skill acquisitions and digital economy. MINILS under Mr Aremu has trained as many as 720 youths drawn across the Six Geo-political zone in the country on entrepreneurship skills in Cinematography & Photography, Carpentry &Wood work, Tie &Dye. Having completed the construction of the Entrepreneurship Development Centre in 2022 under his leadership, equipped with sewing machines, photographic and carpentry equipment, Mr Aremu has commendably diversified the Institute’s training beyond the traditional courses of collective bargaining, grievance handling for industrial peace and harmony at workplaces to include massive job creation and poverty eradication through skills acquisition training. Under the SKILL-UP-ARTISANS (SUPA) program of the Federal Government initiated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, MINILS under Mr Aremu trained 220 participants in various trades as; Cut and Sew, Woodwork and Carpentry and Designing.
INCLUSIVE TRAINING
MINILS also recorded a significant gender mix of both male and female participants from different unions, employers’ associations and states including People Living with Disabilities (PLWD) in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of inclusion of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Participants from the six geopolitical zones of the country attended the yearly MINILS training programmes implying that the Institute has impacted nationally based on its mandate.
Meanwhile critical stakeholders at the event that included trade unionists, human right activists, Ilorin host community associations hailed AREMU’s tenure that brought the Institute from obscurity to positive visibility with many calling for renewal of his appointment for second term in office.