Federal government has ordered all the elected labour union leaders in Nigeria to henceforth undergo leadership training at the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin, Kwara State.

The government hinted that it would partner with Zimbabwe on labour matters and training.

The leadership training, the government insisted, will prepare the labour leaders for effective service delivery to the country.

The minister of labour and employment, Dr Chris Ngige, handed down the directive in Ilorin at the MINILS 40th anniversary lecture and conferment of fellowship awards on 80 eminent Nigerians.

Represented by the director-general of National Productivity Centre, Dr Kashim Akor, the minister said the federal government has realised the importance of leadership training for labour leaders and is taking steps to ensure elected officers are given the required training for effective performance.

The minister stressed that the era of brigandage leadership was gone and that Nigeria needed to transit to a more civilised way of engagement as obtained in advanced countries, adding that “Nigeria has to embrace the right attitude to resolving labour issues with a view to fostering the desired growth and rapid transformation in the country.”

Earlier, the director general of MINILS, Comrade Issa Aremu, had said the institute's first founder day lecture was on the theme: “Workers Education in Nigeria: Past, Present and Future”.

“MINILS had been pivotal in 40 years providing essential knowledge and skills that bolstered constructive engagements of representatives of the industrial relations tripods,” Aremu said.

He said the institute had been organising seminars, workshops and conferences in the past 40 years to serve stakeholders' labour educational needs, adding that, “currently, MINILS is redirecting to better serve emergent demographics of working people.”

“New approaches include academic programmes (BSc and ND), professional examination in industrial relations, technical and vocational education, entrepreneurship training (TVET), catering for artisans and unemployed youths,” he added.

In his lecture, an expert in industrial relations, Prof Dafe Otobo, harped on the need for labour education from primary, secondary to tertiary level.