ILO and Nigeria discuss the ILO Future of work initiative

Abuja (ILO News) - The Director of ILO Country Office, Abuja, Mr Dennis Zulu, on Thursday 21st April 2016, paid a courtesy visit to Nigeria’s Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator (Dr) Chris Ngige, to discuss the ILO’s Future of Work Initiative and support to Nigeria.

During the working visit attended by the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Directors and senior officials of the Ministry, Mr Zulu briefed the Honourable Minister on some of the key support of the ILO geared towards repositioning Nigeria on the path of sustainable growth and development through employment creation.

High on the agenda was also a comprehensive briefing on some key programmes of the ILO in Nigeria.

ILO Future of Work Initiative

Mr. Dennis Zulu informed Senator (Dr.) Chris Ngige of the future of work centenary initiative in which all ILO constituents are expected to make positive contribution to. According to Mr Zulu, the world of work is undergoing a major process of change. There are several forces transforming it, from the onward march of technology and the impact of climate change to the changing character of production, employment, and demographics to name a few.

He shared the newly launched ILO Director-General Guy Ryder’s "Future of Work initiative" seeking to involve the ILO's tripartite constituency fully and universally, but also to reach beyond them to the academic world and to all other relevant and interested actors. He asked the Honourable Minster to be prepared to drive the process in Nigeria to effectively contribute to the initiative.

On Nigeria’s Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) II, 2015 – 2018, Mr. Zulu informed the Honourable Minister that DWCP provides a framework for the ILO constituents in Nigeria to collaborate with the various public and private sector stakeholders with technical assistance from the ILO. He informed the Minister that Nigeria’s DWCP was ready for his signature and launch.

On National Employment Policy, Mr. Zulu stated that given the employment challenges in the county, a holistic National Employment Policy was imperative for the attainment of decent employment for Nigerian youths, women and men. He informed the Minister that the draft National Employment Policy was ready for validation and the ILO was ready to work with the constituents to finalize it and get it approved by Federal Executive Council.

He also informed the Minister that the ILO was working with the government of Nigeria and other UN agencies to validate the Social Protection Policy for Nigeria, adding that the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has a crucial role to play in the finalization of the policy. He requested the Honourable Minister to make impactful contribution to the process of validation in view of the strategic importance of the Ministry.

Strategic cooperation

In his response, Senator (Dr.) Ngige welcomed and thanked the ILO for all its support to Nigeria, informing the ILO Director that although the Ministry has changed its name from Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity to Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, the change was meant to emphasize the drive of government towards employment creation and that productivity was still a strong component of the Ministry’s focus.

He informed the ILO that the APC-led government was focusing on three main areas in order to reposition Nigeria for growth. According to him the three main areas were Security, Economy and Governance, adding that the ILO and the Ministry have a lot to do together to support Nigeria in the area of economy. He outlined some of the plans of the Ministry to include employment creation through Graduate teachers programme which is aimed to improve the quality of education while generating employment; skills acquisition programme for non-graduates and conditional cash transfer scheme for uneducated women and youth. He requested the ILO’s technical and financial support in making the programmes a success.

He pledged his readiness to sign the Decent Work Country Programme for Nigeria and play active roles in the validation of National Employment policy and Social Protection Policy.

He however, reminded Mr. Zulu of the request by Nigeria for the Director-General of the ILO to visit Nigeria soon even as he stated that no ILO Director-General had ever visited Nigeria since 1959 when the first African Office of the ILO was established in Nigeria. He also reminded the ILO of Nigeria’s request to upgrade the ILO Office in Abuja to a Multi-Disciplinary Office to ensure delivery of effective services to over 180 million Nigerians. He called on the ILO to provide more capacity building opportunities for the officials of the Ministry to enable them reposition the Ministry for effective service delivery to Nigerians.