Aremu Urges Governments, Employers To Emulate ILO Decent Agenda Like Nelson Mandela

Organized labour, employers and governments in Africa have been urged to emulate the statesmanship of the late Nelson Mandela with respect to abiding commitment to decent work, industrial justice and peace for sustainable development.

The Director General of Micheal Imoudu National Institute For Labour Studies, MINILS, Isa Aremu gave the advice in Lagos while speaking on the significance of the 2023 Nelson Mandela Day, NMD, on the sidelines of the 66th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Nigeria Employers Association, NECA.

The theme for this year is; “The Legacy Lives on Through You: Climate, Food, and Solidarity, emphasizing the relevance of Mandela’s legacy in addressing contemporary issues.”

Aremu observed that in addition to his indelible record of sacrifice in fighting for freedom, justice and human dignity globally, Mandela also stood for Decent Work Agenda as enunciated by International Labour Organization (ILO).

The Director General recalled that the late Icon who once addressed the International Labour Conference, was a recipient of the ILO Decent Work Research Prize in 2007 who described decent work as “the right not only to survive but to prosper and to have a dignified and fulfilling quality of life.”

Aremu therefore called on government, employers and trade unions to ensure secured and well paid jobs as antidote against poverty in Africa as envisaged by Nelson Mandela.

Earlier in his good will message at 66th NECA AGM, he had hailed Nigeria Employers Association ( NECA), for “building a sustainable institution of serving as a voice for Business since 1957.”

He advised that together with NLC and TUC, NECA must ensure that “Labour issues must remain on the exclusive list of 1999 constitution if workers would be motivated and mobilized for development and renewed hope as envisaged by President Bola Tinubu administration.”

In November 2009, the United Nations General Assembly formally declared 18 July to be “Nelson Mandela International Day” ( NMID) to celebrate Madiba’s 67 years of public service to humanity, 27 years of which he spent at the notorious Robben Island prison. Mandela died at 95 years in 2013.