THE RENEWED Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the area of capacity building for the country’s labour force got a boost last week as the International Labour Organization (ILO), University of Greenwich’s Centre of Research on Employment and Work (UoG-CREW), London partner with the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin in the areas of workers’ education, training and research for enhance productivity, industrial peace and harmony at workplaces.
The partnership agreements between the MINILS, the premier Labour Institute in Nigeria, and the ILO International Training Centre (ITC/ILO) in Turin, Italy, are two major takeaways by the Nigerian delegation at the recently concluded 353rd Session of the Governing Body (GB) of the ILO, held from March 10 to 20, 2025 in Geneva.
The Governing Body is the executive council of the ILO which meets three times a year in Geneva to take decisions on ILO policies.
This year’s official delegation included the Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Dingyadi Muhammad Maigari, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, the Director General of MINILS, Comrade Issa Aremu, Director, Productivity Department, Emmanuel Igbinesson, the ILO’s Nigeria Labour Attache, Essah Aniefiok and lead consultant, Dr Amos Hosea Kuje.
The agreement with the ITC/ILO in Turin, Italy, is the outcome of a year-long engagement championed by the Director General of MINILS, Comrade Aremu, aimed at reviving the moribund partnership with the ILO in areas of workforce capacity building.
It would be recalled that since the COVID-19 pandemic, the ILO had envisaged MINILS as the destination for sustainable on-site/online labour education for Nigeria and the West Africa sub-region and for Africa as a whole.
Key highlights of the ITC/ILO Turin Memorandum include Technical support and assistance in the provision of learning services, upgrading of MINILS’ training and distance (e-learning) programmes; enrichment of MINILS’ curriculum and learning materials for its advanced certificate and regular training programmes; development of institutional assessments and capacity development plans, improvement of MINILS’ online training capacity and the digitalization of the MINILS’ library.
On national capacity development, the collaboration also centres on the implementation of tailor-made training activities in Turin or in Nigeria for Nigeria’s trade unions, employers’ associations, government institutions, and other interested parties on industrial relations, policy and development issues.
Critical training areas consistent with President Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda include impactful social dialogue in Nigeria’s world of work; collaborative leadership skills for social partners; strengthening tripartism and effective labour management relations; trade union administration and governance in an era of change and renewed hope.
Others include effective administration and implementation of tripartite collective agreement by public and private institutions. The agreement also envisages staff exchange, exposure visits and experience sharing between the two institutions.
The ITC/ILO Director, Christophe Perrin and MINILS Director General, Comrade Aremu, signed on behalf of Turin Centre and MINILS respectively.
In a similar vein, the agreement with the University of Greenwich Centres on research, employment and work, with both parties agreeing to develop collaborative activities in academic and educational work inclusive of the exchange of information and materials that are of mutual interest; Exchange of scientific and pedagogical staff and students; realization of joint research; conduct of joint lectures, seminars and events; and preparation of joint publications and exchange of research results.
Importantly, both parties agree to secure funding to allow for the successful implementation of the MOU.
Stakeholders in the labour market hailed the signing of the two historic agreements as significant critical success milestones under the leadership of Comrade Aremu in repositioning MINILS which was established in 1983 with the expressed mandate to promote labour education.
The Geneva/London agreements have further reinforced local and international linkages of the Institute that include ILO Nigeria office, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), Development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) and Kwara State Government on domesticating National women initiatives and policies for women empowerment, West African Management Development Institute (WAMDEVIN), National Universities Commission (NUC) for accreditation of the Institute’s Bachelor of Science in Industrial relations and Personnel Management programme in affiliation with the University of Ilorin, Lagos State University (LASU), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), on National Policy Dialogue series on “Living Wages and Corruption in Nigeria”, the National Salaries, Incomes & Wages Commission (NSIWC), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its affiliate unions), Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) as well as Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Kuru, Jos.
Arising from the new transformational development, Comrade Aremu urged all labour market stakeholders to take advantage of the repositioned Institute to develop the capacities of their employees, administrators and executive officers for an effective, efficient and productive workforce.
The ILO Director General, Gilbert F. Houngbo hailed the new pact for expanded labour educational service delivery for MINILS “as a significant milestone for labour education in Nigeria and West Africa.”
