The Nigeria Employers Consultative Association and other organised labour unions have commended President Bola Tinubu for appointing a substantive Minister of Labour and Employment.

The leadership of the unions gave the commendation in separate interviews on Friday in Abuja.

Reacting to the appointment of Mohammed Dingyadi as minister-designate for the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, NECA’s director-general, said it was long overdue.

Mr Oyerinde said that NECA, as a key member of the social partners and only representative in the ILO governing body, would continue to play a leading role in supporting the ministry in fulfilling its core objectives.

Peters Adeyemi, general secretary of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, congratulated the new minister-designate.

According to Mr Adeyemi, the nomination came “when the ministry has become virtually non-existent, and there is a myriad of labour-related issues confronting the nation.”

Rose Uba-Amarah, NLC deputy president, said the new minister-designate needed to show concern for issues bordering on workers’ welfare.

Ms Uba-Amarah, the Nigeria Union of Public Service Reportorial Secretariat, Data Processors and Allied Workers president, said they hoped Mr Dingyadi would make a difference in the ministry.

She commended Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Minister of State for Labour and Employment for what she has been acting as the labour minister.

Anthony Benjamin, Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees national president, said the appointment of the substantive minister was apt.
Benjamin noted that there were a lot of industrial crises in the labour sector that needed urgent attention.

Mr Benjamin also appealed to the minister designate to address the menace of contract staff and casualisation in the different sector of the economy.

The labour minister position became vacant in December 2023 when Simon Lalong resigned.

Mr Lalong tendered his resignation as a minister to represent Plateau South senatorial district, a seat he won as affirmed by an appeal court ruling of November 7, 2023.

Mr Dingyadi is among the seven ministers appointed by Mr Tinubu on Wednesday into his cabinet.

Born in 1953 in Sokoto, Mr Dingyadi is a former Minister of Police Affairs under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. A 1978 graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, the minister-designate is a one-time member of the House of Representatives representing Bodinga federal constituency.

He is also a former chairman of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) Abuja and former secretary to the Sokoto government.

(NAN)