The Nation Newspaper

Category: Labour

  • Man, 33, arraigned for impersonating LASTMA

    Man, 33, arraigned for impersonating LASTMA

    The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has arraigned Olufemi Obadeyi before an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court for allegedly presenting himself as its official to extort motorists.

    Obadeyi, a 33-year-old graduate of Business Administration, was working with LASTMA before he was dismissed by the agency for misconduct in August 2006.

    He pleaded guilty to the two-count charge of impersonation and extortion.

    Magistrate Mrs. Dan Oni, ruled that he be remanded at the Kirikiri Prisons till January 16, when he will be sentenced.

    According to the prosecutor, Obadeyi, was arrested by a LASTMA patrol team on December 28, last year after a tip-off from motorists who reported illegal activities of someone parading himself as an officer and extorting motorists at Ojuelegba in Lagos.

    The patrol team responded to the call and arrested Obadeyi as he was demanding money from motorists for not using seat belt. The accused was in LASTMA uniform with another person in mufti holding a walkie talkie negotiating for money when he was arrested.

    Obadeyi attempted to escape but was arrested; but his accomplice fled.

    Obadeyi, who admitted to be operating in LASTMA uniform with a fake name tag (Olufemi A.O), confessed to be involved in many of such illegal duties around Ojuelegba under bridge.

    He said he did not hand over his identity card following his dismissal on the ground that it was lost.

    LASTMA General Manager Mr Babatunde Edu said it was disheartening that some unpatriotic Nigerians were exploiting others for their selfish interest.

    He said the agency would not rest until all bad eggs within its fold were arrested and brought to justice.

    His office, he said, was inundated with petitions/complaints of extortion from the public and praised residents for their forbearance, adding that the agency will continue to fight fraud and exploitation by its men.

    Edu urged motorists to be wary of officers demanding money from them, noting that the agency runs a cashless operation .

  • NDE supports 630 in Kebbi, Ekiti

    NDE supports 630 in Kebbi, Ekiti

    The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in Kebbi State, said it trained and provided working tools for 530 people in the state in 2013. It also provided N20,000 each for 100 traders in Ekiti State to boost their businesses.

    The NDE Coordinator in Kebbi and Ekiti states, Alhaji Muhammad Zogirma and Mrs Adeola Shafaru, made this known.

    Zogirma, who spoke in Birnin-Kebbi, noted that the training and support to the unemployed was aimed at reducing poverty.

    “We trained 50 persons on Rural Agricultural Development Scheme, 30 on Basic National Open Apprenticeship Scheme, 100 on Micro-Enterprises Development, 50 vulnerable persons and 30 others on Re-settlement Scheme in 2013,” he said.

    Zogirma said the directorate would sustain the training to empower Nigerians to become entrepreneurs and contribute meaningfully to the nation’s economy, stressing that more people would be trained this year with the aim of reducing unemployment.

    The NDE coordinator appealed to those who received trainings and loans last year to ensure repayment to enable others to benefit.

    He appealed to stakeholders, philanthropists, politicians and faith-based organisations to support the fight against unemployment by collaborating with the NDE to create jobs.

    Mrs Shafaru in Ekiti said the initiative was aimed at eradicating poverty among traders as well as boosting their various trades.

    She said the beneficiaries were drawn from all the 16 local government areas of the state.

    She said each beneficiary was expected to provide two guarantors, adding that the loan would be refunded by the end of December, this year as the defaulters would be sanctioned. She urged the traders to spend the money judiciously.

  • How to avoid strikes, by TUC

    How to avoid strikes, by TUC

    President, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Comrade Bala Kaigama, has advised the Federal Government and other employers to honour the agreements they reached with their workers.

    Kaigama, who spoke in Lagos at a press conference, said this was the only way to check the spate of strikes and promote industrial harmony in the country.

    He expressed concern over the spate of strikes in the various sectors of the economy in the outgoing year and said there should be concerted efforts on the part of stakeholders to avoid repeat of same next year.

    He commended the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for suspending its industrial action and appealed to the university lecturers to re-dedicate themselves to their duties with a view to promoting academic excellence.

    He urged the Federal Government to consider creating an enabling environment for investors to stake their funds in Nigeria, saying the development would go a long way in boosting job creation in the country.

    He advocated a review of gratuity in the workers’ contributory pension scheme.

    According to the labour leader, the 25 per cent payable as first instalment to workers after exit from their work amounts to a pittance and merely portrays that the scheme is at variance with the plight of the workforce in Nigeria.

    He advised that the National Assembly should jerk up the first instalment under the scheme to 60 per cent, while the other instalment should be ration out in a sustainable manner.

    Kaigama said the challenges besetting the country are surmountable and must begin by solidly building the unity of Nigeria through the proposed national conference.

    “Indeed, there is need for the people to dialogue and agree on the terms to boost the country’s unity and address her myriad of problems. Nigeria is one country in spite of its varying cultures, religion and ethnic nationalities and we can only succeed as a nation if we stay united.

    “Constitutional conference is it and Trade Union Congress is in full support of it, taking cognizance of the fact that social dialogue is an important ingredient in nation building,” he added.

  • Pension: Labour demands stiffer sanctions against non-compliance

    Pension: Labour demands stiffer sanctions against non-compliance

    The organised labour has called on the National Assembly to take advantage of the  on-going pension reform amendment Bill 2013, to tighten sanction for non-compliance and review the rate of contribution, among others.

    Speaking at the opening of National Pension Commission, PenCom zonal office in Kano, Vice President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC),  Comrade Issa Aremu, urged the government not to politicise the appointment of the Chairman and Director-General, of the National Pension Commission (PenCom).

    Aremu, who is also the General Secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), commended PenCom for changing the story of pensioners from that of agony to taht of joy with the contributory pool fund and sustainable fund for pension claims after retirement.

    His word: “PenCom’s remarkable growth and development in just less than 10 years of its establishment, shows that Nigeria is capable of institution building. With 20 PFAs (Pension Funds Administrators), seven closed Pension Fund Administrators, four Pension Fund Custodians with turnover of billions of naira, about N3.7 trillion worth of pension fund assets and 5.83 million registered workers, Pencom deserves commendation.

    “We acknowledge the fact that the Director-General of PenCom, Mrs. ChineloAnohu-Amazu, has within a short time consolidated the gains of the past by her predecessor, opening new frontiers as we are witnessing today.  North West Zonal office in Kano has added to the number of Zonal Offices that have been commendably commissioned by PenCom, namely Lagos, Ilorin, Calabar and Awka.

    “With the opening of PenCom’s Northwest Zonal office in Kano, we expect Kano State to soonest also join the new contributory pension scheme.

    “The old defined benefit scheme as good as it could be is not sustainable. With the new pension scheme, there is good corporate governance, strengthened Pension Fund Administrators, PFAs, with guaranteed transparency and accountability.

    “All the revelations about the public sector pension scam show that we must urgently think outside the box of unfunded, crime-prone defined benefit (DB). The future lies in the mandatory individual defined contributions which the Pension reform Act represents.”

    “The bane of public sector pension lies in its non-contributory character as well as sheer corruption and diversion of funds even allegedly for partisan political purposes. NLC protest in the past over pension is legitimately directed against this much abused non contributory public pension scheme. The challenge lies in deepening the new contributory pension scheme.”

    Aremu commended President Goodluck Jonathan for trying to deepen and strengthen the pension scheme through the Pension Reform amendment Bill 2013.

    He said it is good that the Pension Reform Act is being amended to further widen the scope of coverage to include the informal sector.

    “We, therefore, call on President Goodluck Jonathan to avoid the temptation to politicise the positions of Chairmanship of the Board of PenCom as well as its Director General.  We should rely on those who have the experience and competence to manage the fund.”

     

    “They are not far-fetched if we look inwards.  The President should have an eye on institution building which requires statesmanship and not partisanship.  We cannot afford to play politics with the new pension scheme given the ugly experience of the recent past. From the point of view of labour, the pension scheme will be a determinant factor for 2015 general election.

    “Labour will make pension issue a campaign issue and will support only politicians who pay minimum wage and minimum pension for working men and women,” Aremu said.

  • NDE boss assures of jobs

    NDE boss assures of jobs

    Director-General, National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Mohammed Abubakar, has assured that the agency will intensify efforts at creating jobs for the unemployed, this year.

    He pledged to work harder to reduce the lingering unemployment bedeviling the country, adding that Nigeria will get value for money allocated to his directorate. He said the performance of the agency is tied to the provision of funds by the Federal Government.

    On his assessment of the performance of NDE in 2013, he maintained that Nigerians should scrutinise the activities of the job-creation agency and ask questions.

    He said: “I want to assure Nigerians that we are going to give value for money. The funds that are channeled to our Directorate, we will make sure that there is value for it.

    “We are in line with our policy. We have given value for the money allocated to us. We invite Nigerians to scrutinise us and see what we have performed and relate it with the resources at our disposal.”

  • Workers reject privatisation of NRC

    Workers reject privatisation of NRC

    The President, Nigerian Union of Railway Workers (NUR), Mr. Raphael Okoro, has said railway workers are against the privatisation of the railway.

    In a statement by the group’s Assistant Secretary-General, General Duties, Mr. Segun Esan, Okoro said the privatisation could spell doom for the industry and worsen the economy.

    He said the union is urging the government to draw a lesson for the experiences of the United Kingdom and New Zealand, where similar privatisation exercises almost killed the railways operation.

    The Federal Government has operated the railway transport mode exclusively based on the provisions of the Railway Act of 1955, but there are plans to review the Railway Act with a view to allowing state governments and private investors run the railway services across the country after the rehabilitation exercise.

    He said it was necessary to advise the government as all indications point to the fact that it is going in the direction of selling the rail transport sub-sector to private owners.

    “The Federal Government should learn from the British experience where the nation’s railway assets were blatantly sold off and most regrettable was the disastrous privatisation of London Underground which exploded into the collapse of the Metronet,” he argued.

  • Civil servants threaten strike over delayed salary

    The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has given the Federal Government a notice to embark on a strike over the non-payment of its members’ December salary and emoluments since last July.

    The ASCSN, an affiliate of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria(TUC), in a statement by its Secretary-General, Mr. Alade Lawal, urged the government to begin the payment immediately or face its wrath.

    It called on the TUC, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), civil society groups, The Patriot, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and prominent individuals to prevail on the Federal Government to pay the civil servants their salaries promptly, to avert disruption of services in the public service a few days after the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities was resolved.

    The umbrella union of senior civil servants expressed shock that thousands of federal civil servants were not paid their December salaries.

    “We wish to emphasise that if the federal civil servants are not paid their December 2013 salaries and arrears outstanding since July 2013 immediately, the entire Federal Civil Service will be shut down shortly.

    “It is difficult to understand why civil servants cannot be paid their paltry salaries in an economy where the political elite are carting away millions of naira monthly as remunerations, while billions in public funds are also being looted without qualms and those involved in the stealing spree are not being brought to book.”

    Lawal, said the Finance Minister, Dr  Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, owes Nigerians an explanation on what caused the delay.

    “It is disheartening that thousands of civil servants employed by the Federal Government were not paid their December 2013 salaries, and so, these workers and their families spent the Christmas under the pain and pang of hunger. What is also clear is that these workers, their children and other dependants will also celebrate the New Year in sadness,” he said.

    The union called on the Finance Minister to speak out and tell Nigerians why the Federal Government can no longer pay salaries to its employees as and when due, saying it was necessary for the minister to address the nation on the embarrassing situation because she has maintained that the country was not broke.

    The ASCSN also said it was bad that civil servants are the least paid in sub-Saharan Africa, adding that the fact that thousands of them could no longer be paid their meagre salaries was pushing the workers and their trade unions to the wall.

    The association requested President Goodluck Jonathan to step in and put the necessary machinery in motion to ensure that such an embarrassing situation would not repeat itself.

    The group posited that the inability of the government to pay salaries was lending credence to the belief in some quarters that the managers of the public sector of the economy were grossly incompetent.

    However, the Federal Government last week said it would investigate the reasons for the delay in payment of the December salary of some civil servants.

    But Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said in a statement by her Special Adviser on Communication, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, that the investigation followed the protest by ASCSN over the alleged non-payment of some of the members.

    She said the ministry had not received any complaint on the matter.

  • ‘Involve private sector in Transformation Agenda’

    ‘Involve private sector in Transformation Agenda’

    The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoS), Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji, has urged the private sector to be more involved in the implementation of the Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government.

    He said this when a delegation of the Executive Council of the Institute of Directors (IoD), led by its President and Chairman of Council, Chief Eniola Fadayomi, paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.

    Aji explained that the aim of the Transformation Agenda, is to change the economy into one that is private sector driven, create wealth and employment opportunities for the youth.

    He said the civil service is willing to cooperate with well-meaning organisations, such as the IoD, particularly in capacity development and integrity building.

    He told the delegation that his office has initiated a public-private sector staff exchange programme aimed at experience sharing and the building of mutual understanding between the two sectors.

    Mrs Fadayomi said the mission of the organisation was the entrenchment of good corporate governance in work places through training.

    She also said the international affiliations of the institute, particularly in Africa, which has opened up new vistas for members.

    She called for the enrolment of senior officers in the Federal Civil Service, as members of the institute, to improve the relationship between the public and private sectors.

  • 54% of youths jobless, says NBS

    54% of youths jobless, says NBS

    ABOUT 54 per cent of youths are unemployed, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.

    In its 2012/13 National Baseline Youth Survey Report, released in Abuja, it, said: “More than half, about 54 per cent of the youth population are unemployed. Of this, young women stood at 51.9 per cent compared to their young men counterpart with 48.1 per cent, who are unemployed.’’

    It said out of 46,836 youths recorded against different types of crimes, 42,071, representing 75.5 per cent were males, while the remaining 24.5 per cent were young women, adding that among the 32 different crimes committed, Marijuana (Indian hemp) smoking has the highest figure, representing 15.7 per cent.

    “This was followed by theft and murder with 8.1 and 7.4 per cent. The least committed crime was Immigration/Emigration representing 0.04 per cent.’’

    The report said over five million youths indicated they were involved in conflict resolution at one level of governance or the other.

    Their responses showed that most youths, about 64.9 per cent were involved in conflict prevention at the community level, while 30.9 per cent got involved at the ward level, the report added.

    It said: “Only 1.6 per cent got involved at the state level, while 83.9 per cent males were involved in football than females with 16.1 per cent,” it added.

    According to the survey, the population of youths aged between 15 and 35 years is estimated to be 64 million, while females are more than males in all age groups.

    The report said Lagos State had the highest percentage of youths , with 6.1 per cent, followed by Kano State, representing 5.7 per cent, while Bayelsa State had the lowest with 1.3 per cent.

    The report said out of the group of married youths, 68 per cent were young women, while 32 per cent young men, the rate of divorce and widowhood was high among the young women with 70.9 and 71.8 per cent, while 38.5 per cent young women were never married.’’

    The report said the objective of the study was to provide data for the design and development of youth-focused programmes by the Federal Ministry of Youth Development and other partners in the country.

    The study was aimed at generating empirical data to inform policy decisions and guide their impl

    Recently, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), alerted that youth unemployment, especially in developing countries, has reached a crisis point.

    In the report, about 73.4 million youths are expected to be out of work in the year, representing an increase of 3.5 million over the 2007 figure. It also added that 90 per cent of the global youth population is from developing countries.

    According to ILO, massive unemployment has made youths in many countries, ready tools for unscrupulous politicians ready to destabilise their countries, describing the development a threat to the socio-economic and political health of many countries.

    The global labour body has, therefore, highlighted the need for policy makers to devote more resources to employment generation programmes to checkmate the situation.

  • NLC kicks against non-inclusion in National Conference

    NLC kicks against non-inclusion in National Conference

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has kicked against its non-inclusion and the Federal Government’s attitude in the proposed National Conference.

    The congress in a statement signed by the its Secretary, Benson Upah said: “Congress is dismayed that the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue under the chairmanship of Senator Femi Okunronmu has not yet thought it fit or necessary to consult the organised labour, a pan-Nigeria organisation with millions of membership and a critical stakeholder in the polity.

    ‘’We believe that the report of the Committee will not be complete without consultations with organised labour and other critical stakeholders. While its sojourn to thirteen zones may have availed it some information, this information will not take the Committee beyond the realms of previous conferences. In other words, this could be a leap of the toad.

    “The sudden change in the disposition of the Federal Government on the convocation of National Conference has created doubts and divergent views within the polity on the actual motive for this conference.

    “The apprehensions which government’s decision on the subject has generated is understandable bearing in mind the timing, adding that the near conclusion of 1999 Constitution review by National Assembly and the 2015 National and State Elections scheduled for May 2015.”

    The congress said it recognises the desirability for a National Conference to deliberate on lingering problems that continually threaten national cohesion, growth and development.

    “Congress’ acknowledgement of the need for a National Conference notwithstanding, we are of the opinion that the culture of constant dialogue by the constituent nationalities should be a feature of our national life. This is more so because, primordial sentiments are increasingly sustained by crises within the polity, inability of governance to impact positively on the citizenry and the slow development of industrial culture as a result of sustained deindustrialisation,” it said.

    NLC added that for the conference to be relevant, it should, among other things, focus on the following: character of federating units (zones/regions); revenue formula (sharing and allocation of responsibilities); structure of police (federal/regional/zonal); system of the government (presidential/parliamentary); resource management for national development; electoral reform; independence of anti-corruption agencies and the judiciary and new constitution.