The Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity recently renamed as Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment is one of the oldest Ministries in Nigeria. It began as a Department of Labour in the then Colonial office in 1932 and developed into a full-fledged Ministry in 1952. The Ministry is established under item 34, Second Schedule of the Exclusive List, 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

The Ministry is structured into six Zonal labour offices, nine Departments consisting of six Professional and three Service Departments. It operates 36 State Labour Offices and the FCT, 23 District Labour Offices Labour Desk Office, Geneva, Switzerland. Recently nine (9) Labour Desk were approved for nine Ministries, Department and Agencies. In addition, it oversees Five (5) Parastatals and relates with several national and international Bodies and Organizations.

Vision Statement: To facilitate and promote peaceful, productive and harmonious industrial relations, safe and decent working environment and enhanced social security coverage for all Nigerians.

Mission Statement: To create an enabling environment for growth and sustainable development through best practices in labour administration.

Department of the Ministry

Inspectorate
Employment and wages
Trade Unions Services and Industrial Relations
Productivity Measurement and standards
Social Security
Skills Development and Certification
Policy Analysis Research and Statistics
Human Resources
Finance and Accounts
Special Duties
General Services
Reform Coordination and Service Improvement
Agencies of the Ministry

National Directorate of Employment (NDE)
National Productivity Centre (NPC)
Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS)
Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF)
Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP).
Mandate:

Development and promotion of productive employment policies and programmes for employment generation and actualization of the National Action Plan on Employment Creation and the Local Employment Content initiatives of the Federal Government.
Stimulation and enhancement of national Productivity Consciousness, rewards for excellence and promotion of national competitiveness.
Skills Development, upgrading, certification, placement and empowerment of artisans, tradesmen and applicants in various areas of national needs
Provision of Social Security Coverage, Welfare and Employee’s Compensation to the nations workforce
Provision of Labour Protection Services, supervision, enforcement, Education, Promotion of Social Justice, Ratification, Implementation and Review of National Labour Laws and Policies including collective bargained agreements.
Trade Unions Education and Training
International Labour Diplomacy
Promotion of Occupational Safety and Health
Administration of the Factories Act
Policies and Guidelines for the Ministry:

National Policy on Employment
National Policy on Productivity
National Policy on Occupational Safety, Health and Welfare
National Policy on HIV/AIDS at work
National Policy on Labour Migration
National Policy on Child Labour
Guideline on labour Contracting and Outsourcing in the oil and gas industry
Guidelines on Skills Development and Training
Other Guidelines, Codes of Practice And Regulations
National Policy on Occupational Safety and Health


National Policy on Employment has the following aims;

Advance the goal of full employment
Improve the productivity of labor
Provide equal opportunities for all
Protect Rights
Comply with international labor standards
Secure stakeholder’s cooperation


National Policy on Productivity has the following aim;
Bridge the strategic gap and compliment government’s effort at effectively mobilizing, directing, coordinating, monitoring and evaluating human, material and natural resources for sustained increase in the levels of productivity of all sectors of Nigerian economy.
National Policy on Occupational Safety, Health and Welfare has the following aims;
Achieve widespread coverage of the labor inspection services nationwide, through extension of services to cover the largest possible number of working people in all economic sectors, particularly those engaged in the informal sector.
National Policy on HIV/AIDS at work has the following aims;
Promote access to education including equitable worker benefits and employment protection
Eliminate discrimination and stigmatization in the workplace based on real or perceived HIV status including dealing with HIV testing, confidentiality and disclosure
Create a safe and healthy working environment and
Promote appropriate and effective ways of managing impacts of HIV and AIDS in the workplace
National Policy on Labour Migration has the following aims;

Promote good governance of labour migration
Protection of migrant workers and promotion of their welfare and that of families left behind
Optimising the benefits of labour migration on development while mitigating its adverse effects.
National Policy on Child Labour has the following aims;

Provide guidelines for awareness creation, advocacy and sensitisation among the general populace about the evil effects and consequences of child labour in Nigeria as well as its prevention.
Provide guidelines and modalities for concrete direct action projects and programmes by government and other relevant stakeholders at all levels in combating child labour especially its worst forms.
Provide guidelines for effective resource mobilisation and sustainability of action programmes and projects amongst implementing agencies and partners
Providing a coordinating and networking framework of action programmes among stakeholders and implementing agencies on the elimination of child labour in Nigeria with a view to strengthening and streamlining efforts
Provide guidelines for monitoring, evaluation and reviewing policies, legislations, regulations on projects and programmes on child labour.
The aim would be to further strengthen these policies and ensure that implementation of the policies is proactively carried out by engaging all relevant stakeholders to achieve the aims and objectives.

The guidelines on labour contracting, outsourcing, skills development and codes of practices will be further enhanced as policy statements to further deepen their implementation by drawing up standards that would be easy to attain, monitor, evaluate, measure and review.

A major policy direction of the Ministry would be to train civil servants and empower them to become entrepreneurs, a policy that would encourage civil servants to retire early and go into private business to improve the economy. Engaging the labour unions, business community and institutions of learning a scheme would be fashioned to provide business skills to civil servants and identify opportunities for them to practise and provide necessary support to succeed.

The Pension scheme and laws would be amended to give incentives to early retirees in the form of grants and subventions to kick start a business venture. The National Housing Scheme would also be tailored towards providing affordable accommodation which would be owned by civil servants before their 5th year anniversary in service.



Abhulimen Marvins - Shadow Minister Of Labour And Productivity