Issa Aremu tasks govts, stakeholders to take labour serious in 2026

…Hails FG’s 2025 Labour record.

By Demola Akinyemi Ilorin

The Director General of Micheal Imoudu National Institute for Labour studies ( MINILS) Ilorin, Kwara state capital,has urged governments and other stakeholders to take labour serious in the year 2026, saying that it also creates wealth through other critical success factors even as he tasked Labour to take itself serious.

Aremu also commended the Labour record of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with respect to mass job creation , job security, regular payment of salaries and work place dispute resolutions in the past years .

The Director General recalled that more than any other presidential candidates, Presidential Candidate Bola Tinubu in 2022 mainstreamed labour in his reform agenda with a whole Directorate to engage with organized labour.

He recalled that candidate Tinubu promised an administration that would make fiscal and monetary policies work for the workers and Nigerians so they can have a good life adding that true to his promise, President Bola Tinubu has come in fullest of time as an audacious reformer/President in the last two years.

Aremu observed that while reactions to reforms are “understandably mixed” with “reform enthusiasts” in support and “reform “pessimists” in doubt, the initiated far reaching social and economic reforms within the framework of the comprehensive Renewed Hope Agenda have impacted “more positively on the labour market”.

The Director General,Comrade Issa Aremu speaking in ilorin on Sunday while interacting with the media as part of the activities marking his 65th birthday said all the above point to the urgent need to take labour and labour issues more serious in 2026.

“Labour creates wealth through other critical success factors there fore Labour must be consciously motivated in return for labour productivity and workplace discipline, “ he stressed

Aremu harped that while employers and government must take labour serious, organized labour must also take take itself serious by improved productivity, corruption avoidance and above all , avoidance of mutually disruptive work stoppages by embracing collective bargaining and social dialogue.

He also noted that Renewed Hope reform agenda is intentionally job- led and job protective, citing the establishment of new public service institutions such as federal tertiary institutions, ministries of livestock and regional development commissions that have created new thousand of jobs.

Aremu added that National Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), initiative among others provides interest-free loans to students for higher education, stressing that already impacted on millions of beneficiaries.

In addition he pointed to “scores of Legacy road projects, including Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, Trans-Saharan Highway (Calabar-Abakaliki-etc.), Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe Expressway, focusing on reinforced concrete for durability and incorporating rail tracks, aiming to unlock economic corridors and ensure equitable development across all zones, which have created thousands of jobs. “The much debated Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project offers “the possibilities of 10,000 direct jobs(engineers, construction workers) to 20,000-25,000 combined direct and indirect jobs(suppliers, logistics) during construction, plus many more induced jobs from increased economic activity, potentially benefiting over 30 million citizens by boosting trade, tourism, and connectivity across Nigeria’s coast” .

Beyond construction sector, Aremu observed that more jobs have been created in the real manufacturing sector.

“The reforms in downstream sectors that include Naira-for-Crude Policy where the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL) sells crude oil to local refineries in Naira, not dollars, aiming to reduce forex demand, stabilize the Naira, and boost local refining to meet domestic fuel needs, leading to more secured jobs, lower pump prices and energy self-sufficiency.

“Dangote Refinery is projected to create tens of thousands of jobs, with estimates ranging from 8,000 to over 100,000 direct and indirect roles, including 24,000 jobs from its CNG truck rollout, and significant numbers during construction, with plans to expand further. No private sector investment has boosted mass local employment like Dangote refinery in recent years. “he said.

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