A former National Deputy Vice President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Issa Aremu, has advocated re-industrialisation of moribund textile industries in the country.
Aremu made the call at the University of Ilorin, in the first Personality Paper Presentation titled: ‘‘Scaling the Hurdles of Economic Quagmire’’.
He advised that the nation should, as a matter of urgency, declare emergency on job creation with a view to transforming Nigeria from being a consuming nation to a producing one.
Aremu commended the Federal Government for eventually coming up with a blueprint almost two years after the inauguration of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration that promised Nigerians ‘‘Change’’.
He said that the Federal Government, in a document, had stated that the nation had recorded highest economic growth of 6.7 percent.
“It is, however, below the 12 and 15 per cent rates which the Federal Government consistently recorded in the 60s,’’ the labour leader said.
Aremu said Nigeria must borrow a leaf from countries like China and neighbouring Tanzania and Kenya that were working toward realising the vision 2050 and 2040.
He advised the government to harness the resources of the country for national prosperity and welfare of the citizens as stated in the constitution.
The labour leader also canvassed for increased wages for workers, saying the current minimum wage could not get Nigerians out of recession in the face of galloping inflation.
“Poorly paid workers cannot be productive and if they are not productive, there cannot be economic growth and recovery’’, he said.
In his address, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, said the institution had various entrepreneurship programmes.
Ambali said the programmes had “transited from producing graduates that are job seekers to job creators’’.
According to him, this has served as a way of responding to the economic challenges confronting the nation.
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