The ILO Just Transition and Green Jobs for Nigeria Project Steering Committee Chart the Course for the Project

The ILO Just Transition and Green Jobs for Nigeria Project Steering Committee Chart the Course for the Project The Steering Committee of the ILO Just Transition and Green Jobs for Nigeria Project met on 27th January 2022 to map out strategies for effective implementation of the project in Nigeria. This followed the appointment of a National Project Coordinator (NPC), whose main function is to manage the implementation of the project.

Press release | 21 February 2022

Abuja (ILO News): The Steering Committee of the ILO Just Transition and Green Jobs for Nigeria Project met on 27th January 2022 to map out strategies for effective implementation of the project in Nigeria. This followed the appointment of a National Project Coordinator (NPC), whose main function is to manage the implementation of the project.

The overall objective of the project is to mobilize government, workers' and employers' organizations and development partners to accelerate climate action with decent work and just transition for all. Other objectives include:

Strengthen institutional capacity for the design and implementation of integrated evidence-based just transition policies;

Promote social dialogue platforms to helped lay the foundation for a just transition, through the resolution of social, environmental and economic conflicts;

Developed and pilote just transition policies conducive to job creation, skills development in green sectors, and adoption of social security measures in sectors impacted by climate change and ecological transition policies; and

Disseminate lessons learned from the intervention to inspire other countries and institutions in Africa to initiate just transition mechanisms and policies.

Ms Inviolata Chinyangarara representing the Director of ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, and Liaison Office for ECOWAS, Ms Vanessa Phala, congratulated participants for being part of the team. She noted that the actions planned under the project would contribute to strengthening the resilience of local economies and expansion of opportunities for decent job creation.

She stated that the Guidelines for a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all, adopted by the ILO constituents in 2015 had provided for a framework to guide this transformation.

She drew the attention of the members of the committee to the 2019 UN Climate Action for Jobs initiative which aimed at ensuring climate action that delivers decent jobs and social justice; supporting countries to provide solutions for a transition towards a sustainable future that is just and enjoys broad-based support; and facilitate an inclusive and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. She urged them to promote social dialogue and national consultations to ensure the achievement of the project.

The PSC members include, Dr. Martina Nwordu, Director, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, who was also nominated as the Chairperson of the committee. Iniobong Abiola-Awe, Ph.D., Director, Department of Climate Change, Federal Ministry of Environment (Member), Dr. Sanjo Faniran Director, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning (Member), Comrade Echezona Asuzu, - AGS, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) (Member), Comrade Anka Hassan, - DSG, Trade Union Congress (TUC) (Member), and Mr. Olusola Ayodele, Nigeria Employer’s Consultative Association (NECA), (Member). Members of the ILO, including the Project Coordinator, Mr. Stephen Agugua, and Mrs. Josephine Okoh, the Finance and Admins Assistant, will manage the committee’s secretariat. One of the highlights of the PSC inaugural meeting was the agreement to establish an Inter-Ministerial Working Group which will accommodate other relevant government ministries and agencies to ensure a robust consultative forum is established for the project.

The Committee nominated Dr. Martina Nwordu, a Director with Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, as the Chairperson of the Committee. In her speech, Dr Nwordu thanked the ILO and French Government for approving the project for Nigeria. She urged the Committee members to invest their best to ensure achievement of the objectives of the project in Nigeria.