ILO pledges support for Michael Imoudu Institute

THE International Labour Organization (ILO) has pledged support for Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin, Nigeria.

The director of the ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and Liaison Office for ECOWAS, Mr. Dennis Zulu, made the pledge in response to a presentation made on areas for possible ILO intervention during the MINILS 2019 Annual Public Lecture and National Dialogue, held at the Ilorin campus of the institute recently.

The annual lecture, with a theme: Casting Human Rights in Employment Relations Mould: From State to Workplace Perspective was organised to address human rights issues within employment relations.

The public lecture was organised in conjunction with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Delivering his goodwill message at the event, Mr. Zulu acknowledged MINILS contributions to debates on key labour issues that are of interest to the ILO.

According to him, the public lecture was of a great relevance to the ILO’s objectives as it (ILO) celebrates its centenary this year.

He stated that from its inception in 1919, the ILO had been using standards to address workers’ rights globally and at the workplace.

He congratulated Nigeria on being the first African country to host both the First African Office of the ILO in 1959 and the First ILO African Regional Conference in Lagos from 5-16 December 1960.

The ILO director stated that the ILO’s engagement with MINILS since its inception had yielded positive results over the years and had affected labour administration in Nigeria positively.

He was optimistic that ILOs continuous engagement with MINILS, partners and other relevant stakeholders would bring more benefits to Nigerians. He commended MINILS for taking the initiative to share information and good practices on labour issues.

Zulu pledged the ILO’s support to some of the activities and programmes of the institute to enable the institute impact positively on the beneficiaries of such programmes.

In his goodwill message, the NLC general secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, commended the ILO for adopting a number of conventions and recommendations to moderate industrial relations in the work place.

He listed them as the convention of Freedom of Association, Organizing, Collective Bargaining, Full and Productive Employment, Elimination of all Forms of Forced Labour, Abolition of Child Labour and the Elimination of Discrimination in Employment and Occupation.

He urged workers and employers to use these standards to demand their rights.

Mr. Saliu Alabi, director-general of MINILS, in his address gave detailed overview of the strategic nature of the theme of the lecture.

Speaking on the theme of the lecture, he said that human rights are key elements in overall strategy for engendering decent jobs as well as transforming employment relationships and work place practices.

He commended the Ministry of Labour and Employment and other partners, including the ILO, for their support to the institute and emphasized that the dialogue would give momentum to the cause of human rights and employment relations in Nigeria.