The Nation Newspaper

Category: Labour

  • TUC vows to resist electricity tariff hike

    TUC vows to resist electricity tariff hike

    The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has described the proposed increase in electricity tariff by the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) as an invitation to anarchy.

    It warned that organised labour would resist the move, which it described as oppressive, indefensible and retrogressive.

    In a statement issued on Monday by its President, Bobboi Bala Kaigama and Secretary General, Musa Lawal, TUC said the proposed tariff increase  by an average of 49.4 per cent is wrong and lacked human face.

    He said:“There is no gainsaying the fact that the present billing system is crazy, and any increase in tariff at this time is bound to make it even crazier. Why should the masses be at the receiving end of every wrong and retrogressive policy in the country? Why must they always pay for what the rich consume more of?  What sense does it make for a man who earns less than N20, 000 per month to be made to pay over N8, 000 for electricity bill alone within the same month?”

    He  wondered why people should pay so much for what they do not use regularly enough, with officials of the DisCos rarely bothering to read the analogue metres. “Why should these questionable issues that are spared no thought in other climes always take centre stage in Nigeria?” He asked rhetorically, insisting that Nigerians deserve a much better deal.

    TUC said the proposed increase could explains why the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has been foot-dragging on the issue of making prepaid meters  available to consumers of electricity so as to sustain excessive billing being imposed on the consumers.

    He said: “NERC is considering introducing measures that will facilitate reduction of the rate of the fixed charge on consumers. What has been happening all along is same with what is obtainable in the telecommunications sector. They either assign tones to subscribers or enrol them on plans that attract daily, weekly or monthly deductions. We say no to this. The N750 charge is fundamentally fraudulent and unjust and must be abolished. Anyone canvassing its sustenance or any increase in tariff does a grave disservice to the nation.”

    The TUC said NERC and the DisCos would do well to shun anything that would attract the wrath of the masses. He said  rather than a hike in electricity tariff, Nigerians expected the power firms to earnestly adopt genuine consumer-friendly policies.

    It harped that the fact that power supply is relatively improved within the last few months does not mean that the myriad of challenges bedevilling the sector are over.

  • Bailout fund: Labour directs Kogi’s workers to stay off work

    Public servants in Kogi State have been directed to stay off work to protest the non-release of bailout funds by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The directive is contained in a statement issued by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) last weekend.

    The statement, signed by NLC Secretary Mr John Faniyi and his TUC counterpart, Mr Joseph Kolawole expressed dissatisfaction over the non-release of the N50.8 billion bailout fund due to the state.

    “This directive is to serve as protest against the non-release of the money,’’ the statement said.

    The unions said they were surprised by the CBN’s/Federal Government’s  silence over the matter.

    Asking workers to comply with the order, the labour unions warned commissioners, permanent secretaries, directors and other categories of senior public officers not to report for work to avoid being embarrassed.

    In a related development, the Nigerian Association of Federal Civil Servants Co-operatives is set to acquire Kogi Micro Finance Bank to drive the process of easy access to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) N220 billion for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and to meet the specific needs of cooperative societies in Nigeria.

  • How OPS, others can tackle manpower challenge, by ITF

    How OPS, others can tackle manpower challenge, by ITF

    The Industrial Training Fund, (ITF) has said the Organised Private Sector (OPS) must partner with relevant stakeholders to address manpower and skills challenges.

    Speaking in Lagos during an interactive forum organised by the Ikeja Area Office of the Fund, its Director-General and Chief Executive, Dr. Juliet Chukkas Onaeko said ITF was repositioning itself in line with the Federal Governments’ policy direction.

    She said such interactive sessions would enable the agency to feel the pulse of stakeholders, such as the organised private sector, and address some of the issues they may have concerning the fund’s mandate.

    Onaeko said in order to provide training and entrepreneurial opportunities for youths,  ITF will continue to encourage its partners and contributors that fulfil their obligations to it.

    According to her, the Ikeja Area Interactive forum, like those of ot her area offices is organised yearly. They offer ITF platform to interface and interact with captains of industry and members of the OPS to acquaint them with emerging trends and issues in human resource development.

  • Fed Govt set to pay workers’ salary arrears, allowances

    Fed Govt set to pay workers’ salary arrears, allowances

    The Secretary-General , Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Comrade Alade Bashir Lawal, has said the Federal Government is planning to pay workers salary arrears and allowances.

    In a statement issued on Monday, Comrade Lawal, who is also a member of the Presidency’s Panel on Bailout for Federal Public Servants, said the outstanding benefits owed thousands of public servants would be paid soon.

    He said the benefits included salary arrears, promotion arrears, first 28th days allowance on transfer from post, repatriation allowance and allowance for mandatory training organised by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) in 2010.

    He said the union had written series of letters to President Muhammadu Buhari as President-elect and since he assumed office on May 29, intimating him of the outstanding salaries and allowances.

    Following this, he said, the President on September 14, through the OHCSF ordered MDAs to compile names of affected officers within seven days.

    “Members of the Committee that worked on the salary arrears issue were drawn mainly from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity and ASCSN,” he added.

    The ASCSN scribe explained that the Committee had pleaded with the Presidency to accept as supplementary the list from few other MDAs that could not meet the seven-day deadline for the submission of names of affected officers.

    He added that a memorandum was  forwarded to the President on the completion of the assignment on bailout for public servants in the MDAs.

    “We must also express gratitude to the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Dr Cement Illoh, the Chairman of the Panel, for the able manner he steered the affairs of the Committee.

    “In particular, our special thanks also go to President Buhari for directing the compilation of the arrears and allowances of the Federal workers. We urge him to continue to play his fatherly role by directing the release of needed funds so that these outstanding salaries and allowances can be paid in the next few weeks in order to put the entire sordid story behind us,” he said.

  • TUC vows to resist electricity tariff hike

    The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has described the proposed increase in electricity tariff by the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) as an invitation to anarchy.

    It warned that organised labour would resist the move, adding that it is totally oppressive, indefensible and retrogressive.

    In a statement issued on Monday by its President, Bobboi Bala Kaigama and Secretary General, Musa Lawal, TUC said the proposed tariff increase  by an average of 49.4 per cent is wrong and lacked human face.

    He said:“There is no gainsaying the fact that the present billing system is crazy, and any increase in tariff at this time is bound to make it even crazier. Why should the masses be at the receiving end of every wrong and retrogressive policy in the country? Why must they always pay for what the rich consume more of?  What sense does it make for a man who earns less than N20, 000 per month to be made to pay over N8, 000 for electricity bill alone within the same month?”

    He  wondered why people should pay so much for what they do not use regularly enough, with officials of the DisCos rarely bothering to read the analogue metres. “Why should these questionable issues that are spared no thought in other climes always take centre stage in Nigeria?” He asked rhetorically, insisting that Nigerians deserve a much better deal.

    TUC said the proposed increase could explains why the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has been foot-dragging on the issue of making prepaid meters  available to consumers of electricity so as to sustain excessive billing being imposed on the consumers.

    He said: “NERC is considering introducing measures that will facilitate reduction of the rate of the fixed charge on consumers. What has been happening all along is same with what is obtainable in the telecommunications sector. They either assign tones to subscribers or enrol them on plans that attract daily, weekly or monthly deductions. We say no to this. The N750 charge is fundamentally fraudulent and unjust and must be abolished. Anyone canvassing its sustenance or any increase in tariff does a grave disservice to the nation.”

    The TUC said NERC and the DisCos would do well to shun anything that would attract the wrath of the masses. He said  rather than a hike in electricity tariff, Nigerians expected the power firms to earnestly adopt genuine consumer-friendly policies.

    It harped that the fact that power supply is relatively improved within the last few months does not mean that the myriad of challenges bedevilling the sector are over.

  • NSITF urges harmonised social security policies

    The Federal Government has been urged to harmonise and coordinate the social security programmes in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

    The General Manager and Head of Social Security, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Mr. Ismail Agaka, who spoke in Abuja on the challenges of implementing social security initiatives, explained that though the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity is charged with regulating implementation of social security, it has not been empowered to carry out the function.

    According to him, Nigeria does not have a structured social security system, hence, the need to urgently address it.

    “What Nigeria has are various social security programmes that are simultaneously implemented in at least nine MDAs. Therefore, the lack of synergy is really affecting the implementation of these programmes. Nigeria does not have a national policy on social security,” he said.

    Agaka noted that the last attempt at having a national social security policy was the Gowon Committee report. The committee, he said, submitted a report but several years after, there is no white paper published to enable legislation on the recommendations of the committee report. He, therefore, said there is an urgent need for a national social policy.

  • LCCI appoints Segun Alabi as corporate communications manager

    LCCI appoints Segun Alabi as corporate communications manager

    The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has appointed  Segun Alabi as its new Corporate Communications Manager.

    LCCI Director- General Mr. Muda Yusuf, in a statement on Monday, said Alabi is a talented corporate communications professional, who has gained diverse experience in the Pay T.V, manufacturing, financial and real estate sectors.

    He said Alabi will be an added value and a real asset to the Chamber, “As we continue to support, promote and represent the opinion of the business community, as well as contributing to the growth of our economy.”

    Before his new appointment, Alabi served as Head of Corporate Affairs at Forthright Group of Companies, overseeing all public relations and communications functions of the organisation. He has focused on media relations, image architecture, internal communication, perception management and social media management at various levels. He is also a consummate corporate communications professional, who possesses the qualities of a communication connoisseur, with a canny ability to manage and disseminate information to a competitive advantage.

    Upon starting, Alabi said, “I am excited about joining the LCCI during this crucial period of entrenching positive change in all facets of our economy. The task ahead is not only to make the image but also to sustain the already made image of the chamber, as well as improving on it.”

    Alabi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria and a Master’s degree in English from the University of Lagos, specialising in Language Use and Communication.

  • Labour seeks regional integration to improve workers’ welfare

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called for regional cooperation among African countries to improve workers’ welfare.

    Its President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba made the call during the weekend at the opening of the Organisation of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA) special delegates’ conference in Abuja.

    He noted that past efforts at regional integration had always focused on removing barriers to free trade, increasing free movement of people, labour, goods, and capital across borders, reducing the possibility of regional armed conflict and adopting a cohesive regional stance on policy issues in the sub-region

    He emphasised the importance of OTUWA for regional unity and cooperation of workers in meeting the challenges of globalisation and the increasingly competitive markets.

    He said: “It is our belief that trade unions’ regional solidarity is a possible solution to the continent’s deep and prolonged labour, economic and social crisis, at a time when the working people are experiencing the ‘race to the bottom’, prevalent neo-liberal policies of deregulation and privatization of national economies, while the continuing decline of state-imposed barriers to inter-country flows is paving the way for increased regional trade.”

    Wabba assured that the NLC would continue to play a vital role in the sustenance of  OTUWA and other African regional trade union organisations for the benefits of the workers in the sub-region and Africa as a whole.

    ”We must reflect on the fact that West African countries today are weakly integrated nationally, regionally, and internationally. Ethnic and socio-political divisions are particularly dominant in the region. Our trade unions are small and labour centres significantly fragmented in many of our countries, and these are impediments to regional integration.”

    He said regionally, West African countries are divided by a wide range of institutional, legal, socio-economic and cultural barriers. At the international trade union level, for instance, he said West Africa is increasingly being marginalised.

    “What we require at this moment are efforts on all fronts to build and ensure a strong regional trade union organisation to address and overcome the sense of disconnectedness in international trade unionism and the global labour movement,” he stated.

  • ITF, ASSBIFI seek national skills policy on job creation

    NIGERIA needs a skills policy to get out of economic woods, Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Director-General Dr Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko has said.

    She said the country was yet to attain its economic and industrial potential because of lack of such policy.

    Chukkas-Onaeko spoke at a capacity building programme organised by the Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN), in Abeokuta, Ogun State, at the weekend. Its theme was Why Nigeria Needs a Skills Policy for Media Practitioners .

    She said the ITF has partnered the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in identifying the urgent need for a national skills policy. The agency has conceptualised and initiated plans for a summit coming up next month in Abuja, she said.

    The summit, she said, will identify and discuss key issues and challenges inhibiting skills and manpower development.

    “Nigeria with over 170 million citizens, seventh largest population in the world, 69 million workforce and an age bracket of 18 years in median, making her youngest globally by more than 20 per cent, has no reason not to create and export jobs like other developed nations earning revenue from skills exportation,” she said.

    Represented by ITF’s Assistant Director and Area Manager in Ogun State Mrs. Yinka Shodunke, she said the summit would assist in the holistic implementation of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), as skills development constitutes an integral part and enabler for achieving and surpassing the NIRP objectives.

    She said: “The ITF under the current leadership is also undergoing positive and very far reaching reforms of charting a new strategic direction for the fund, part of which is the skills summit, which will drive the facilitation and scaling up of job creation through the training and re-skilling of more than five million youths annually.”

    The DG identified 10 skills that would make journalists more skilful at their work and prepare them  for challenges that lay ahead.

    Other resource persons at the programme were the National President of the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), Comade Olusola Salako, who was the chairman of the event; the Director, International Press Centre, Mr. Lanre Arogundade and a media consultant, Mr Osa Director.

    Speaking on Media Entrepreneurship; Getting Real Life Skills to Start or Grow Your Business, Salako said media practitioners should look inwards for what  could sustain them, adding that every journalist cannot be publisher at the end of the day.

    Salako said anybody who wants to be economically stable after retirement should ask himself whether he caould rise to the top of his profession even after committing everything into the job. He said if the answer is no, then the worker needed to start looking elsewhere for survival.

    He said investing in agriculture  is key as it was the sector the country used as launch pad to kick-start the economy early at  independence  until the discovery of ‘lazy money’ through oil  which changed everything and destabilised the economy.

    “As media men, investments should be made on finances that come in now for a better tomorrow and you can organise yourself into a cooperative body to give yourselves loans for development and not to live ostentatious and fake lives, which some bankers are known for and which cannot guarantee a future as any employer can lay off any worker at anytime as he/she deems fit without explanation,” he said.

    He said investment in agriculture and properties has made ASSBIFI a model union for others to emulate. According to him, the union pays N2million monthly as affiliate fee to the Trade Union Congress (TUC), has over 40 members in TUC and a wage bill of over N3million.

    Arogundade, while elaborating on how journalists can equip themselves for a better future, said journalists need to redefine themselves to be able to connect to the readers and carve a niche for themselves.

    Speaking on What Works and What Gets In the Way, he said any media practitioner interested in establishing a media outfit must be prepared to re-evaluate himself by asking questions that only him could answer.

    He said journalists need to take up opportunities now before it is too late to better themselves as the society is changing due to the social media that is posing challenges. He said any media entrepreneur can take advantage of the social media to be relevant in the scheme of things.

  • Plateau to partner ITF on job creation, industrialisation

    Governor  Simon Lalong has said Plateau State will continue to partner the Federal Government through the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to create jobs and entrepreneurs.

    The governor, who spoke at the Abuja International Trade Fair, said the state as the home of solid minerals would soon establish a solid minerals processing plant, adding that training and capacity building of indigenes will be needed to actualise the objective.

    The Deputy Governor, Prof. Sonni Tyoden, who represented Lalong, visited ITF’s stand at the fair where he said the state would seek greater ties and collaboration with  ITF in its quest to industrialise the state and create jobs for its people through the acquisition and deployment of vocational and technical skills.

    Harping on training and development as a prerequisite for economic growth and industrialisation, the governor listed some of the minerals abundant in the state to include kaolin, gemstone and lime, adding that the government would complete its mineral museum and international lapidary complex to serve as training and laboratory centres.

    According to him, establishing mineral processing plants in all localities they exist in the state will help to eliminate bottlenecks associated with processing them abroad, while also creating jobs and economic opportunities for the people.

    The governor explained that private entrepreneurs will be supported by the state to ensure that agricultural products were produced in commercial quantities for the benefit of the state, noting that it was in this light that manpower development became imperative.

    ITF Director-General, Dr. Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko said ITF’s participation at the Fair was one of the ways the agency was using to pass its message of skills acquisition to every parts of the country.

    Represented by the Head of Public Affairs Unit of the agency, Mrs. Ifeoma Ihezue, she said the Fund has initiated many strategies that will eliminate youth unemployment and the challenges of inadequate skills from the country.

    According to her, ITF has also created a jobs portal that will connect entrepreneurs and employers with youths, while new trade areas have been introduced to expand access and opportunities for technical and vocational skills acquisition.

    The ITF DG said the forthcoming National Skills Summit being planned by the agency will change the face of skills acquisition in the country, as the summit which is expected to be declared open by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, will involve all stakeholders within the skills development ecosystem inside and outside the country.

    She also said the summit will for the first time in the history of the country identify and discuss key issues and proffer lasting solutions to the challenges inhibiting skills development in the country.