The Nation Newspaper

Category: Labour

  • ‘Expect more strikes, protests this year’

    ‘Expect more strikes, protests this year’

    Analysts have warned that industrial action by workers this year may be more than last year’s unless the government rises up to its responsibilities, reports TOBA AGBOOLA.

    With the economic depression predicted to claim more jobs in major sectors this year and governments’ inability to meet their financial commitments to the nation’s work force, Organised Labour is worried that 2015 may record more disaffection between workers and employers, leading to incessant strikes and industrial actions than in 2014.

    Experts believed unresolved labour issues in the power, oil and gas, academia, public service etc. could lead to more strikes in the workplace.

    Last year was quite challenging in the nation’s industrial relations space, because it was characterised by  strikes. Strikes, experts say, are an anathema to national development. They contend that the  economy that has been struggling to come out of the woods has further been plunged into a comatose.

    They warned that the length of the strike season is increasing, with the last year’s strike season continuing into this year. This is as labour’s struggle for better wage and improved welfare for members in the face of economic hardship spilled into 2015.

    This new era of prolonged work stoppages, according to experts, are not healthy for the nation’s fragile economy especially as the general elections draw closer.

    For instance, workers in the health sector may have taken the lead for the position of being the first union to threaten and embark on a strike in the year. Operating under the auspices of the Joint Health Sector Unions and Assembly of Health Care Professionals (JOHESU), the health workers, just like in previous years, want the Federal Government to meet near-impossible demands, which the government seems not willing to accede to.

    Late last year, oil workers under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) embarked on a warning strike. According to NUPENG and PENGASSAN, it was to protest the government’s inability to carry out turnaround maintenance of the country’s refineries and to reduce pump prices of petroleum products in line with the drop in global prices of crude oil.

    The industrial action was sequel to Federal Government’s failure to show any sign of meaningful resolution or commitment to the oil workers’ concern within the 14-day ultimatum given to them.

    Other reasons for the strike by NUPENG and PENGASSAN included delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), non-implementation of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act to reflect Nigerians in management positions and expatriate quota law.

    Others are the appalling state of access roads to refineries and oil depots’ facilities, insecurity, appointments in government agencies in disregards to succession planning, compulsory deduction from workers’ salaries for the National Housing Fund (NHF), casualisation and contract staffing and unfair labour practices by companies and government agencies.

    Recently, NUPENG threatened to embark on an indefinite strike if the ongoing divestment in the oil sector by some multinationals was not stopped. Its President, Mr. Igwe Achese deplored the divestment, saying it was intended to sabotage the Federal Government’s efforts to reposition the petroleum sector. He said the situation had raised concerns about the sincerity of the government to refocus the sector.

    For civil servants under the umbrella of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), delayed and irregular salaries, coupled with stagnation in one position may be the reason they will embark on strike in the coming months.

    These examples, said watchers of  the sector, indicate that 2015, like other years before it, would be a year of strikes, protests and industrial action by organised labour.

    A Workers’ Rights Activist and President, Progressive Leaders Organisation International (PLOI), Mr. Emmanuel Ezueme, said Nigeria is in the suffocating embrace of labour and industrial unions, adding that the non-chalant attitude of federal and state governments would sooner than later put the country on the brink of irreversible economic collapse.

    He said based on the socio-economic situation in the country more strikes, protests and agitations by industrial unions were to be expected.

    He maintained that the oil and gas sector workers, who operate under the auspices of NUPENG, and PENGASSAN, may be doing a disservice to the country.

    Ezueme said the recurring cases whereby oil and gas workers have perpetually held the nation and the petroleum sector in particular by the jugular as witnessed again in last December, has led in part to the stillborn state of the PIB, which even the oil and gas workers were clamouring for, years after it was first presented to the National Assembly for passage into law.

    “Calls for the proscription of labour unions are not misplaced considering the sufferings Nigerians are made to go through whenever the union’s embark on strike. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike that ended not too long is still fresh in peoples’ mind”, Ezueme added.

    Labour and industrial relations expert, Dr. Peter Okhiria, said banning unions would not save the country from the grasps of recurring industrial action in the year, but that it was time industrial unions changed their approach when making demands from their employers or negotiating with the government.

    Citing what he said is the never- ending calls for strikes by those in the medical profession, Okhiria said the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU), which directs health workers in federal hospitals to commence indefinite strike throughout Nigeria, must tread cautiously this year, if it is not to lose the goodwill of Nigerians.

    As for the members of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Okhiria urged them to prevail on health workers to consider other options before embarking on a strike.

    Last week, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) said following the expiration of two weeks’ notice given to the Federal Government, the union would begin an indefinite strike this week.

    The union had on February 11 given a two-week ultimatum  to the government,urging the Federal Government to implement the agreement it reached with the union, which led to the suspension of its strike last July.

    President of ASUP Comrade Chibuzo Asomugha, who addressed journalists in Abuja at the end of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the union, expressed disappointment over the government’s failure to implement the agreement it reached with the union.

    He said in July, last year, ASUP suspended the strike on the inter- vention of the Minister of Education, Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau, who had just resumed duties, then. He said the minister had requested for a three-month moratorium to enable him tackle the lingering problems.

    “Unfortunately and sadly, too, since the suspension of that strike and despite our strong reminders to government on the pending issues and repeated assurances from the minister, none of the issues has been addressed to a logical conclusion.

    “In a strange twist, rather, and without recourse to the content and spirit of the understanding on which the union suspended the strike, the Federal Ministry of Education on the 26th of January 2015, under the guise of a proposed verification, issued a circular directing the suspension of the CONTISS 15 Salary Structure, which its implementation dates back to 2009, thereby, creating further confusion in the sector.

    “This development is provocative, ill-timed, retrogressive, and is a flagrant breach of the trust and character of the agreement that led to the suspension of the strike in July, 2014. We are lost as to the real intent and objective of the Federal Ministry of Education in stirring the hornet’s nest at a time when our nation is in the throes of a challenging transition,” he said.

    Berating ASUU over the long strike last year, a management expert, Mr. Kunle Rotimi, said the union should be the first industrial union to be proscribed, if ever the Federal Government decides to go ahead with plans to create an alternative national labour centre.

    Rotimi said it was obvious that ASUU had other ulterior motives, apart from the quest to get adequate funding for education, even if the government was not proactive in its dealings with it. He stated that the union has since lost the confidence of most Nigerians, particularly parents.

    Also calling for a more restrained approach on the part of the unions, Rotimi said it was the obstinate attitude of unions in the power sector that dragged the reforms of the power sector for many years.

    According to him, the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Corporations (SSAEAC), contributed greatly to the epileptic power delivery in the country.

    However, SSAEAC President, Mr. Bede Opara, refuted allegations that the union prolonged the reforms for several years, saying the welfare of workers must be taken care of, before the reforms and privitisation were completed.

    The President, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Bobboi Kaigama, cautioned against incessant strikes in the public sector, warning that strikes were hurting the economy and thereby further reducing the chances of the nation’s prosperity.

    He lamented that most times, the government and private employers  do nothing in the face of agitations by workers until the commencement of strike, a development he said has continued to hurt the economy.

    Also, the out-going NLC President, Abdulwaheed Omar, urged the government to sustain robust industrial relations machinery to avoid a repeat of the strikes which were experienced in various sectors last year.

  • NUPENG: we’re not involved in NLC failed election

    NUPENG: we’re not involved in NLC failed election

    The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and National Gas Workers (NUPENG) has denied involvement in the recent Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) delegates conference election impasse in Abuja.

    At a briefing in Lagos, the union’s Secretary-General, Comrade Isaac Aberare, said the union was not involved in the manipulation of ballot papers during the failed election held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja from February 11-13.

    He said the allegation made against his union was unfounded and a ploy to score a cheap political point against NUPENG.

    Theunion’s scribe said the credentials committee was constituted to receive complaints or petitions from affiliate unions regarding allocation of delegates to the 11th Delegates Conference of the NLC.

    He said the committee later met in Lagos and Abuja and addressed all the complains brought before it, stressing that the committee also agreed on the design of the ballot papers for the election.

    He said members of NUPENG were not involved in the processes that led to the printing of the election materials that necessitated the duplication of names of some contestants in the ballot papers booklet.

    Aberare explained that the selection of the printer, award of contract and the payment for the job was done by the NLC’s secretariat while the printing and collation of the ballot papers and stapling in a booklet form were handled by the printer and his staff, adding that members of the Credentials Committee were not involved.

    He said the union vehemently denied and rejects the unfounded allegation of being responsible for the failed NLC delegates conference election, stressing that the union representative in the committee was not involved in the selection of printer, award of contract to print the ballot papers and payment for the job.

    The NUPENG  Secretary-General alleged that one of NLC presidential contestants stood to gain more from the duplication of names, adding that such candidate signed the NLC cheque for the printing of the ballot papers.

    Aberare alleged that the President, Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHUN) Comrade Ayuba Wabba, who was one of the NLC’s presidential candidates had shown desperation to hold the office even before the election.

    He explained that the members of the committee were not allowed to officiate during the voting by the chairman of the committee, Dr Issa Fagge, Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) who said as delegates they could be partisan.

     

  • Bridging the workplace gender gap

    Bridging the workplace gender gap

    Despite widely held opinion that companies benefit from access to the different but complementary leadership skills, gender inequality persists in Nigeria. The workplace is still largely skewed in favour of men, leaving women oppressed and marginalised, but Lafarge Africa Plc and World Bank are leading the campaign to bridge the gap. TOBA AGBOOLA reports.

    The gospel of gender inclusion is gathering steam. This time, Lafarge Africa Plc isleading the renewed campaign particularly in the workplace. The objective is to allow companies benefit from access to the different, but complementary leadership skills, wider talent pool, and insights women bring to management.

    Towards the end of last year, the company’s senior executives from various countries, gathered at the Assemblée Nationale (French National Assembly) at the Palais Bourbon in Paris, for the Gender Equality European/International Standard (GEEIS) Awards. Four Lafarge country operations – Nigeria, Spain, Brazil and France – were honoured in recognition for their work on diversity and inclusion.

    Lafarge Country Organisation and Human Resources (HR) Director, Fidelia Osime, who represented Nigeria at the ceremony said: “For us in Lafarge Africa Plc, it is indeed,` a significant achievement as we are the first company in Africa to be so recognised having been audited on a number of criteria. The question, of course, is how individual companies make a conscious effort to raise gender diversity in senior management. To this end, Lafarge Africa Plc has in line with its sustainability ambitions 2020, responded to these challenges in a way that looks optimistic to the future.”

    Lafarge, in its articulation of the sustainability ambitions, called for 20 per cent of senior executive management roles to be filled by women by 2014-2015. The company’s inclusive culture is defined as supporting a work environment that values diversity, where all employees are encouraged to share new ideas and innovations, and where equal opportunities exist for professional growth and development.

    Osime explained that the tenets of these ambitions include the belief that diversity in employees, teams and management is an essential factor in achieving a high level of performance and innovation.

    “This specific focus on employee diversity and skills development, regardless of gender, nationality, colour or religion, ensures that Lafarge as a group, uses every asset at its disposal to achieve set targets,” she said, adding that the company has expanded this culture of diversity through its recruitment initiatives, partnering with a number of diversity-focused companies and associations to ensure that it tapped the largest possible pool of candidates.

    Other initiatives introduced by the firm in Nigeria to support diversity, tnclude the activation of Women’s networking groups, flexible work hours in the corporate head office, supporting nursing mothers with crèche allowance, provision of paternity leave, and exclusion of maternity leave from annual leave entitlement.

    A Diversity & Inclusion Committee, comprising representatives from Human Resources, Operations and Communications, meets monthly, developing strategies and action plans to ensure that these goals are met in a fair  manner, thus ensuring that only credible candidates are chosen to fill these roles while making sure that the sustainability of the business is the main focus.

    Also, leadership and gender workshops were held across the various business units and locations.The outcome was the  introduction of diversity concepts and examination of  gender differences and their effects on business relationships. Communication and decision making are organised to make participants generate specific local actions to improve diversity. The belief is that on-going diversity training would  help drive employee engagement and create a work environment that visibly values and leverages diversity.

    The Nation learnt that out of the 12 members of Lafarge Africa Plc’s top management team, four are women. One of them, Adepeju Adebajo, was recently appointed Managing Director of WAPCO Operations. Others include Fidelia Osime – Country Organisation & Human Resources Director, Edith Onwuchekwa – Country Legal Counsel and Viola Graham Douglas – Country Communication Director. The combined wealth of experience and exposure wielded by these amazons is without doubt an  asset to the Lafarge family and a justification of the corporate policy of diversity and inclusion.

    Yet, this representation does not stop at the directorial level of the company. It permeates across board and in key middle management roles where women feature prominently and contribute actively to the overall success rating of the company.

    Also speaking on the award, and the efforts of the company to close the gender gap, Senior Vice-President, Talent Management, Lafarge Group, Sonia D’Emilio, stressed that it is something all the recipients should be proud of as it was obtained through committed efforts to engage on the gender balance topic.

    She said: “We should all be proud of this development as your commitment and efforts made it happen. We have made significant investments in our diversity and inclusion programmes across all our business units and have recorded positive results. This award will serve to further encourage us in our plans to execute more initiatives focused on gender equality in our business.”

    The Nation learnt that increasing the number of women in senior management positions to 35 per cent by 2020 is a corporate target of Lafarge. As at 2013/14, it reached 18.6 per cent of top management, through the acceleration of the identification of women capable of engaging in career development and occupying leadership positions. At group level, support is given to programmes and initiatives that seek the development of employee skills and key positions and are covered by certification programmes and individual development programmes and training.

    The World Bank is also involved in the effort to address gender inequality in workplaces. The bank in its latest reports, identified improved job opportunities for women and girls at all levels of productive engagements as key to ongoing efforts aimed at alleviating poverty, increasing Gross Domestic Growth (GDP) in national economies and bridging the gender gap between men and women across the world.

    The bank noted that policy makers, private sector and other job providers would be contributing to the global socio-economic agenda targeted at closing the gender-inequality gap, if they showed commitment to removing all barriers to women and girls employment and by implication, adding significantly to the global development values.

    The report stated: “Jobs boost self-esteem and pull families out of poverty. Yet, gender disparities persist in the world of work. Closing these gaps, while working to stimulate job creation more broadly, it is a prerequisite for ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. The report described gender equality in the work place as a win-win on many fronts’’.

    The report revealed that improved female employment had the potential of increasing GDP by 34 per cent in Egypt, 12 per cent in the United Arab Emirates, 10 per cent in South Africa and nine per cent in Japan, taking into account losses in economy-wide labour productivity that could occur as new workers entered the labour force.

    Commenting on the Gender at Work Report, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, said in view of recent revelations about the gender inequality in Nigeria’s workplace, the bank was doing a gender review of its development programmes with a view to ensuring that more women and girls were provided opportunities for productive engagements.

    When this is done, the hope is that it would reverse the current trend in Nigeria where women in top leadership positions have not attained the desired representation in business and government establishments. It should be noted that despite the large proportion of female graduates and the significant number of women who join various companies at entry level, very few reach the top.

     

    Areas of inequality

    (1) Labour and employment – Women do not generally earn the same wages as men for the same work especially casual or unorganised labour which is where most women are employed. Those in public service are discriminated against in the area of maternity, sexual harassment and employment practices.

    (2) Access to finances and credit – Most banks and finance homes do not give loans to women and most times women have to be guaranteed by men before they can access credit for economic activities.

    (3) Politics and Participation – Women are not equipped to participate effectively in politics because of low esteem and inability to jump the hurdles set by the men. Women do not have the financial resources to compete in the high financial game of politics in Nigeria. They are therefore given positions which the men do not find lucrative or challenging enough. Thus politically, women’s rights are denied because of poor representation at the levels where decisions and policies are made.

    (4) Education and Health Care – Inadequate education and inadequate facilities for health care hinders women’s quest for equality. Unhealthy and uneducated women cannot produce healthy children or engage effectively in social activities. Available data shows high levels of maternal and infant mortality.

    (5) Harmful Traditional Practices – Traditional practices like female genital mutilation, widowhood practices, male preference, domestic violence lend weight to discrimination against women. The heavy workload of women within the household and lack of house decision making powers contribute to deprive women of their rights and life. Information on family planning where they exist sometimes produce harmful side effects . Male preference leads to abuse and low self esteem for the female child even from birth and thus she does not develop her full potentials to enable her contribute effectively to the nation.

    (6) Violence Against Women – Women are still victims of rape, sexual assault, harrassmentt and battery, widowhood practices, forced labour, trafficking, incest, and other forms of gender assaults and abuses. Domestic violence is still regarded as a private affair requiring no legal or official intervention.

    (7) Access to Justice – Women are politically, economically, socially, culturally, educationally, and legally disadvantaged. They cannot take advantage of facilities and opportunities available to them to achieve and enforce their human rights. They are mostly ignorant of their fundamental rights and freedoms. In many police stations, women are still not allowed to take people on bail.

    These imbalances and inequalities in gender relations must be redressed if Nigeria must join the league of civilised nations as a country with respect for human rights.

  • Ogun HoS lauds TUC on performance

    The Ogun State Head of Service, Mrs. Modupe Adekunle, has lauded the performance of the state chapter of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) by promoting and protecting the interest of its members nation-wide.

    She made this statement while declaring open the 5th Triennial delegates’ conference of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Ogun State Chapter held recently at the Academic Staff Union of Secondary School (ASSUS) Hall, Leme in Abeokuta.

    The Head of Service who was represented by the Consultant to the Governor on Labour, Comrade Julius Ogundipe, said the TUC has been able to meet the demand of workers for better insight into the management of the different unions, adding that it is becoming increasingly clear in the public and private sectors that the economic growth and advancement of the country required the inputs of not just properly trained workers and professionals, but also union leaders who represent the true and collective aspirations of their members.

    Mrs. Adekunle urged the TUC members not to sit on the fence even as the general election is at hand,  noting that the conference must demonstrate the truth democratic structure and maturity of the different unions during their election.

    ‘’The conduct of this delegates conference must demonstrate the democratic structure of our different unions and maturity of our members. I need not remind you that this congress must be held devoid of violence, we must eschew bitterness, and ensure that the process does not produce a victor nor a vanquished. It is a process to move the congress forward and put it at a vantage position to represent the collective aspiration of your principals and make your voice heard’’ Hos said.

  • Association plans pension scheme for members

    The Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN) is mapping out ways of caring for old members of the association who have served the movies and entertainment industry diligently in their productive years, through its planned retirement and social security scheme.

    According to the National President of the Association, Prince Odubamidele Odule, the best way to appreciate elderly practitioners who can no longer practise is to put in place a retirement/pension scheme for them.

    “One of the most dangerous fears in life is that of uncertainty. Many of our elders who have given all their lives to the profession on a full time basis are now getting old and weak. Had they been in a more regulated service, they would by now be on monthly pension.

    “We must device a strategic work plan to ensure that a social security scheme through which our living legends will sustain themselves is put in place. The joy and assurance of the scheme will definitely translate into a longer and healthy life for them,” he explained.

    Besides the social security scheme, Odule said his administration is also planning a world class annual carnival to honour and immortalise deserving members.

    The departed like Chief Hubert Ogunde, who started and popularised theatre arts practice in the county in the 1940s, Kola Ogunmola, Duro Ladipo, Oyin Adejobi and many others would be appreciated post-humously.

    Also working towards protecting the jobs of movy producers, the TAMPAN President said the association would work with the Yoruba Video Film Marketing, Producers Association of Nigeria (YOVIPAN) to redesign new techniques and also improve upon the existing ones to reduce the menace of piracy to the barest minimum.

  • NUPENG, others vie for NLC presidency

    NUPENG, others vie for NLC presidency

    With a total of 3,119 delegates, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its 43 affiliated industrial unions are set to elect a new president at its 11th Delegates’ Conference scheduled for Abuja, between February 9 and 12.

    The three contenders for the position of the NLC president are the President of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN),  Ayuba Wabba,  President of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Igwe Achese and the General-Secretary, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Joseph Ajaero.

    Members of the congress will also elect other members of the National Executive Council (NEC) at the conference, slated for the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja.

    The new president will take over from Abdulwahed Omar, whose tenure comes to an end after spending two terms of four years.

    Though, seven positions will be filled by 16 people during the conference, the real battle will be for the presidency, for which three labour leaders will be contesting.

    Other available positions are:  deputy presidents with three seats; vice president, four seats; treasurer, financial secretary and trustees, one seat each; auditors, three seats and ex-officio, two seats.

    The conference’s Credentials Committee, headed by Dr Nasir Fagge Isa, has already released the names of contestants duly cleared for each position, while the Secretary of the Committee, Emmanuel Ugboaja, said all is set for the election.

    The three candidates were all nominated by their respective unions, as the NLC constitution stipulated.

    However, the chances of any of the candidates emerging president would depend on the number of his union’s delegates to the conference and how he would be able to garner enough support from other affiliate unions.

    The number of delegates of each union is also determined by the financial standing of the union and certified monthly average contribution to the NLC over the 46 month period since the last delegates’ conference.

    According to the provisional list of delegates sent to all the union’s 43 affiliates by the General-Secretary of the congress, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, a total of 3,119 delegates will participate in the conference to elect the president and other members of the executive.

    Among the 43 unions, MHWUN, which nominated Wabba, has the highest number of delegates with a total of 526 delegates. The NUEE, which also put forward Ajaero, has a total number of 471 delegates in second position, while the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), has the third highest delegates with 383.

    NUPENG, which is also aiming at producing the next president through Achese, has 182 delegates. The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), has 210 delegates, while the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), parades 187 delegates.

    Other unions with reasonable high delegates, are the Nigeria Civil Service Union, 131; the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives 123 and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), with 91 delegates.

    Among the unions with the least number of delegates are, Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP), Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions, with five delegates each.

    The National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PSAN), Nigeria Welders and Fitters Association (NIWELFA) and Nigeria Union of Mine Workers (NUMW), with six delegates each.

    The other two positions to be contested are the Trustee with one seat, and Auditors with three seats. While there are two candidates for the position of the Trustee, eight will be contesting for the three seats for Auditors.

    Dr. Ozo-Eson, however said the congress is ready and adequately prepared for the election, despite the challenges.

    He said: “We think that we are reasonably prepared. The hosting of a conference of this magnitude certainly has a lot of challenges. We noticed that we are going to have the largest number of delegates in our history at this conference. The delegates are in excess of three thousand.

    ”We have set up a number of committees that are working. We are on top of the situation. Other than those, things crucial for the conference are constitutionally regulated.”

  • ASUU chiefs in road crash

    The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Nasiru Isa Fage and a member of the union’s board of trustees, Dr. Dipo Fashina, have survived an accident on the Anyigba – Enugu road in Kogi State.

    The duo, who along with other leaders of the union, including Prof Suleiman Abdul of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, were on their way to Abia State University, Uturu, for the union’s National Executive Council meeting in Fage’s bus when a commercial vehicle ran into them.

    Though Fage and Fashina escaped unhurt, Prof Suleiman Abdul sustained a dislocation on his shoulder and was rushed to an orthopaedic specialist hospital in Abuja.

  • Fed Govt’s job creation claims bogus, says NLC

    Fed Govt’s job creation claims bogus, says NLC

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has expressed doubts about the job creation claims of President Goodluck Jonathan. The labour union said the high unemployment level in the country did not justify the government’s claims.

    Its General-Secretary, Comrade Peter Oso Ezon, told The Nation that the figure could not be verified so it was better to treat it with the desired circumspect. He said no one was privy to the framework government used to collate figures for the employment profile during the year under review.

    He said if the Federal Government were sincere, all its policies should have employment content, adding that its three million yearly job creation target was an illusion.

    The Federal Government recently inaugurated a Presidential Jobs Board of Nigeria with a mandate to create three million jobs within the next 12 months. The board was drawn from public and private sectors.

    President  Jonathan urged the board to work out a road map that will, on monthly and on a yearly basis, create jobs for the youth.

    Government claimed  the board, which was inaugurated last year,  has generated thousands of jobs for the youths.

    Vice President Namadi Sambo has said the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) of the government is an intervention programme designed to meet specified targets in the transformation agenda of Jonathan’s administration.

    He said SURE-P has in the last three years intervened in infrastructure programmes, adding that it has justified the huge investment in the sector.

    He stated that the programme will assist to review the SURE-P programme in the last three years with a view to strategising for better performance in the future.

  • ‘8,500 construction workers lost jobs’

    Over 8,500 workers in the construction sector lost their jobs last year due to non-payment of funds to contractors handling various jobs for the Federal Government, the National President, Construction and Civil Engineering Senior Staff Association (CCESSA), Dr. Augustine Etafo has said.

    He also expressed fears that more jobs are likely to be lost this year because there was no budgetary provisions for the execution of projects this year, putting contractors and workers in a dangerous position.

    Speaking with reporters in Lagos, he lamented that the development was counter-productive to the growth of the nation’s economy. He urged the Federal Government to live up to its responsibilities by paying contractors as at when due so as to save the sector from collapse.

    While expressing hope that the construction sector local content bill at the National Assembly would bring renewed hope for the construction sector when passed into law, he charged the management of two cement companies, Lafarge and Holcim to ensure that the  welfare of workers are protected as the companies plan to merge.

    He tasked the companies to guarantee that all collective agreements reached are honoured, adding that  the companies must also commit to maintaining global level social dialogue that Lafarge previously participated in with unions.

    In a related development, CCESSA has urged the Federal Government to fulfil the agreement reached with companies in the construction industry.

    Etafo, who made the appeal, told newsmen in Lagos that the industry may have more job losses this year as uncertainties surround the Federal Government implementation of austerity measures.

    He said: “We call on the three tiers of government, especially the Federal, the state and local governments to fulfil their agreement reached with companies in the construction industry as over 8,500 workers in the sector lost their jobs in 2014 due to non-payment of funds to contractors handling various jobs for the Federal Government.”

  • NDE ‘empowers 50 youths in Imo’

    The Director-General, National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Mallam Mohammed Abubakar, has said 50 youths from Imo State have been empowered by the NDE through the provision of skills and equipment to ensure they are self-reliant.

    He spoke while presenting resettlement items to the youths at the weekend at Enyiato Development Centre, Enyiogugu in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of the state.

    The equipment include generating sets, hair drying machines, cooking gas, sets of kitchen utensils, decoration chairs, and satellite dish installation equipment.

    Mohammed, who was represented by the State Director of the NDE, Engineer Jaja Isichei, said  the step was part of government’s efforts at reducing unemployment in the country by empowering the youths.

    He said the beneficiaries were trained in various skills ranging from hair dressing, confectionaries, decorations, satellite dish installation and tiling under the community based training and resettlement scheme of the directorate.