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By Bimbola Oyesola
Members of the Organized Labour and women in the informal sector of the economy on Wednesday were assured of improved wage income, empowerment and jobs security under the leadership of the President-Elect, Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Shettima Khashim.
The Director General, Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS) Ilorin, Issa Aremu, speaking at the activities organized by the women commission of the Institute to mark this year 2023 International Women’s Day (IWD), said the record of labour administration of the President elect as former two-term governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007 and campaign program of All Progressive Congress (APC) positioned him “as the possible best labour friendly president” in waiting.”
International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
Aremu who is also the Director of the 75-person Labour Directorate of Asiwaju/ Shetima presidential campaign Council (PCC) said Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the first presidential candidate to engage both NLC and TUC members on critical labour market issues with promises of social dialogue as means for resolving inevitable disputes in the world of work.
He described the president elect and his vice president as “ tested and trusted democratic state and non-state icons” who would consolidate on some of the pro- labour legacies of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said that Tinubu would engage organized labour on all outstanding issues of living wage, gender equity, pension, labour motivation, productivity, social protection and dispute resolutions.
He recalled that the President elect “had been a frequent visiting friend of labour and often intervened between organized labour and government on contentious policy issues at the time it was not fashionable to do so”.
He said, “Lagos State under Bola Ahmed and subsequent Governors has been known to be at the vanguard of improving workers welfare, not only implemented all the minimum wages passed in the last 20 years, but has not been known to have defaulted in salary payment to its workers.
Despite the withheld Local Government Fund, the State still prioritized payment of salary for its workers including local government employees.
“Lagos has successfully implemented the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to ensure healthy retirement and guarantee regular payment of pension to workers in future”.
Aremu said while many states are yet to sign on to the compulsory CPS, Lagos since 2004 has paid as much as N150 billion to almost 30,000 retirees, adding that President elect Ashiwaju remains “the best labour-friendly in waiting that would guaranteed decent work”.
The Director General who commended Nigerians for keeping faith with democratic process in the past 24 years despite the challenges of “rising inflation and wage income poverty” also hailed the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for the successful conclusion of the 13th National Delegates’ conference in which Joseph Ajaero and Adeyanju Adewale emerged as the National President and Deputy President respectively.
He however decried sharp drop in the numbers of women candidates in the 2023 elections compared to 2019 elections.
“Democracy is only sustainable with inclusive participation of women as candidates as much as voters,” he stated.
