President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been lauded for his avowed commitment to driving investments for economic growth and decent mass employment.
In a statement on Tuesday in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, the Director General, Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Comrade Issa Aremu, gave the commendation on the occasion of the 2023 Africa Industrialisation Day (AID).
Comrade Aremu noted that industry has always played a vital role in development, adding that industry boosts economic activities along value chains, creates jobs from raw materials processing to finished goods and services, among others.
It would be recalled that the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, in 1989, within the framework of the Second Industrial Development Decade for Africa (1991-2000) proclaimed 20 November annually Africa Industrialisation Day (AID) via resolution 44/237.
The Day is intended to mobilise the commitment of the local international community to the diversification and industrialisation of African economies. The theme for this year’s AID is, “Accelerating Africa’s industrialisation through the empowerment of African women in processing for an integrated market”.
The Director General observed that the Industrialisation Day assumes special importance for the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies, mandated to promote labour education, noting that “only industry guarantees formal, secured, productive and paying jobs as distinct from precarious informal sector jobs in line with SDG 9 dealing with Industry and innovation”.
He therefore called on employers of labour, workers and trade unions as well as government officials to be informed through education about sustainable industrial policies for genuine constructive advocacy for national industrial development.
Comrade Aremu hailed Dangote Group, which despite the perceived difficulties in doing business in Nigeria, and across Africa, has moved from wholesale trading to become a multi-sectoral manufacturing giant, diversified and fully integrated conglomerate with an annual group turnover in excess of US$4bn.
“The much awaited inaugurated world’s largest single train Dangote Refinery Complex that has the capacity to refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, shows that Nigeria like China can truly take a leap from misery of import dependence to joy of local production, exportation and mass job creation”, Aremu said.