NIgeria’s Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Bako Lalong, has guaranteed the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that Nigeria will continue to collaborate with the body for the betterment of workers.
Mr. Lalong, in a press release issued by the Ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr. Olajide Oshundun said that the partnership will also help to promote the dignity of Labour, thereby conforming to the Conventions it is signatory to.
While interacting with the Country Director of ILO, Vanessa Phala at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, the minister acknowledged the support and collaboration of the ILO over the years, particularly in the areas of capacity-building and partnerships that have made the work environment for Nigerians productive and engaging.
His words: “Under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the Ministry of Labour and Employment is very much ready to take the relationship with the ILO to a higher level.”
Similarly, Mr. Lalong convinced the ILO team that Nigeria is determined to work on the ececution of all the protocols it has ratified as a way of building confidence within the country and the world stage.
Meanwhe, the ILO Country Director, who also oversees Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the ECOWAS, Vanessa Phala said their visit to the Ministry was to felicitate the Minister and Minister of State on their appointments.
Phala also guaranteed the Ministry that ILO is open to more partnership with the Federal Government of Nigeria.
” ILO would stay steadfast in ensuring that Nigeria attained the National Employment Policy, effectively deal with the matters of child and forced labour, as well as other issues. The Country Director also commended Nigeria for being up to date in its reporting system. which is noteworthy.”
She enjoined Mr. Lalong to seek the priorities of job creation, enterprise development, social protection and the establishment of the National Labour Advisory Council, stressing that it would enhance dialogue and minimise industrial disputes through proactive measures.
