The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment is the

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

n Federal Ministry concerned with relations between workers and employers. It is headed by the Minister of Labour and Employment, who is appointed by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

, and is assisted by a Permanent Secretary, who is a career civil servant. The current minister is Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi as minister of Labour and Employment and Nkiruka Onyejeocha as the minister of State for Labour and Employment. Hassan Muhammed Lawal was appointed Minister of Labour in 2003, and was reappointed by President

Umaru Yar'Adua Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (; 16 August 19515 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2007 until his death in May 2010. He won the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 Ma ...

in July 2007. He was moved to the Ministry of Works and Housing and replaced by

Adetokunbo Kayode Adetokunbo Kayode (born 31 October 1960) is a Nigerian corporate lawyer, tax expert and international arbitrator. Early life He attended CMS Grammar School, in Lagos. He studied law at the University of Lagos, Nigerian Law School, Nigeria Law ...

in December 2008. Kayode had previously been Minister for Tourism, Culture and National Orientation. Chief Emeka Wogu was then appointed Minister of Labour and Productivity in 2010. The Permanent Secretary in December 2009 was Dr. Haruna Usman Sanusi.

History

The Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity has been in existence (with different names) since 1939, with the central purpose of ensuring cordial relations between workers and employers in the public and

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

s. The body was created after the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to coordinate resources for war efforts, with first one and then two Labour Inspectors attached to the Governor's Office. With growing worker agitation over cost Of living allowances, the Department of Labour was established on 1 October 1942. It was headed by a Commissioner and two Labour Officers, and was charged with dealing with labour movement issues, ensuring the orderly development of

Industrial Relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor union, labor/trade unions, employer organ ...

and enforcing protective

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...

s. The organization grew as the war progressed, with offices opened in the industrial centers of

Enugu Enugu () verbally pronounced as "Enụgwụ" by the Igbo indigenes is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the so ...

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade center and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern state ...

and

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

. Later a Ministry of Labour was created in addition to the Department of Labour, and the two were merged on 1 April 1958. After Independence in 1960, the Ministry has grown steadily, renamed the Federal Ministry of Employment Labour and Productivity in 1979 and the Ministry of Labour in January 2007.

Organization

The outward-facing divisions the Ministry of Labour are Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations; Employment and Wages and Inspectorate. The Trade Union Services Division formulates policies on trade union organizations and manages disputes and complaints. It also assists in worker's education, and keeps records on trade unions and their activities. Internally oriented departments are Human Resources; Finance and Supplies; Policy, Analysis, Research & Statistics. The Ministry is responsible for several

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

s (government-owned agencies): Michael Imoudu National Institute For Labour Studies (MINILS), Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), National Directorate of Employment (NDE), National Productivity Center (NPC), National Industrial Court and Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP).

Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies

Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS) is a

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

-owned labour institute established in 1986 in

Ilorin Ilorin is the capital city of Kwara State located in the Western region of Nigeria. The city is a major hub for transportation and commerce in the region. . Retrieved 18 February 2007 Although Ilorin is classified under the North-Central g ...

. It is one of the statutory bodies managed by the Federal Ministry of Labour. Named after popular labour leader, Michael Imoudu, who started his labour activities as a member of the

Railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

Workers Union during the colonial era, MINILS is an arm of the Federal Ministry of Labour. MINILS is headed by the Director-General, Comrade Issa Aremu mni. Besides regular courses, the institute also collaborates with stakeholders to train staff at various quarters on labour relations. The idea of a state initiated and centralized center to educate labour union members gained traction during the Third National Development Plan (1975 - 1980). This proposition came after the military government proscribed the two major union founded labour training centers: the pro-west Trade Union Institute for Economic and Social Development managed by the African-American Labour Center in partnership with Nigerian led United Labour Congress and the left leaning Lumumba Labour Institute. The democratic government of

Shehu Shagari Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari (; 25 February 1925 – 28 December 2018) was a Nigerian politician who was the first democratically elected president of Nigeria, after the transfer of power by Military Head of State of Nigeria, military head of sta ...

(1979 - 1983) built on the earlier initiatives and began planning for a training institute to be located at Ilorin in 1983. In 1986, a decree establishing the National Institute of Labour Studies was enacted, the new legislation placed made it a statutory center within the Federal Ministry of Employment, Labour and Productivity. This decree was replaced in 1990 by Act Cap 261 and two years later to honor labour activist and leader of the 1945 general strike, Michael Imoudu, the institute's named was changed to Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies. The main aims of the institute is to promote capacity building of workers and best practices and harmony in relationships between labour unions and management. This is achieved through research and collaboration with tertiary institutions within the country, consultancy, seminars, conferences, lectures on labour union administration, provision of grants to scholars and publication of journals and working papers. The institute has an annual summit attended by stakeholders of MINILS and labour matters. To promote its mission of capacity building, certificate and diploma awarding courses were established at the institute, in addition, focus on communications and information technology training has led to the construction of a dedicated center for ICT. MINILS programmes are offered both on full and part-time basis that award Professional Certificate In Industrial And Labour Relations (PCILR), National Diplomas at main campus, its distant learning centres, as well as on

e-learning Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning and teaching. When referred to with its abbreviation, "EdTech" ...

platform.

List of ministers

References

External links