says reforms inevitable
By Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
The need for sustainable improved mass knowledge on the implementation and management of reforms of the Federal Government as a panacea for overcoming the current economic crisis in the country has been stressed.
The Director General of Michael IMOUDU National Institute for Labour studies (MINILS), Comrade Issa Aremu, stated this on Monday at the opening of the 32nd Education Conference on the National Union of Chemical Employees (NUFLAMPE) in Nigeria in Ilorin.
Speaking on the theme: Capacity Building for Effective Industrial Relations in An Era of Economic Crisis”, Comrade Aremu said with spiral inflation, Naira value fall, rising unemployment and recent mass protests, Nigeria currently faces economic crisis. He however observed that a sustained improvement of knowledge by all stakeholders on the implementation and management of the reforms was urgent to maximise the benefits of reforms.
Comrade Aremu opined that the reforms initiated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu were inevitable to “free the much needed resources” for economic recovery and poverty eradication, adding that sustainable reforms must be gradual and participatory for citizens’ ownership and support.
The Director General therefore stressed the need for proper education and enlightenment on the imperatives of reforms as well as responses to reforms through capacity building on the imperatives of social dialogue for policy reform.
According to him, the “three sustainable solutions” to the current economic crisis in Nigeria are education, education and education.
He added that in line with the ministerial mandate of the Institute, arrangement is in the pipeline to organise the 2024 National Labour Summit MINILS on “The Future of Work and Renewed Hope Agenda: Issues and Perspectives”.
Comrade Aremu commended members and leadership of private sector union of Chemical Employees ( NUFLAMPE) for their investment in workers’ education over the past decades.
In his remarks, the National President of Union of Chemical Employees, comrade Babatunde Olatunji, noted that investment in workers education has paid off in terms of industrial peace, industrial justice and harmony in the chemical leather and footwear sector of the economy.