Ibrahim Adam

LABOUR has warned entrepreneurs against making workers the sacrificial lambs in an economic crisis.

President of the Chemical and Non-Metallic Products Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (CANMPSSAN) Segun David spoke at the 25th Annual National Management/Industrial Relations Seminar in Asaba, Delta State. He decried job losses in the sector through redundancy.

He said: “It is an open secret that the effects of COVID-19 cut across all facets of life. However, workers should not always be at the receiving end whenever there is a need to cut costs.”

According to him, the three-day programme was organised to draw attention to the plights of the sector and devise ways of solving the challenges.

David noted that workers in the sector sacrificed a lot during the lockdown to ensure survival and continuous running of some of their firms.

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He added: “We, therefore, reject being used as scapegoats whenever management is contemplating on cost-cutting measures. There is a need for stakeholders’ (management and workers) to engage in meaningful deliberations that will improve input and output without job losses.”

General Manager (Human Asset Management) of Dangote Cement, Femi Adekunle, noted that redundancy was not an easy way out for the companies as they valued their workers seriously.

“Workers are our most essential part; they are the golden hen that lays the golden eggs.  Without them, there wouldn’t be production..”

 Emma Elekwa, Onitsha

RESIDENTS of Satellite Top Estate, Umunya, Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State, have protested the alleged invasion of their property by the traditional ruler, Chris Onyekwuluje.

They called for the state’s intervention to avert a crisis.

Emmanuel Ubadigbo, who addressed reporters yesterday, said they bought the land from the Nwoye-Ugo family for residential purposes.

According to him, they spent huge resources, including provision of access roads, electricity and security, to make the place habitable.

He said: “We were shocked when the king of Umunya wrote to us, through a lawyer, demanding that we provide proof of ownership. It is our refusal that led to the blockage of the entrances to our buildings with heaps of sand.”

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A representative of the Nwoye-Ugo family, Samuel Nwoye-Ugo, confirmed the claim of legitimacy of the transfer of ownership by the residents.

But Igwe Onyekwuluje said the land has been a subject of litigation between the Nwoye-Ugo and Onyekwuluje families since 2010. He said the documents being requested by the Onyekwuluje family was to ascertain that the other party actually sold the land when there was a subsisting order against further actions on it.

Our Reporter

THE All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmanship candidate for the Umuahia North Local Government Area election, Nnenna Ogbonna, has said she will become the first female council chairman in Abia State.

Ogbonna spoke on Monday at a meeting of APC Isingwu Ward held at Umuda Okorocha. She expressed confidence of winning the December 8 poll.

Ogbonna, who promised to bring development projects to Umuahia North, said the area required great transformation as host of the Government House. She promised to give women effective representation, saying they would rejoice under her administration.

She said: “I will break the barrier because no woman has ever been chairman of the local government, appointed or elected. As it is now, no woman has even tried the primary, except me. “I won the primary and I will set another record as the first woman to become chairman.”

Simon Utebor, Yenagoa

A FEDERAL High Court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has ordered the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) to pay N20,000 to a Bayelsa-based lawyer, Ibanga John, as litigation costs.

John is representing the ex-militants.

The court awarded the cost as a penalty for the ministry’s and PAP’s failure to appear in court over a suit of non-inclusion in the Amnesty Programme brought against them by 19 aggrieved ex-Niger Delta militants.

Justice Jane Inyang rejected the excuses offered for the non-appearance of their lawyers, and ordered that the cost be paid before the adjourned date of December 9. The suit has lasted since 2013.

The aggrieved ex-militants – Asenekiri Oyinle, Angiama-Owei Oyindoubra, John Government, Henry Gomeromo, John Sawyer, Trydi Okpeke, Dollar Motor, Selebi Ayowei, Bobra Angese, Ekerebi Umber and others, sued the government and the Amnesty Office for their non-inclusion in the scheme.

They said the Amnesty Office erred by refusing to include them in the ongoing Amnesty Programme after series of resolutions from meetings with past and present National Security Advisers.

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They said: “Instead of respecting the resolutions and directives from the National Security Advisers, the Amnesty Office turned down the call and adopted a divide and rule tactic with the inclusion of only three of the 22 persons.”

In two separate objections to the suit, the Federal Government and the Amnesty Office, on April 24, 2014 and March 2, 2015, argued over lack of jurisdiction.

The Amnesty programme started in 2009 while the claimants said they surrendered arms in 2011.

But the Amnesty Office, in its objection, claimed that ‘Amnesty is a privilege, not a right, and they cannot litigate’.

John argued that the case of jurisdiction did not arise as ‘the ex-militants had submitted copies of Amnesty identification cards, proof of bank details which confirmed they embraced the scheme when it was right and due hence, they have the right to litigate.

 Nwanosike Onu, Awka

THE Federal Ministry of Works has said the Onitsha/Awka end of the expressway in Anambra State will be ready by December 16.

Federal Director of Highways in charge of Southeast, Bola Aganaba, said by the middle of 2021, one lane of the road would be completed. He added that the Coronavirus pandemic delayed the project.

Aganaba spoke during the post-raining season inspection of rehabilitation of federal roads in the state, in preparation for the yuletide.

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According to him, 18 kilometres was being reconstructed, and the road would be opened for commuters’ for easy movement during the yuletide.

He said: “I have come to check what the contractors are doing because before now, they were told to ensure that one side of the expressway is completed before the yuletide for easy movement for motorists.

“The contractors have agreed to open it just for Christmas to reduce the hardship usually encountered by people returning home for the celebrations. The road will be opened around December 16.

“We don’t want people to encounter gridlock and so we have arranged with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to ensure that obstacles are promptly removed. By the time table given to the contractors, one lane of the expressway from Onitsha to Enugu would be completed by the middle of next year…”