President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to members of the organised private sector to reinvest their profits on creation and retention of jobs.
Buhari made the appeal in a goodwill message to the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) at the maiden Nigeria Employers’ Summit holding in Abuja.
The President, who was represented by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, noted that the private sector could become the engine of growth in Nigeria by creating jobs, paying requisite taxes, as well as financing works and services.
In a statement by Head, Press and Public Relations ,Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment Olajide Oshundun the president enjoined the private sector to give justifiable consideration to decent work agenda and maintain social protection floor by adopting redundancy as the last option in personnel management, bearing in mind the policy of the Federal Government against retrenchment.
The President described the theme of the summit, “The Private Sector – An Engine for National Development”, as very apt, considering the challenges facing the country in terms of job creation and empowerment.
According to him, in attaining the goal of development, the private sector, in tune with the theme of this summit, could become the engine of growth in Nigeria in many ways.
He said, “While the government works with the trade unions to ensure sustainability of the enterprise by building and protecting a sound National Industrial Relations System, on the other hand, businesses are also protected and enabled to succeed.
Buhari further noted the areas of Public Private Partnership with NECA, such as the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and the Industrial Training Fund (ITF).
He said government expects more of such partnership both with (NECA), as an umbrella employer-body, and companies, including multinationals in their individual rights and capacities.
According to him, such partnerships would enable and create more opportunities for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by those companies in tune with the principles contained in the ILO instrument, “Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy.”
