THE Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin is set to mainstream gender and women studies in its training curriculum as part of the innovations to reposition itself for better educational service delivery.
MINNILS’ new Director General, Comrade Issa Aremu, made the disclosure on Monday at the State Congress of the Women Committee of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Ilorin. Comrade Aremu, who praised the NLC for promoting women participation in trade unionism, observed that there was still room for further affirmative measures for women participation in the unions.
He urged trade unions to incorporate gender perspective and equality issues in the areas of union work that include collective bargaining, research, education, and information.
According to Aremu, women as workers face specific problems at workplaces such as unequal pay, maternity challenges, sexual harassment, double burden of domestic work and wage labour.
The Director General said MINILS has restructured the training curriculum to include gender issues aimed at building capacity for women workers in spheres of working life.
Comrade Aremu said while there has been progress on women’s rights at work in many workplaces in Nigeria, there are still many obstacles in the way of gender equality and women’s access to better jobs.
“Job segregation and persistent myths about women’s capacities are used to restrict women to the lowest paid and most precarious work. Sexual harassment and gender-based violence are endemic in industries that employ many women and present significant barriers to women entering sectors that currently employ mostly men,” Aremu said.
He charged the women commission of the NLC to make the problems of women visible with a view to addressing them. He said MINILS is set to educate employers and trade unionists on how to overcome the “old traditions and old attitudes” that serve as obstacles to women at workplaces.
In his remark, the President of NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, congratulated Comrade Aremu on his appointment as the first unionist to head MINILS, adding that henceforth all major training programmes of the labour movement would hold at the Institute in Ilorin.
NLC President was represented by Comrade Najeem Yazin, Deputy President of the NLC. The conference was declared open by Kwara State Head of service.
