Members of the organised private sector (OPS), the labour movement, family and colleagues, on Thursday, paid tribute to Timothy Olawale, director-general of Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) who died in Abuja on October 1, at the age of 56 years.
At a commendation service in his honour, Taiwo Adeniyi, president of NECA, described Olawale as an embodiment of hard work and a man who gave his all to the association.
On his part, the director, ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia Sierra Leone and Liason Office for ECOWAS, Vanessa Phala, said the relationship between ILO and NECA was strengthened in many areas to achieve the decent work aspirations of Nigerians.
She described Olawale as one who was diligent, hardworking and a believer in resolving labour administration related issues using social dialogue mechanism.
Ayuba Wabba, president of the NLC, in his tribute, said Olawale was a tremendous social partner and an advocate for industrial harmony, who was always interested in peaceful resolution of issues between the employers and employees.
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Wabba also recalled the role the DG played at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, where a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between employers and labour unions to ensure there were no jobs lost and livelihood of workers were catered for.
Also, the director-general of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Joseph Ari, said he could not forget in a hurry Olawale’s contribution on the Fund’s opening quota for youths to be exposed to technical skills and how his input increased the Fund’s capacity level above 40 per cent it were before.
President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Quadri Olaleye, said Olawale was always concerned about the social partners coming together to contribute their quota to resolving issues bedevilling the country, especially the lingering high unemployment rate, job creation for the teeming population and industrial harmony at the workplace.
Among some of the employers in their tributes, chairman, NECA Committee of Human Resources and Learning Experts, Chuma Nwankwo, said his short stay as DG was exemplary in simplicity and humility.
He described him as someone, who gave value and impacted positively to everyone he came in contact with.
He said this was exemplified in his role during the negotiation of the national minimum wage, relationship with social partners, the organised private sector of Nigeria and at the national labour advisory council.
Olawale was confirmed as the substantive NECA DG in January 2019, after six months in acting capacity, succeeding Segun Oshinowo, who retired in December 2018 after serving the association for 19 years.
He has 29 years industrial relations and strategic human resource management experience. He was very reputable in the industry and a fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants.
Before his appointment as DG, Olawale was the director in charge of membership services, where he played a key role in the association membership development.
He was a graduate of Psychology from the University of Ibadan and also held a Master’s degree in Labour and Industrial Relations from the University of Lagos, Nigeria before securing PhD.
