Issa Aremu lauds Buhari’s pledge to improve education budget

  

 

The Director General, Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin, Comrade Issa Aremu, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for being part of countries set to increase national education budget by 50% in two years.

President Buhari joined other African leaders at the recently concluded Global Education Summit in London, UK, to brainstorm on transforming the education system through progressive increase in annual domestic education expenditure.

 At the end, Buhari was a signatory to the new global push for countries to increase national education budget by 50 per cent over the next two years and up to 100% by 2025. 

Speaking during a courtesy call of the members of Governing Council of the institute on the Nigeria Labour Congress leadership in a bid to reposition it for improved labour education for Nigerian workers, Comrade Aremu, observed that education is pivotal to poverty eradication and building of an inclusive sustainable economy and thus deserved adequate sustainable government funding.

The 8-person Governing Council led by its chairman and veteran labour leader, Chief Comrade Frank Kokori, was also hosted by the TUC leadership led by the President Quadri Olaleye. 

He said funding education should be inclusive of research and education institutes established to build necessary capacity for the country’s workforce in the areas of workplace conflict resolutions and productivity improvement. 

Comrade Aremu stated that the institute was set to realise its objective as the foremost training institution on labour and industrial relation issue and regional centre of excellence in labour studies in West Africa. He added however that it was imperative that the funding of the institute was improved for effective educational service delivery. 

He blamed recurring labour disputes in all sectors of the economy on what he called “knowledge gap” on critical labour market issues among employers and employees. He said labour education must be seen “as a strategic success factor for motivation, improved productivity and national development.” 

NLC president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, in his welcome remark, said there was urgent need to resuscitate the Labour institute going by emerging trends in labour struggles globally. He commended the new management of the Institute for the new open door policy for partnership, which he said would help build capacity for labour leaders. 

He suggested areas of possible partnership with the institute to include broadening social economic research and documentation, appraisal of contemporary challenges facing unionism and bridging the skill gaps for youth employability.

Meanwhile, in a related development, both the management of MINILS Ilorin, and National Institute for Security Studies (NISS),  Bwari, Abuja, had reached an understanding to deepen partnership in areas of curriculum development, exchange of policy ideas and resource fellows to enhance service delivery of the two agencies. 

Speaking at the opening of 78th meeting of the Governing Council of MINILS in Bwari, last Wednesday, both the Commandant of the NISS, Mr Saheed Adeleke and the Director General of MINILS, Comrade  Aremu agreed to periodic peer review of activities to share experiences in institution building.