ILO to provide expertise for Nigeria to review labour laws

INTERNATIONAL Labour Organisation, ILO, is to provide Nigeria with technical assistance to train factory inspectors and other professionals in the Ministry of Labour and Employment towards the attainment of decent work and sustainable development in the country. 

It equally offered to assist the nation with experts in labour laws to help in the review and passage of labour laws in the country. 

This followed the request by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige when he led the Nigeria delegation at the on-going International Labour Conference, ILC, on a visit to the Director General of ILO, Mr. Guy Ryder. 

In the same vein, the Deputy Director General, Governance and Tripatism of ILO, Moussaka Oumarou emphasized the need to focus more on “train the trainers.” According to him, ILO would do its best to not only assist Nigeria to get back factory inspectors, but in other areas of need requested by the Nigeria delegation. 

Senator Chris Ngige had earlier told the ILO that Nigeria was planning to revive the Labour Advisory Council, which had been dormant for over five years to ensure industrial harmony in the country. He insisted that Nigeria Government would also strengthen the child labour law in the country and carry out lots of sensitization 

According to him, Nigeria would need lots of technical assistance available at the ILO to do that, listing other areas where the country needed technical assistance from the ILO, as in the area of capacity building to strengthen the National Industrial Court and to strengthen labour laws in the country. The Minister noted that out of five labour laws before the National Assembly, only one had been passed into law, why the other four were now obsolete, needing reworking to bring them in tune with modern realities. 

Ngige added that bills currently before the National Assembly were drafted with the assistance of the ILO with only the Employees Compensation Scheme successfully passing sailing through legislation .