NIWOSEC, child of necessity among Labour Unions, Says NOA Director

Kwara State Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr Olusegun Adeyemi on Thursday lauded the approach of the Nigerian Workforce Strategy and Enlightenment Centre (NIWOSEC) to issues affecting workers in Nigeria, describing the organisation as a child of necessity.

The NOA director made the commendation at a conference organised by the organisation to commemorate the 2023 International Workers Day held at the Nigeria Union of Journalists hall, G.R.A, Ilorin, Kwara State.

“NIWOSEC must be commended for its holistic approach to workers' issues both in the formal and informal sectors. The organization has shown that it's a child of necessity going by how it is covering some aspect of workers' life not included in the operation of the organised Labour Unions,” he said.

The NOA boss also calls on the government to launch an aggressive campaign against ‘JAPA’ syndrome, saying “To develop our country we need both material and human capital and we want the present administration to launch a serious campaign on JAPA syndrome to develop our country.”

Also speaking at the conference, the state chairman of the Productivity Committee, Mr. Nasir Abdulkadir, tasked Tinubu-led administration on transparency and accountability over the proceeds of subsidy removal.

Abdulkadir said “Subsidy removal is not a problem but utilization of the proceeds is what people did not have trust in and Tinubu as a new president needs to convince us that the proceeds will be utilised in the interest of the masses that are going to suffer for the removal”.

Earlier in his opening address the president of the Nigerian Workers Group (NWG) and lead strategist at the NIWOSEC, Dr David Kayode Ehindero, stated that NIWOSEC was birthed to complement the efforts of the Labour Unions and cover areas they did not address.

“The Nigerian Workforce Strategy and Enlightenment Centre (NIWOSEC) recognised the importance of the Nigerian Workers and came up with the Workers Group idea to complement the efforts of the Labour Unions and cover areas they did not address.

"The group is an elite Network of Nigerian Workforce that brings human resources training and development to the forefront.

“We believe that investing in human resources training and development should be a priority for any nation that seeks to achieve sustainable growth and development.

"NIWOSEC is committed to ensuring that all workers, regardless of their category have access to labour-related services that will enhance their productivity and increase their standard of living.

“As we celebrate this year International Workers’ Day, it's important to remind ourselves of the need to maximize the human resources potentials embedded in Nigeria’s Workforce.

“We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to prioritize investment in the Nigerian workers, as this is a sacrosanct step towards achieving global standard and earning Nigeria her rightful place among the greatest nations of the world.

He made known that the organization has resolved some workers-related problems within the Military sector that are not allowed to join NLC, and has also rendered some free legal services to many other workers in the informal and formal sectors that approached them over what he described as injustice at their work places.

He said NIWOSEC is a global organization with recognition from United Nations.

According to him, membership of the group is open to any interested workers from both formal and informal sectors with registration available online