Economic reforms: MINILS makes case for capacity-building

By Bimbola Oyesola

As the federal government intensifies efforts to reset the economic fortunes of the country,  a call has been made for sustainable improved mass knowledge in the implementation and management of reforms as a way of overcoming the economic crisis.

Director-general of the Micheal Imoudu National Institute for Labour studies (MINILS), Kwara State, Issa Aremu, speaking at the opening of the 32nd Education Conference of the National Union of Chemical Footwear Rubber Leather and Non-Metallic Products Employees ( NUCFRLANMPE) in Ilorin, Kwara State, lamented that with spiral inflation, depreciating naira, rising unemployment and recent mass protests Nigeria faces economic crisis.

Reflecting on the theme of the conference, “Capacity Building for Effective Industrial Relations in An Era of Economic Crisis”, Aremu noted that a sustained improvement of knowledge by all stakeholders in the implementation and management of reforms was urgent to maximize the benefits therefrom.

Aremu said while reforms initiated by  President Bola Ahmed Tinubu were inevitable to “free much needed resources” for economic recovery and poverty eradication, sustainable reforms must be gradual and participatory for citizens’ ownership and support.

The DG, therefore, called for what he termed “mass literacy about imperatives of reforms as well as responses to reforms through capacity-building on the imperatives of social dialogue for policy reform.

According to him, the “three sustainable solutions” to the current economic crisis in Nigeria are “education, education and education”.

He stated that, in line with the ministerial mandate, the institute will organize a 2024 National Labour Summit on “The Future of Work and Renewed Hope Agenda: Issues and Perspectives”.

Aremu also commended members and leaders of the private sector union of NUCFRLANMPE for their investment in workers’ education over the past decades.

In his remarks, the national president of the union, Babatunde Olatunji, noted that investment in workers’ education has paid off in terms of industrial peace, industrial justice and harmony in the chemical, leather and footwear sector of the economy.