ABUJA (Labour Ministry’ Report)- The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has refuted the misleading information peddled in a section of the media that the Nigerian government lost the bid for election into Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) at the recently concluded International Labour Conference held in Geneva Switzerland, from 5th to 16th June 2017.
According to a statement released to the press by the ministry’s press unit, the report was false and to put the record straight, Nigerian government was elected into the Governing Body made up of 122 members which comprises of 56 Titular members, (28 Governments, 14 Employers and 14 Workers) and 66 deputy members (28 Governments, 19 Employers and 19 Worker), on 12th June, 2017.
The report also disclosed that the Nigerian government was elected as one of the 66 deputy members with all rights accruable to membership of the ILO Governing Board, as one of the representatives of Africa. “By this, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige is automatically on the Governing Board of ILO from June 2017-June 2020”
“Three West African countries, Senegal, Cote-d’voir and Nigeria are representatives of West Africa on the ILO Governing Body, having scaled through a nomination exercise supervised in Algiers under the auspices of the African Union Commission, Specialized Technical Meeting on Social Development Labour and Employment, held in Algiers, Algeria in April 2017.
Consequent upon Nigeria victory at the election and its contributions to the various ILC technical meetings, the country was further elected into four strategic committees of the Governing Body namely: Committee on Freedom of Association; The Board of the International Training Centre of ILO, Turin, Italy; The Working Party on the Functioning of the International Labour Conference and Governing Body; and fourthly Committee on the Institutional Section, of the Governing Body sessions for the next three years,” the statement said.
It also stated that Nigeria is returning to the ILO Governing Board after ten years of absence, and the serious contributions of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, deft international labour diplomatic interaction by the Minister with his colleague Ministers in Africa, contributed to a large extent in achieving this feat, with its attendant benefits in terms of Technical Assistance, more training and employment-opportunities for suitable and qualified Nigerians among others, are part of the benefits accruable with this elevation for the Country
