Nigerian Labour Union commends Saraki on development
The presidential hopeful also promised to run a labour-friendly government, if given the mandate to rule the country come 2011.
Dr Saraki gave the assurance on Tuesday when the National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Ilorin.
Dr Saraki, who also assured that all the efforts he had made at the state level as a governor would be continued even after his aspirations to become the nation’s president was realized, recalled some of the efforts made on job creations by his administration and the success recorded in the past seven years using the agricultural sector.
He noted that agriculture was very vital to the nation’s economy without which any country can make appreciable development.
His words: "As I said many a times, unless we address the issue of agriculture, the issue of food security and more importantly job creation, would not be addressed".
The governor observed that the issue of job creation is an area that is of importance to the labour congress, "this is an area that is of importance to you, because your constituency is about labour and labour is about job creation and nothing more important to you than to see an economy where jobs are being created not only in the public sector but particularly in the private sector, driven by right public sector policies", Saraki to the NLC President.
"I believe as we move ahead, these are areas that through effective collaboration between government and organized labour union, we should have the capacity to be able to deliver on, which should be a yardstick to be able to judge the future of this country in the area of job creation", adding, "it is very paramount that we have a government in place that is capable of addressing these issues for the benefit of Nigerians" the governor stated further.
Labour, Saraki repeatedly stressed, is an important key stakeholder and as such should continue to provide leadership, guidance and also a voice to defend the voiceless in the society.
The governor told the NLC President that in the last seven years of governance in the State, the state government has always played its own role to support labour in all its programmes, adding that government efforts at the Michael Imoudu Institute for Labour Studies was just part of many things in which we have collaborated to show our solidarity and support for labour in the State.
He described the topic of the summit as very relevant to where we are in this country after 50 years of existence as an independent nation.
Dr Saraki however expressed hope that some of the conclusions at the summit would go a long way in helping the country to move forward.
Earlier, the president of NLC, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, had expressed appreciation to Dr Saraki for fulfilling his promise to upgrade the institute and ensure that it conforms to international standard by providing facilities at the institute.
He also thanked him for the construction of Chalets and Hall at the institute while assuring him that Nigerian workers and the masses were watching to fulfill their own aspect of the obligation when the time comes.
"We in labour circle believe that it is what you do, that would show who you are. We believe that what His Excellency has been able to achieve in Kwara State is a veritable yardstick for his aspiration to be the president of the Federal Republic. To be specific, I know what Michael Imoudu Institute used to be prior to his administration in 2003 and what it is today".
Comrade Omar told the governor that he was in Ilorin to attend the annual labour summit of the institute with the theme: "The Role of Labour in Nation Building".
Mas’ud Adebimpe
Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara State Governor
19/10/2010
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