Saliu Mustapha promises to fight for labour rights in the Senate
NEWS DIGEST – Mallam Saliu Mustapha, the APC Senatorial Candidate for Kwara Central, says if elected in the upcoming elections, he will introduce legislations that address violations of workers’ rights reported in Nigerian organisations.
Mr Mustapha announced on Monday that he has begun seeking collaboration and synergy with labour and trade unions, as well as their affiliate bodies, in order to improve workers welfare.
“You can always count on my support for the betterment of your union and I will always stand by people fighting for the just cause of the good people of Kwara Central,” He said at a workshop for members of the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Practitioners in Ilorin.
Mr Mustapha believes that labour union agitations are critical to the growth and development of Kwara state.
“My presence at the workshop served as an avenue to learn firsthand the challenges confronting unionists with a view to proffering solutions when elected into the 10th senate,” Mallam Mustapha told The News Digest.
Mr. Mustapha, the Turaki of Ilorin, has previously led several job empowerment initiatives through his foundation, the Saliu Mustapha Foundation, and insists that job creation for Kwara Central residents remains at the forefront of his candidacy.
“Employment opportunities and job creation are some of the most important legislative agenda I will be going to the senate with,” Mr Mustapha said.
Mr Issa Aremu, who delivered the workshop’s opening remarks, stated that, contrary to popular belief, labour unions are neither political nor apolitical.
Mr Bolaji Abdullahi, the PDP’s Senatorial Candidate, who also spoke at the workshop, said the labour union was traditionally a non-democratic institution, but its members have abandoned their neutrality to become involved in active politics.
Mr Aremu, Director-General of the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies in Ilorin, Kwara State, responded that members of the Union, like every other Nigerian, have a lawful right to vote and be voted for.
Members owe it to their country, according to Aremu, to vote in elections and participate actively in politics.
“They are meant to have a voice of their own,” he said. “You have to learn from Mallam Saliu Mustapha who is very modest.”
