The Nation Newspaper

Category: Labour

  • ‘24,000 MSMEs to access loan from $260m GEM programme’

    ‘24,000 MSMEs to access loan from $260m GEM programme’

    No fewer than 24,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across the country have applied for technical and financial support under the Federal Government’s Growth and Employment (GEM) project, GEM Coordinator Mr Yunusa Labaran has said.

    Labaran, in an interview, said more applications were being expected through the online registration portal of the project known as Business Innovation and Growth (BIG).

    The programme is implemented by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, with funding support from the World Bank and the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

    While the World Bank is supporting the project with a loan of $160 million, DFID will provide a grant of $100 million.

    GEM seeks to provide technical support and grant to participating MSMEs in five identified sectors with a high potential for economic growth and job creation. The sectors are: Information and Communication Technology (ICT), entertainment, hospitality, light manufacturing and real estate.

    He said induction workshops had been held for applicants in the Southeast, Southsouth, Southwest and Northcentral.

    Laabaran explained that the induction was postponed in the Northwest and Northeast because of low registration at the time.

    “As at the time other geopolitical zones were invited for induction, the level of registration from the North-West and North-East was very low.

    “This was due to the Boko Haram insurgency, which crippled telecommunication and internet facilities in the North-East, and the low level of education in the North-West.

    “So, we have to give MSME operators in those areas additional two or three weeks to register because the portal is still running,’’ he said.

    Labaran said the next stage was training of inducted applicants, after which they would submit their business plans for evaluation.

    He added that MSMEs that scaled through the business plan evaluation would be assisted with grants.

    Labaran said independent monitors would visit benefiting firms to ensure that they were using the grants for their purposes.

    “These independent monitors will visit them three or six months later to know whether they are using the funds for the purpose they are meant. That is why whatever we are giving we are going to tranche it. We don’t just give it to you at once. We will first give them certain percentage; thereafter, we will monitor them to see whether they are doing what they claim to do. If they are not doing it, then they will not get another tranche,’’ he said.

  • Africa needs more paediatric surgeons, says group

    The Pan African Paediatric surgeon Association(PAPSA) President, Prof Essam Elhalaby, has said Africa needs more paediatric surgeons.

    This, according to him, is because the challenges of paediatric surgery  in Africa is huge, as more than 12 African countries had no paediatric surgeon, leaving  children, who required surgery to be handled by surgeons in other fields.

    Also, he said there were no paediatric nurses and anaestisiologists, and other specialties.

    He spoke at 11th Biennial Meeting of Pan African Pediatric Surgical Association (PAPSA) and the 15th yearly conference of the Association of Paediatric Surgeons of Nigeria with the Association of Paediatric Surgeons of Nigeria (APSON) in FESTAC, Lagos.

    The theme of the conference was  “Total surgical health for the African child’’.

    Elhalaby said: “Nigeria has the second largest number of paediatric surgeons on the continent and they have a long experience in that field. Some of them do not practise in the country; most of them are practising outside Nigeria either in the UK or middle east.”

    The conference was aimed at proffering non-conventional solutions in paediatric surgery in children. It was also used to identify the needs of trainees on the continent, Elhalaby added.

    Nigerian has about 100 paediatric surgeons, while Egypt has about 150. But for Nigeria’s population, this is still not enough. Nigeria has the biggest population on the continent.

    Elhalaby said there was a huge gap. Despite this, African paediatric surgeons are moving out to seek greener pasture.

    About 40 per cent of Egypt’s paediatric surgeons are working in other countries while that of Nigeria are between 10 and 15 per cent.

    The surgeon identified lack of facilities as one of the problems of maternal and child mortality in Africa. ‘’Paediatric surgery needs a lot of equipment and resources, such as mechanical ventilator, because our patients are very tiny babies. Transportation is another challenge, transporting a sick child is not easy and by the time the child can access care, it is most times too late,” Elhalaby said.

    According to a Professor of Paediatric Surgery and Chief  Medical Director, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH),Idi-Araba, Christopher Bode, “the challenges in child healthcare in Africa is multiple-delayed and denied access of surgery by parents because these children do not know their need. Cost of surgery, should children pay for surgery? In many countries, the care of children between zero and 14 years is free in hospitals, so if society can provide everything for childcare, no child should die or suffer because they cannot access healthcare or surgery care.’’

    He added: “The problem of financing healthcare for children and for the aged is something the country can tackle with innovative policies that can sustain over time. If the national health insurance scheme  does not cover up to 10 per cent of the total Nigeria population, yet if it is extended innovatively, it would take care of children and surgery”.

    On maternal and child mortality, the wife of  Lagos State governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode, represented by the wife of the Commissioner for Mineral Resources Dr. Arinola Oluwo,  said: “As the year goes by, we want to encourage more women to have access to medical facility. We have lots of women complaining about general hospitals, but it is better to go early to use the facilities for proper medical attention.”

    She added: “Pregnant women need to go to hospitals early enough to identify with doctors whenever they are having signs to prevent any loss and that will help reduce maternal and child mortality.”

  • Govt job scheme gets 749,000 applications

    The Federal Government says it has received 749, 000 applications under its Social Investment Programme aimed at recruiting 500,000 graduates and 100,000 trainees. The 749, 000 applications were received at the close of the online portal on August 31.

    Special Assistant to the President on Social Investment Programme, Mariam Uwais,  said the N-Power programme received applications from all the 774 local government areas of the country with the highest figures coming from Lagos, Oyo, Rivers and Bauchi.

    She said those in charge of the programme were about compiling the applications and commencing the training of successful applicants by October, adding that the training would last a month before participants are deployed to states to provide extension services.

    Uwais said the participants would be provided with a training device, which would be used for the extension services, adding that the aim of the programme was to help young Nigerians acquire and develop lifelong skills needed to become solution providers in their communities and players in the domestic and global markets.

    She explained that the programe has been divided into three sections namely: Paid Volunteer Teacher Corps for Graduate (N-Power Corps), Training and Empowerment for Knowledge Work (N-Power Knowledge), Build Nigeria Programme for Training and Empowerment of Artisans (N-Power Build).

    Uwais added that the aim of the N-Power Corps was to provide temporary jobs in primary education, agriculture, public health and community education, adding that the programme, which would last for two years, was targeting  50,000 unemployed graduates.

    She said trainees would be deployed to their immediate rural  communities, where they would assist in meeting the inadequacies in the education, health and agricultural sectors, adding that state governments would assist in the deployment of beneficiaries to the communities.

    According to Uwais, others include the N-Power Knowledge, which would train 25,000 Nigerians in technology, and N-Power Build, which would train another 75,000 in building services, construction, utilities, hospitality and catering, automotive vocations, aluminium and gas services.

    “Besides their monthly pay estimated at about N23, 000 each, the selected 500,000 graduates will also get computer devices that will contain information necessary for their specific engagement, as well as information for their continuous training and development.

    “According to the plan of the Buhari administration, the N-Power Teacher Corps programme is an invaluable opportunity for young Nigerians to make immense economic and social contributions to the nation while developing their skills. It will also help to address the problems of inadequate teachers in public schools,” Uwais said.

  • Institute to support govt on job creation

    Worried by the rising unemployment rate, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) has expressed its desire to assist the Federal Government in tackling the crisis.

    The institute stressed that the recent unemployment data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) should be a source of concern to stakeholders in the country.

    Speaking in Lagos, its President, Anthony Arabome, said indicators had shown that unemployment is growing at an increasing rate, with serious attendant consequences for the nation.

    He said a report had shown that 20 foreign shipping companies operating in Nigeria have discontinued operations, leaving over 3,000 unemployed.

    “This is in addition to the rising trend of unemployment recently observed in the financial, oil and gas sectors of the economy,” he said.

    The institute, as part of its efforts to support the Federal Government, in the fight against unemployment recently conducted a study entitled: ‘The Management of National Unemployment Challenge (MNUC)’ as a response to some perceived social, economic and political challenges of unemployment in Nigeria’.

    Arabome explained that the MNUC study was initiated to collaborate with the Federal Government in providing sustainable solutions to the unemployment challenge in the country, adding that it was part of the institute’s contribution to national transformation.

    He said: “The immediate and remote causes of unemployment include policy inconsistency, poor political governance and setting of policy direction, which in turn elicits a harsh business environment, lack of stakeholders ownership of national employment policy, mis-alignment of the educational system output and the skill-sets required by current employers of labour and others.”

    Arabome expressed CIPM’s willingness to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to review/design and curricula of the nation’s institutions of higher learning to reflect current skills demand reality.

  • NUPENG wants oil workers protected

    The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has urged the Federal Government to protect oil workers returning from the field from being kidnapped.

    Its President, Mr. Igwe Achese, who made the plea in Lagos, condemned the kidnapping of 14 oil workers of Nestoil, who were returning from Egbema-Ohaji field to Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, by yet-to-be identified kidnappers.

    He expressed shock at the act and called on security agencies to spread their dragnet to rescue the workers unhurt.

    “The kidnap is one too many, and all hands must be on deck to protect the lives of oil workers, especially those working in installations.

    “We are, therefore, worried about the attack which has made oil workers endangered species,” the NUPENG boss said.

    The recent kidnapping of the workers,  Achese  said, would further scare foreign investors who would want to bring in the needed foreign capital and expertise to expand on projects in the sector.

    He urged security agencies to intensify efforts to rescue the workers alive to rejoin their families, with no ransom paid.

    According to him, security operatives should also ensure that the culprits are arrested and punished to serve as a deterrent.

    He urged the government to address the economic downturn to ameliorate the current level of unemployment in the country, urging  those involved in the act to retrace their steps and find something meaningful to do.

    “It is the duty of the government to reflate the economy, repair dilapidated infrastructure, assist small-scale business enterprises and ensure that restive youths are engaged,” he said.

  • ILO bemoans rising unemployment

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has alerted that youth unemployment is rising and would likely reach 13.1 per cent this year.

    Its Director-General, Guy Ryder, at the G20 Summit in Beijing, China, said leaders from across the G20 countries spoke frankly about the economic and political risks caused by slow growth and weak employment prospects.

    According to the global body, unemployment this year is inching close to a historic peak of 71 million jobless young people.

    Ryder said: “The agreements reached at the Hangzhou Summit showed signs of a shift towards a more balanced policy response to the challenges of slow growth, high unemployment and underemployment, inequality, and continuing rapid structural change”.

    He pointed out that globally, unemployment and underemployment was high and rising, wage incomes stagnant, and inequality widening.

    “The importance of social dialogue in translating global agreements into sustainable solutions cannot be overemphasised. This is feeding back into weak consumer demand, weak investment, pressure on public finances and continued slow growth.

    “This slow growth has created social tensions, not the least among them young women and men looking to get started in working life. It is driving people to leave their communities and seek work elsewhere, often far away,” Ryder said.

    The ILO head also pointed out that frustrated expectations provided the tinder that inflammatory political forces used to undermine support for open economies and societies that respect and value diversity.

    He added that G20 leadership was vital in reversing these trends, and its support for the United Nations (UN) with the G20 Action Plan on the 2030 Agenda for  Sustainable Development was key.

    Ryder also highlighted the Declaration of the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers, which recommended policies on combating working poverty, ending discrimination, and narrowing gaps in working conditions.

    It also recommended reducing inequalities, enhancing minimum wage mechanisms, and social protection that will be critical in shaping the future of work.

    Ryder also congratulated China on engaging business and labour in the preparations on the summit. “The importance of social dialogue in translating global agreements into sustainable solutions cannot be overemphasised,” he concluded.

    The summit’s communiqué committed the G20 to work in order to ensure that the economic growth serves the needs of everyone and benefits all countries and all people, including in particular, women, youth and disadvantaged groups.

    It also committed to generating more quality jobs, addressing inequalities and eradicating poverty so that no one was left behind.

    It also emphasised that for sustainable development, strengthened labour market institutions and policies could support productivity and promote decent work, and therefore, higher sustainable wage growth in particular, for the low-income workers.

  • TUC decries call for fuel price hike

    The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has decried alleged call by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for  an increase in the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS).

    In a release signed by TUC National President Comrade Boboi Kaigama on Tuesday, the union said: “Our attention has been drawn to the recent call by the management of NNPC for an increase in the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS) from N145.

    “It is annoying that the call came even when the Federal Government is yet to fulfil its promises and agreement reached with organised labour during the protest against the last price hike in May, this year.

    “In case the management of the NNPC has forgotten, the economy is in crisis and life has become very difficult for the common man who now can hardly afford two square meals per day”.

    Kaigama went on: “The minimum wage could no longer purchase a bag of rice,” adding that businesses were shutting down, leading to millions of job losses. This has led to increase in crime and other vices.

    “If all the members of the NNPC team can offer as recipe to containing the scourge of economic downturn is to increase the price of petroleum products, then they are not fit to manage the sector and should throw in the towel.

    “If the country had other sources of Foreign Exchange (forex) or produced most of what it imports, the economy would not be what it is now,” Kaigama pointed out, asking: “What stops the government from building more refineries and diversifying the economy?”

    He said the Federal Government should maintain some stability in

    forex rates, taking into cognisance  that Nigeria was an import-dependent economy.

    Kaigama said the implications of refining outside the country were enormous. “If you are refining outside, you must pay for cost of transportation, insurance and port charges, etc. We just cannot continue to toe the same line,” he said.

    The TUC boss said the Congress would resist any hike in the price

    of petrol if that’s what it would take to get the government into thinking out of the box.

  • Workers lament wage arrears

    Alarmed by the suffering of Nigerians, particularly civil servants, in the past few months, organised labour, under the auspices of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), has urged the Federal Government to pay federal civil servants their outstanding salaries and allowances to stimulate the economy.

    In a statement issued in Lagos, ASCSN Secretary-General Comrade Alade Bashir Lawal said if the Federal Government should pay salary arrears and allowances, including promotion arrears owed civil servants, their purchasing power would increase.

    “This is the right time to act.  The government should, therefore, not

    waste the opportunity. We believe that since these federal civil servants and their dependants live in different parts of the country, if these outstanding entitlements are paid to them, it will have positive ripple effects on the economy and douse the tension in the land.

    “There is anger and hunger in the country and as a patriotic trade union organisation, we have decided to bring this deplorable situation to the notice of government so that it can take necessary measures to stem the tide by doing the needful,” the union stressed.

    The union wondered why the Federal Government, which gave N713.7 billion to states to pay arrears of salaries and allowances of  workers, could not settle the debt owed its employees, even when a committee it set up to compute the liabilities submitted its report to the Presidency more than 10 months ago.

    ASCSN lamented that a bag of rice is now sold for between N19,000 to N20,000, more than the N18,000 monthly National Minimum Wage; a gallon of kerosine costs N1,200, from about N400 few months ago, while the price of petrol was increased from N87.50 to N145 per litre.

    “Generally, while the cost of goods and services has continued to rise astronomically, salaries of workers have remained static and these are  not even paid in some states for the past six months.

    “Since the welfare of the people is the main reason why government exists, we wish to advise that the Federal Government should look beyond political party affiliation and other primordial affinity and assemble patriotic experts, who abound in Nigeria, to chart the way forward for the economy,” the Union said.

  • ITF blames high unemployment on skills gap

    The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has blamed the high unemployment rate in the country on the gap between available skills and demands of the labour market.

    Speaking with The Nation, ITF Acting Director-General Mr. Dickson Onuoha said there were many job openings but no skilled manpower to fill them.

    He said the ITF, in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), launched a National Industrial Skills Gap Assessment Survey in 2015, and its result showed that there were vacancies which were not adequately filled.

    His words: “Preliminary information from the report of that exercise, which is about to be finalised and released, shows that there are a lot of vacancies in the industries.  This is not because of lack of youths or graduates, but because they lack the required skills to fill  these vacancies.’’

    In a related event, Onuoha said the Fund had begun training 9,500 youths in 18 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in various trades.

    At the flag off of the 2016 National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP) in Alausa, Lagos,  Onuoha canvassed support for the government’s rapid industrialisation and economic diversification policy.

    He said the training was in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to bridging the unemployment gap through entrepreneurial development, adding that the programme was designed to equip young Nigerians with requisite skills for job creation.

    “The first phase of the programme commenced four years ago and has continued in subsequent phases in all states of the federation and FCT, producing thousands of well trained artisans. Trainees were exposed to intensive technical and vocational skills for three months in different trade areas.

    “Today, we are witnessing the flag off of the fifth phase of the programme, which shall be implemented simultaneously in 18 states and the FCT. A total of 9,500 youths will be trained in this phase,” Onouha said.

    He said ITF identified Lagos State Government as a strategic partner in the realisation of the Nigerian project, noting that the collaboration would deepen and sustain the achievements recorded so far by Lagos State.

    “It is therefore in this spirit of shared determination that we have identified and selected satellite centres in three senatorial districts of Lagos State to provide training in areas such as catering and hotel management; tailoring and fashion design, refrigerator and air-conditioning; domestic electric installation, among others,” Onuoha said.

    He said the trade areas were carefully selected based on their anticipated value addition to the citizens  and the potential to provide opportunities for growth of micro, small and medium enterprises, as well as being a sure means of sustainable livelihood.

    Lagos State Governor  Akinwunmi Ambode, who was represented by the Director, Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Adesokan Gboyega, said Lagos State was pursuing a policy of job creation and sustainable development. He added that Lagos was ever ready to partner with the ITF.

  • ‘Fed govt is aware of underemployment’

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is aware of the high rate of unemployment and under-employment and the need to combat it through diversification of the economy.

    Ngige, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Clement Illoh, stated this in Abuja in his keynote address at the “National Dialogue on Future of Work Initiative”. It was organised by the ministry in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

    Ngige stressed that the Dialogue on Future of Work Initiative had become imperative for Nigeria to develop strategies for addressing the various challenges and changes over the years.

    Such challenges, according to him, include climate change, casualisation, contract work, information and communication technology, working from home, and outsourcing, among others.

    He said the importance of the initiative could not be overemphasised, as it had opened a window of opportunities for the advancement of ILO’s mandate for social justice through engagement of stakeholders to debate and contribute to the reflection on the future of work.

    The initiative, he added, would establish a high-level commission on the future of work that would organise activities at the 108th session of the ILO Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2019, where the report of the commission would be discussed.

    Ngige said the administration was committed to promoting inclusive and sustainable economic development, productive employment and creation of decent jobs.

    The ILO Country Office Director, Dr. Dennis Zulu, said the main objectives of the initiative were to generate a better understanding ofthe forces transforming the world of work and the implications for governments, workers and employers.

    He also said it hoped to provide a constructive forum for the exchange of ideas and information among the tripartite constituents.