Labour Institute to deepen cooperation with Chinese Embassy in youth skills

The Micheal Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies ( MINILS) and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China are set to deepen cooperation in critical areas of training, capacity building and skill acquisition for employability of Nigerian youths.

This was made known in a statement issued by the Head of Special Duties of the Institute, Mr Emmanuel Ojo in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

The statement said; ”the new Director General of the Institute for Labour Studies,  Issa Aremu met the Ambassador of the Peoples’ Republic of China to Nigeria, Mr Cun Jianchun in Abuja on Wednesday last week.”  

According to the statement, ”courtesy meeting focused on collaboration and partnership between MINILS and China Embassy in areas of institution building, peoples -to- peoples contact and technical assistance on vocational training.”

In attendance were; the Minister Counsellor of China Embassy, Mr Zhao Yong and Mr Song Huhang, the  attache.

Drawing on the lesson of China in youth employment and poverty eradication, the new Ambassador observed that the solution to mass youth employment in Africa was skill acquisition and skill upgrading for youth employability.

He  therefore expressed the readiness of China to partner with the Labour Institute in entrepreneurship, vocational training for the youths as well as institutional building through social responsibility intervention of Chinese companies in Nigeria.

The National Institute for Labour Studies was established in 1986 to contribute meaningfully to national development through regular capacity building training for the country’s workforce, organized trade unions, organized employers of labour and government officials on critical labour market issues like management relations, best practices, industrial harmony and entrepreneurship for sustainable economic development.

Since its establishment, (MINILS) has trained a number of workers and employers from both the public and private sectors as the training with certification had helped in providing a conducive and harmonious environment to implement successful governments.

In a related development,  the Director General of the Institute, Issa Aremu observed that  “The dramatic transformation of People’s Republic of China from a backward, underdeveloped country into the second world largest economy in record time shows that massive investment in Education is the most powerful weapon nations can change the world”. 

He spoke  at a symposium organised by  Chinese Cultural Centre to mark the 100 years of the founding of the Communist Party of China ( CPC).

The symposium chaired by Senator Adamu Muhammed Bulkachuwa, Chairman Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs had Chinese Ambassador and Governor of Akwa Ibom , represented by his Chief of Staff as special Guests.

Participants at the anniversary hailed the achievements of China in dramatic transformation in economy, science and space technology, as well as absolute poverty  eradication under the leadership of the Communist Party in the last 70 years.

Notwithstanding the distance and geography, Issa Aremu said ”Nigeria and China shared  significant traits of big  population size in Africa and Asia of 1.5 billion (official 1.3 billion)”

while China,  he said, is the largest in Asia, stressing that “one of every two Asians is a Chinese, while one in every three persons in Africa is a Nigerian”.  

He commended China- Nigeria relations under President Muhammadu Buhari citing what he called ‘unprecedented Railway renaissance” in Lagos- Ibadan, Abuja Kaduna and Itakpe- Ajaokuta new rail lines covering hundreds of kilometers.

Mercy Chukwudiebere