Elected Labour Union Leaders Must Undergo Training In MINILS — Minister

By Fatima Mohammed-Lawal

Dr Chris Nigige, Minister for Labour and Employment, has saud that all elected Labour Union leaders in Nigeria would be required to undergo leadership training at the Micheal Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS) for effective service to the nation.

The Minister stated this on Tuesday in Ilorin while delivering speech at the Institute’s 40 Anniversary Lecture Programme and Conferrment of Fellowship Awards.

He was represented by Dr kashim Akor, the
Director General of National Productivity Center.

Ngige said the Federal Government has realised the importance of leadership training for labour leaders and is taking steps to ensure elected officers are groomed appropriately in the task expected of them.

The minister stressed that the era of brigandage leadership was gone and that Nigeria needed to transit to more civilized way of engagement as obtained in more advanced Countries.

He added that Nigeria has to embrace the right attitude to resolving issues with a view to fostering the desired growth and rapid transformation in the country.

The Minister disclosed of further partnership with Zimbabwe, Harare on labour matters, while reiterating the importance of knowledge.

In his address, Mr Issa Aremu, the Director General of MINILS stated that it had been 40 years of dogged determination to surmount the challenges of Institution building in Nigeria.

He noted that the first MINILS’ founder day lecture, is on the theme: “Workers Education in Nigeria: Past, Present and Future”, aimed to highlight the importance of building working class consciousness to confront the vagaries of the world of work.

“It is unquestionable that workers need specialized education focused on entrenching rights and duties of citizenship and as economic actors.

“Workers education enunciates practical theory of the power matrices entailed in employment which forms basis for unions’ independence and legitimizes their agency roles.

“MINILS had been pivotal in 40 years providing essential knowledge and skills that bolstered constructive engagements of representatives of the Industrial Relations Tripods,” he said.

Aremu stated that the Institute had relied on organizing of seminars, workshops and conferences mostly of short duration in the past 40 years to serve stakeholders’ labour educational needs.

He emphasised that there is rising realization of the importance of life-long learning and self directed professionalism as basis for employment and jobs security.

“Currently, MINILS is redirecting to better serve emergent demographics of working people.

“New approaches include academic programmes (B.Sc and ND), professional Examination in Industrial Relations, Technical and Vocational Education, Entrepreneurship Training (TVET), catering for artisans and unemployed youths.

“The Institute is improving its on-line/e-campus facilities to provide distance learning and therefore serve workers’ needs for flexible learning on a long term basis without compromising jobs securities,” he said.

In his lecture presentation, Prof Dafe Otobo, an expert in Industrial Relations at the Faculty of Business Administration, University of Lagos, explored history of labour education in Nigeria from the slave trade, colonial, post colonial and military era.

His presentation was entitled: “Workers Education in Nigeria: Past, Present and Future,”.

He observed that the military era was characterised with centralisation of power subjugation of political opposition and suppression of organized Labour.

Otobo described Labour as the number of workers in the economy and the efforts that they put to providing goods and services.

He emphasised on the need for labour education which he includes from primary, secondary, tertiary or undergoing apprenticeship.

According to him, the establishment of MINILS has recorded success story in the country, while tasking the institute to bring about novel ways of confronting challenges faced by workers in Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that institute conferred fellowship awards to 115 recipients. (NAN)
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