Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda gains momentum as MINILS partners with ILO and UK University on workers’ education
By Mahmood Olayinka Alaya
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for workforce development received a major boost last week as the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the University of Greenwich’s Centre of Research on Employment and Work (UoG-CREW), London, signed key agreements with the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin.
The partnership focuses on workers’ education, training, and research to enhance productivity, industrial peace, and workplace harmony.
The historic agreements, signed at the recently concluded 353rd Session of the Governing Body of the ILO in Geneva (March 10-20), mark a significant step in repositioning MINILS as a regional hub for labour education.
The Governing Body of the ILO, which meets three times annually, serves as the organization’s executive council, setting key global labour policies.
This year’s Nigerian delegation included; Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr. Dingyadi Muhammad Maigari, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Director General of MINILS, Comrade Issa Aremu, mni, Director, Productivity Department, Emmanuel Igbinesson, ILO Nigeria Labour Attaché, Essah Aniefiok and Lead Consultant, Dr. Amos Hosea Kuje
The agreement between MINILS and the ILO International Training Centre (ITCILO) in Turin, Italy, is the result of a year-long engagement led by MINILS Director General, Comrade Issa Aremu which seeks to revive and strengthen a previously dormant partnership to build workforce capacity.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the ILO has identified MINILS as a strategic center for sustainable on-site and online labour education in Nigeria, West Africa, and the entire African continent.
The ITCILO-MINILS Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) outlines several key areas of collaboration, Technical support and learning services, Upgrading MINILS’ training and e-learning programs, Enhancing curriculum and learning materials, Developing institutional assessment and capacity-building plans, Improving MINILS’ online training capacity and digitalizing its library
Additionally, the partnership will support customized training programs in Nigeria and Turin for trade unions, employers’ associations, government institutions, and other stakeholders. Training areas align with President Tinubu’s workforce development priorities.
The agreement also includes staff exchange programs, experience-sharing initiatives, and exposure visits between the two institutions.
ITCILO Director Christophe Perrin and MINILS Director General, Comrade Issa Aremu, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective institutions.
In a separate agreement, MINILS partnered with the University of Greenwich’s Centre of Research on Employment and Work (UoG-CREW) to advance labour research and education.
This MoU focuses on joint research on employment and labour market trends, Exchange of academic materials and information, Staff and student exchange programs, Collaborative lectures, seminars, and academic events, Joint publications and research dissemination, Securing funding for research initiatives.
Labour market stakeholders have praised these agreements as critical milestones under the leadership of Comrade Issa Aremu, who has been instrumental in repositioning MINILS. Established in 1983, the Institute has a mandate to promote labour education and has strengthened both local and international linkages in recent years.
MINILS’ collaborations now include partnerships with, ILO Nigeria Office, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), Germany, Development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC), Kwara State Government (on women’s empowerment initiatives), West African Management Development Institute (WAMDEVIN), National Universities Commission (NUC) (for accreditation of its B.Sc. Industrial Relations and Personnel Management program in affiliation with the University of Ilorin), Lagos State University (LASU), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) (on National Policy Dialogue Series on Living Wages and Corruption), National Salaries, Incomes & Wages Commission (NSIWC), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and affiliate unions, Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru
Following these developments, Director General Comrade Aremu urged labour unions, government institutions, and private sector organizations to leverage MINILS’ expanded training capacity to develop the skills of their workforce.
The ILO Director General, Gilbert F. Houngbo, commended the ILO-MINILS partnership, describing it as “a major milestone for labour education in Nigeria and West Africa.”
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