By Our Reporter
ILORIN (PRECISE POST) – The workers of Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin, have cried to the Hon Minister of State for Labour and Employment to save the Institute from further rot and complete collapse arising from the ineptitude of its Director General/Chief Executive, Comrade Issa Aremu, mni.
In a petition by the three trade unions in the Institute, the workers claim that the administrative style of the Chief Executive, who mounted the saddle on 18th May 2021, leaves much to be desired.
The petition, dated 24th March 2025, with Ref. No. MINILS/JAC/EC/I/19, and addressed to the Hon Minister of State for Labour and Employment, says MINILS has encountered significant challenges arising from Comrade Aremu’s “inability to understand and work within the mandate of our organization.”
According to the three trade unions – the Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI), the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Union of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SAUTHRIAI) – operating under the platform of Joint Action Committee (JAC), Comrade Aremu lacked the relevant experience for the job in the first instance.
Their petition says, “Unlike his predecessors, our DG does not have a background and/or cognate experience in public service, nor has he been part of a training, research and development environment,” adding: “As a result, he has struggled to grasp (with) the intricacies of our operations and the Public Service framework within which we function.”
The workers are miffed at what they described as their Chief Executive’s “serial and egregious violation of administrative best practices and extant Public Service Rules,” some of which they listed as follows:
i. Embarking on trips, both local and foreign, without appropriate delegation of responsibilities, thereby leaving an administrative and operational vacuum;
ii. Non-submission of the Institute’s Audited Financial Statements to the Auditor General of the Federation for a period of three years (2021, 2022 and 2023), which is contrary to financial regulations;
iii. Disguise of financial dealings through third party engagement, concealing and diversion of receipts;
iv. Promoting the idea of casualization and outsourcing in a labour institute by recruiting an exaggerated number of non-permanent staff;
v. Embarking on building projects, including the construction of an administrative building (incomplete), and the renovation of the Training Block without Tenders Board approval as provided for in the Procurement Act;
vi. Under the 2023 Appropriation Act, the sum of N50,000,000.00 was appropriated and released for the training of youths from the six geo-political zones in Nigeria. However, only N15,000,000.00 was released to the department that implemented the programme. The remaining amount remains unaccounted for;
vii. Receiving funds for official assignments without attending and not refunding;
viii. Misappropriation of public funds by mandating the payment of his medical bill in December 2024 to the tune of N4,574,510.00 despite his salary being consolidated; and
ix. Lack of civil communication skills, manifesting as verbal assault, leading to bullying and harassment of officers. Examples of his foul expressions include addressing staff as witches, fools, thugs, tout, thief, idiot, etc.
The workers’ leaders say they are convinced that Comrade Aremu “has run out of the needed skills, vigour, and motivation required to administer an educational and allied institution of MINILS’ status in contemporary times.”
The four-page petition, titled “AN APPEAL FOR YOUR TIMELY INTERVENTION ON THE CURRENT STATE OF MICHAEL IMOUDU NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR LABOUR STUDIES (MINILS), ILORIN,” was signed jointly by the following union executives:
i. Comrade Ruth Ejechi – ASURI Chairman;
ii. Comrade Timothy A. Oduwole – ASURI Secretary;
iii. Comrade Idris D. Abdulmajeed, – SSAUTHRIAI Chairman;
iv. Comrade Ajayi A. Shina – SSAUTHRIAI Secretary,
v. Comrade Joel O. Afolayan – NASU Chairman; and
vi. Comrade Chimaobi C. Ohaeri – NASU Secretary.
Precise Post recalls that MINILS, Nigeria’s premier institute for capacity building for the labour movement and policy makers in the field of labour, is an agency under the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment and is under the direct supervision of the Hon Minister of State.
