It was two hours of positive reflections at the Micheal Imoudu National labour Institute for Studies (MINILs) on Saturday as Comrade Issa Aremu (mni) marked one year of his appointment as the Director General(DG) of the Institute.
The premises of the MINILs was filled to its brim as staff, family, stakeholders and associates of the Labour leader converged to celebrate his one year of positive transformation leadership which also coincided with the monthly exercise of the Institute.
Speaking after a brief ‘workouts’ and physical stretches, Aremu thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the opportunity to serve the country while also appreciating the supervising Ministers of Labour and Productivity, Mr Festus Kyamo SAN and Dr Chris IGIGE their support and encouragement in the past one year.
Stressing the importance of physical exercise, the astute public servant and LABOUR rights activist noted that optimal delivery is driven by an healthy body and brain which he said are best achieved through a constant and coordinated sporting exercise activities.
“Some of the modest achievements we recorded today are due to the support we have received from our staff who are increasingly getting fit for work through physical exercise” he said.
“This is the 9th edition of the monthly physical fitness which is important because it has helped us to be healthy towards making strategic policies and interventions that have brought about the transformation of MINILS we are witnessing today”
Aremu, who was fervently applauded by the house trade unions, NASU and SSA for turning things around at the formerly moribund Institute expressed the need for a change of ‘mindset’ towards charting a course for development.
“We have shown that Nigeria and Africa can and must work as it was in the past. We didn’t agonise the situation due to the decay we met on ground but have organised ourselves to change obscurity to light and visibility” said a one time Labour Party Governorship candidate who urged Nigerians to join President BUHARI to unite against the present security challenges facing the country”.
In his own remarks, special guest the former Secretary of Nigeria Football Association (NFA) and one time Coach of the Nigeria Golden Eaglets, Fanny Amun further emphasized the significance of physical exercise which he described as an antidote for healthy living and longevity of life.
Comrade Abdulwahab Adebayo Lawal, the Chairman of the Senior Staff Association(SSA) and Comrade Adebayo Roseline, who is the Chairperson of Non- Academic Staff Union(NASU) of the institute in their separate remarks commended the DG for breathing a new life in to the Institution which was once a shadow of itself.
Among many other interventions, Comrade Aremu, since his emergence has overseen the construction and commission of new hostels with a clinic, Enterprise and Skills acquisition centre, remodelling of the Institute’s syllabus and championing an overhaul of the Sporting facilities.
As the institute prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary, the DG revealed that a five years transformation agenda will be unveiled with the purpose of setting it on a sustainable path.
