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•Agaka joins ISSA Bureau
There is the need for the international development partners to reconfigure the architecture of the development agenda that takes the peculiarities of developing countries into consideration, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige has said.
Speaking at the just concluded 105th International Labour Conference (ILC) by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva, Ngige stated that historical and development challenges have impeded the growth of the developing economies.
This comes as the Acting Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Ismail Agaka, has been elected into the Bureau of the International Social Security Association (ISSA).
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Ngige explained: “There is therefore an urgent need to take cognizance of these characteristics in combating poverty and insecurity. Notably, most of these countries are mono product economies that are constantly and negatively exposed to the vagaries and shocks of the international market. The poor implementation of the ILO Decent Work Agenda in these economies is no doubt attributable to this ever-increasing phenomenon and largely accounts for their inability to compete in the process of globalization.”
He stressed that the ILO needs to put the factors into consideration in assessing among others the responsibilities and opportunities associated with the implementation of the future of work initiative, the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the projected assistance to its constituents in the realization of its agenda.
Ngige further argued that the multi-ethnic and cultural diversities including different political structures and systems of member states should be acknowledged in the development of policies, projects and programmes aimed at addressing the attainment of the sustainable development goals.
He said the title of the ILO’s Director General’s report ‘The End to Poverty Initiative: The ILO and the 2030 Agenda’, captures vividly the ever increasing challenges confronting humanity and the strategic and pivotal role of the ILO using its tripartite structure, in collaboration and partnership with other United Nations Agencies, to fundamentally eradicate the problems associated with the devastating consequences of poverty to global peace.
He hinted that Nigeria commends the report mostly in its appreciation and explanation of the current global realities in the world of work and the suggested approaches for a better tomorrow.
He stated that there is the need for the international community to properly situate the objectives of the 2030 Agenda aimed at sustainable global Development becomes more compelling than ever before.
Meanwhile, the Acting Managing Director of the NSITF, Ismail Agaka, has been unanimously elected a member of the Bureau of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) in its 122th meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland.
In a congratulatory message, the Secretary General of ISSA, Hans-Horst Konkolewky, expressed satisfaction with the election of the NSITF boss to the Bureau, saying the association will count on his wealth of experience to be deployed in order to move ISSA to greater heights.
Agaka assumed his leadership of the apex social security agency as Acting Managing Director/ Chief Executive with the exit of the former boss, Umar Munir Abubakar, in February 2016.
