The Government of Nigeria convenes a National Stakeholders’ Workshop on Labour Market Information System (LMIS)
With support from the International Labour Organization (ILO), and within the framework of FAIRWAY global programmme, the Government of Nigeria has facilitated a National Stakeholders’ Workshop on Labour Market Information System (LMIS) from 11th - 14th of October 2022
The workshop provided a platform for social dialogue to follow-up on and advance the conversations initiated at the National Conference on Employment Promotion in order to discuss priorities around LMIS in Nigeria. It recognized that strengthening the capability of officers on the collection, processing and analysis of statistics would improve evidence-based policymaking and progress towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular, the SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth. It further provided a platform for technical consultations relating to labour migration data and statistics in Nigeria, including on the possibilities of a pilot survey on SDG 10.7.1 on recruitment costs.
While declaring the workshop open, Mr. John Nyamali, Director of the Employment and Wages Department at the FMLE reiterated the importance of having a comprehensive LMIS in place, as this would be instrumental towards addressing challenges experienced in Nigeria’s labour market.
He commended ILO for providing the resources for convening the workshop, including through technical assistance, while adding that in a bid to demonstrate its commitment in this regard, the Government has engaged a national consultant to initiate processes and engagement towards developing a comprehensive LMIS for the country.
Additional remarks delivered by Mr. Dino Corell on behalf of Ms. Vanessa Phala, Director of the ILO Abuja Office, noted the opportunity presented by the workshop, as it would enable the facilitation of discussions and exchanges on a wide variety of national priorities around labour market information in Nigeria.
Mr. Edgardo Greising, Head of ILO’s Microdata and Knowledge Management Unit and Mr. Yacouba Diallo, Senior Specialist on Labour Statistics in ILO’s Decent Work Team in Dakar, Senegal served as resource persons during technical sessions structured to strengthen the capacity of national stakeholders in the area of LMIS and Labour Migration.
Technical sessions covered during the workshop included a focus on LMIS, particularly with reference to metadata and data exchange, data management, including collection, analysis, and interpretation for reporting purposes, with consideration for end users of the data. The sessions also centered on strengthening LMIS in Nigeria, with an emphasis on labour statistics and labour migration, as well as technical consultations on improving institutional coordination mechanisms and governance structures required to effectively manage LMIS.
The workshop was convened by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment with support from the ILO within the framework of the Promoting Employment in Nigeria (PEN) and Employment and Reintegration Project (ERN) funded by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), as well as the FAIRWAY Global Programme funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
Comprehensive LMI can be achieved through an effective system that provides labour market-related information. ILO recognizes the importance of an effective LMIS, especially as they provide an essential basis for the implementation and monitoring of employment and labour policies.
The ILO continues to provide support to the Government of Nigeria in improving the availability and accessibility of data and statistics in the area of labour migration, including through the validation of the national report on labour migration data, in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).