Maigari Dingyadi, the Minister of Labour and Employment, has called for stronger collaboration to address unemployment and protect workers’ rights.

The minister said the partnership between the federal and state governments, organised labour and the private sector would also promote decent jobs in Nigeria.

Mr Dingyadi made the call on Saturday in Sokoto at a Citizen Engagement Programme organised by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, with the theme: “Renewing Hope, Protecting Workers, Creating Jobs and Building a Resilient Labour Market.”

He said the federal government remained committed to creating an enabling environment for decent employment, protecting workers’ rights, promoting industrial harmony, developing relevant skills and strengthening social dialogue under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

“Policies, programmes and reforms only have meaning when they improve the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Nigerians,” he said.

The minister identified the review of the national minimum wage to N70,000, improved industrial relations, skills development, occupational safety and international labour agreements as some of the achievements recorded by the ministry under the present administration.

He said the ministry had continued to deploy dialogue, collective bargaining, mediation and conciliation to resolve labour disputes and prevent prolonged industrial actions.

“We have worked closely with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), employers’ organisations and other stakeholders to prevent disputes from escalating into prolonged industrial actions,” he said.

Mr Dingyadi disclosed that the ministry was currently undertaking collective bargaining agreements with health sector unions, adding that it had recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the NLC to extend some palliatives to civil servants to cushion the impact of rising transportation costs.

He also said the ministry had signed bilateral labour agreements with Saudi Arabia and Qatar to promote safe labour migration and protect Nigerians seeking employment opportunities abroad.

The minister emphasised the need to harness Nigeria’s human and natural resources, particularly its youthful population, through vocational training, entrepreneurship, digital literacy and other employment-generating opportunities.

“The cooperation of public and private sector stakeholders, technical and financial assistance organisations, and the social partners is very germane in scaling down the current unemployment challenges,” he said.

In his remarks, Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State called for deeper collaboration between the federal government and the state to expand employment opportunities, strengthen vocational training and improve workers’ welfare.

Mr Aliyu said his administration remained committed to human capital development, youth and women’s empowerment, support for small and medium-scale enterprises, and the promotion of productive economic activities.

“We recognise that government cannot provide all the jobs required by our growing population through direct public-sector employment alone,” he said.

The governor stressed the need to promote private-sector investment, agricultural value chains, entrepreneurship, vocational training and other productive economic activities capable of creating sustainable employment.

He also called for improved workers’ protection, fair wages, occupational safety, social security and respect for labour rights, while urging employers and organised labour to sustain constructive dialogue to promote industrial harmony.

“We must deliberately promote private-sector investment, agricultural value chains, entrepreneurship, vocational training and other productive economic activities capable of creating sustainable employment,” he said.

Mr Aliyu further urged the Federal Ministry to consider the peculiar employment and skills development needs of Sokoto and the wider North-West region in its national policy interventions.

Earlier, the permanent secretary of the ministry, Kamil Shoretire, said the engagement was designed to strengthen citizens’ participation in policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

Mr Shoretire said the programme would provide an opportunity for the government to understand the specific employment and labour-related challenges confronting young people, women, workers, employers and vulnerable groups.

He urged participants to make constructive contributions, identify gaps in existing interventions and propose practical solutions, assuring them that recommendations from the engagement would receive attention within the appropriate policy and institutional frameworks.

(NAN)