The Nation Newspaper

Tag: GOVT

  • Govt warned on poor health financing

    Healthcare providers have advised the Federal Government against poor health financing as it may affect the planned Universal Healthcare Coverage (UHC).

    President, Healthcare Providers Association of Nigeria (HCPAN), Dr. Adenike Olaniba, gave the advice in her lecture at the 30th anniversary of Healthcare Magazine/ 2016 HCPAN’s Mid-Year Capacity Building Meeting in Lagos. It was titled Universal Health Insurance Coverage: The Role of Healthcare Providers.

    Dr. Olaniba said less than five percent of the country’s population  was insured under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), adding that there was a need for the review of NHIS Act 35 of 1999 to make it mandatory for citizens to sign up in the scheme.

    Dr. Olaniba, Consultant Public Health Physician, said the existing structure of health financing would not enable the country achieve the desired health outcomes.

    She said Nigeria spends $67 per head on healthcare.

    She continued: “WHO report shows that South Africa spends seven times more than Nigeria while Angola’s health budget is three times more than ours. In the United States, healthcare expenditure is $7,000 per head and $6,000 per head in Switzerland. Currently, 59 percent of Nigerians pay for healthcare out-of-pocket”.

    Dr. Olaniba said health is wealth, stressing that the government should have long-term commitment to increasing health spending and exploring innovative health financing mechanisms.

    “The health indices in Nigeria are poor and need to be improved upon. Nigeria has the eighth-lowest life expectancy at birth and one of the highest maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in the world. Though we have the largest economy in Africa, yet only 3.5 per cent of this year budget is given to health. That is a serious issue with funding.

    “To ensure equity in the distribution of enrollees, NHIS should put a peg on the maximum number of enrollees per facility. For example, 5000, so that all accredited providers can participate in the scheme.”

    On his part, the Chairman, Lagos State, HCPAN, Dr. Ademola Aina said the capacity building meeting was for all health professionals to harness strategies to ensure UHC for all because as professionals health insurance is the only way the rich and poor can access to health.

  • Govt okays Union Dicon Salt’s takeover of Kogi SCPZ

    The Federal Government has approved Union Dicon Salt Plc’s takeover of Kogi State Staple Crops Processing Zone (SCPZ) to help grow an agri-based industrial sector within the area.

    SCPZ is a vast zone where there is commercial production of food that would attract the private sector to set up food processing plant to process food into finished items and other products.

    The implementation of SCPZs is estimated to add N660 billion to N1.4 trillion to the economy and estimated to create 250,000 jobs.

    The Alape SCPZ is an agro-processing cluster located in a high-food production area that integrates production, processing, and end markets, while providing investors a competitive operating environment.

    It  focuses on the production of starch and sweeteners; it is expected to produce 62,000 tonnes of starch, 5,000 tonnes of sweeteners, 720,000 tonnes of cassava root and create income impact of about $90 million to the economy of Kogi.

    By this approval, Dicon Union Salt will act as an anchor investor for the SCPZ with several other major investors demonstrating interest.

    A statement from the Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr kayode Oyeleye said  the Minister, Chief Audu Ogbeh gave the approval  to the  company to pursue its plan to promote the Kogi  SCPZ and attract other investors interested in agro processing and wide range of related activities to increase  staple  crop productivity,  capacity building   of  farmers and appropriate governance of value chain actors through the special economic zone.

    The minister  reiterated  that the government is establishing SCPZs to create a competitive operating environment for agribusinesses across the country and address key investment challenges.

    Said the minister: “SCPZ was a great innovation of the last administration and  like we have said, we are not going to engagein policy somersault. So, we are carrying on with the great idea and we are adding even greater ideas. We are carrying on as we now produce what we call the green alternative. And that is the summary of our new policies. Agriculture is the alternative. Oil and gas and others are rather unstable sources of income.    In January, when Cargill decided they were pulling out, some kind of uncertainty filled the air. But we decided that we were going to find people. Now, Dicon Salt has come in to   replace Cargill. They have the capacity, both financial and managerial, to do it. We are very excited to see that they are here.

    They have given us a target of two years to put their projects in place. Activities will begin now.  It’s time to plant more cassava. Some 10,000 farmers in Kogi State and neighbouring states will need to get quite active. All of these will bring the desired growth which we’ve been waiting for.”

    The SCPZ will focus on providing a conducive business environment for the production and processing of cassava and additional crops, including maize, soya, cowpea, rice and sorghum.

    The  approval   comes   as a cherry news to farmers  who are worried  that the project  has not taken off  three years  since the  state government  signed with FMARD to develop   the  SCPZ as a pilot   centre of excellence for cassava production and processing.

    Other expected SCPZs include Anambra,Enugu, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno,Cross River, Kano, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Rivers, Taraba, Kebbi  and /Sokoto states.

    One of the co-Managing Director/CEOs of Union Dicon Salt,  Chuka Mordi, said the organisation is taking over the project to help the government in its dream to boost food production.

    According to Mordi, “we are fully indigenous. It is a remarkable opportunity to develop the agribusiness space in Nigeria from a fully indigenous perspective.

    “The Union Dicon is listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchange, so it is a wholly Nigerian company. That is very important for the things we want to achieve in Nigeria for Nigerians. There are manifold benefits. We import almost 300,000 metric tons of starch every year. So that is a significant amount of foreign exchange we are saving.

    ‘’In terms of industry capacity, employment, economic growth, the multiplier effects this is going to have on the economy are very significant.”

    So far, the state government has committed land and acquired 10,000 hectares(ha) for the SCPZ. Two hundred hectares have already been cleared and planted with cassava and clearing for another 9,000 ha is in progress. FMARD and other Federal ministries have worked to identify critical infrastructure needs in the SCPZ.

    Investors have various investment opportunities in the Alape SCPZ, including a commercial cassava farm, starch processing facility, or sweetener processing facility.

  • NUPENG to govt: punish employers for ‘unjust sacking’

    NUPENG to govt: punish employers for ‘unjust sacking’

    The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has called on the Federal Government to punish employers in the oil, aviation and electricity sectors who sack indiscriminately.

    Speaking with The Nation, NUPENG President Comrade Igwe Achese urged the National Assembly to halt the retrenchments in these sectors in order not to worsen unemployment.

    He hailed the Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige, for threatening to withdraw the licences of banks for sacking some workers.

    He said banks were unfair to their workers who toil daily to make their businesses viable, adding that workers were always at the receiving end, even when the banks declare huge profits and dividends.

    Relatedly, President-General, Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), Comrade Chris Okonkwo, has said over 2000 disengaged workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) were yet to receive their severance pay three years after the Federal Government’s privatisation of the power assets.

    Okonkwo, who made this known at a briefing in Lagos, bemoaned the development, saying it does not show determination on the part of the government to settle the outstanding payment of the ex-workers.

    He urged the Federal Government to ensure that all outstanding and related payments on severance of PHCN workers were settled.

    “Government is also advised to urgently conclude severance payments and others involving past and present workers in the sector to close that chapter.

    “The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Minister of Labour and Employment and Director-General of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), should take specific note to avoid another threat to industrial peace in the sector in connection with this matter,” he said.

    He also advised the Federal Government to take urgent steps to bring investors and workers to sign up to rules of engagement based on law to mitigate imminent collapse of industrial peace in the power sector. The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) had backed banks on workers’retrenchment, accusing the government of meddling in the matter.

    It disagreed with  Dr. Ngige on his directive to banks and financial institutions to suspend the exercise.

    NECA Director-General Olusegun Oshinowo said labour laws did not empower the minister to issue such a directive, which he described as “uninformed and populist”.

    He added that the laws had envisaged redundancy, which was why provisions were made in Section 20 of the Labour Act to guide the actions of parties in the event of retrenchment or redundancy,  Oshinowo said. the minister seemed not to have understood the fundamentals of industrial relations and labour laws in Nigeria and, thus, acted ultra vires.

    His words: “NECA affirms that no employer will take pleasure in declaring redundant employees which it has invested significant resources in developing over the years. Usually, redundancy exercise is foisted on employers on account of an unhealthy economy and the dynamics of the business, which often demands staff rationalisation.’’

    Oshinowo said it was part of the inalienable right of an employer to determine the optimal staff level it requires to sustain its operations, adding that employers have rights, which include the right to hire and fire within the rules governing such employment contract.

    “Employers’rights are employers’ prerogatives, which are not subject to ministerial directives.

    ”Where an employer has found it necessary to carry out retrenchment, it would respect the laws of the land and the laid down procedures for redundancy.

  • Govt urged to manage pipelines

    Participants at a workshop organised by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) have urged the government to grow the domestic gas market by managing its pipelines effectively.

    They bemoaned pipelines vandalism by some militant groups in the Niger Delta, saying their actions should be condemned.

    In a communiqué after the event, the participants, which included learning managers of the oil and gas managers and the executives of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), noted that pipeline vandalism would destroy and disrupt the industry if urgent steps were not taken to arrest the situation.

    The communique said: ‘’To effectively contain losses due to pipeline vandalism, Nigeria must overcome the toxic and explosive relationship between the government, corporate establishment and their host communities. ‘’

    It added: ‘’The government should hasten the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to attract the requisite foreign Direct Investment into the oil and gas industry and the steel industry to establish the basic steel infrastructure for easy access to steel products and its auxiliary facilities for effective pipeline management.’’

    Earlier, PTDF’s Acting Executive Secretary, Mr Ahmed Galadima Aminu, said Nigerians should continue to complement the government efforts to towards achieving a viable, sustainable and efficient oil and gas sector by experimenting on new innovative ways that would ensure that the country exploits its enormous gas potential.

    Noting the contributions of PTDF to nation building, he praised PTI for its role as a foremost training institute in the oil and gas sector.

    PTI’s Vice Principal Mrs Emily E. Arhagba said knowledge management is vital to the sector, especially gas pipelines operations.

    She assured that PTI will continue to train the needed manpower in the sector.

  • Kachikwu: Govt ‘ll save N1.4t yearly from subsidy removal

    Kachikwu: Govt ‘ll save N1.4t yearly from subsidy removal

    •’NNPC’s monthly losses drop to N3b’ 

    The Federal Government will save over N1.4 trillion yearly from the removal of oil subsidy, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Dr. Ibe Kachikwu,has said.

    He spoke when he visited the headquarters of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

    Kachikwu said the deregulation policy had reawakened the downstream sector and would help the nation become a net exporter of petroleum products in a few years.

    “We have a lot of people interested in investing in our refineries and building more refineries and we will remain committed to the goal which is to reduce importation of petroleum products by 60 per cent by the end of 2018 and become a net exporter of petroleum products by 2019,” he said.

    He described NCDMB as a critical agency in the petroleum industry and expressed delight that the Board had the right personnel to deliver on its mandate. He recalled the Board’s lofty achievements in the last six years of existence, noting that every Nigerian appreciated the good work that it has achieved. He further pledged to provide the right support and encouragement for the Board to deliver on its targets.

    With the fall in crude oil prices and reduced investment in the sector, the Minister charged the NCDMB to restrategise and transit from its role of just propagating local content and local participation to one of finding commonality with industry stakeholders to encourage investment.

    The new focus of the Board, he said, “affects how quickly you process things, it affects the rigidity of some of the terms you ask for as people enter into transactions and the need for increased collaborative relationships”.

    Kachikwu also stated that the corporate restructuring initiated in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has reduced the average monthly loss recorded by the corporation from N40billion in the recent past to N3billion while efforts remained on target to achieve profitability before the end of the year, a feat that had not been recorded in 20 years. He said the achievements were being recorded by staff of the NNPC who had previously given up hope in the system.

    Responding to comments from staff of the NCDMB, the Minister hailed the contributions of various trade unions in the oil and gas industry to the introduction of the deregulation policy, stressing that “the success of the policy was only possible because of the unity that was provided by PENGASSAN, NUPENG, NARTO and every active participant in the oil sector. My role was to be the professor, explaining why we had to do it.”

    He also announced plans to carry out infrastructural re-graphing of Nigeria’s petroleum sector, adding that plans were afoot to review Nigeria’s aging pipelines, depots and gas infrastructure and begin the process of replacing them.

    With regards to gas flaring, the Minister stated that the new thinking was to move away from a penalty based gas regulation which had largely failed over the years to a zero tolerance gas flaring regulation with year 2020 as the new target deadline.

    Admitting that the entire spectrum of petroleum industry required strategic intervention, Kachikwu harped on the need to see the challenges as opportunities to transform the sub sectors into income earners for the populace. According to him, “anywhere you look, you see that the oil and gas sector is populated by a need. We have to translate those needs to economic models that are beneficial to the citizenry. The drop in oil price should motivate us into going into parallel income streams.”

  • Create cassava devt agency, govt urged

    Create cassava devt agency, govt urged

    To address agricultural revitalisation and high food import bill , the Federal  Government has been urged  to establish a National Cassava Development and Industrial Agency (NCADIA).

    An  expert,  Pastor  Agbor Ndoma Agbor, said  this has become necessary as the government  seeks ways  to improve the nation’s foreign exchange earnings.  With the agency, he  said a strong cassava-based industry would  emerge that satisfies traditional demand for cassava as well as new opportunities in food, feed, local industries and export.

    He argued that an increased use of cassava would help to reduce the nation’s food import bill. He said a large percentage of these high-cost imported products can be substituted by cassava leading to job creation, foreign exchange savings, improved diets, and the return of under-utilised land to food production.

    With the agency in place, he said the government will be able to enforce all cassava policies, including 10 per cent composite flour policy, national starch use policy, among others. The agency, he continued, should  enter into trade treaties and  memorandum of understanding (MOUs) with cassava market nations, companies and organisations, thus creating markets for local cassava products and its derivatives.

    Agbor urged the government to set up a Presidential Technical Committee on Cassava.

    The committee, he added, should   embark on  technology-transfer trade missions to major cassava exporting nations to see and adopt technology that will help the nation grow the   cassava industry. He called on the government to support the industry with improved varieties, planting and crop management methods, enabling farmers to achieve the yields necessary to make a profit at all levels of the value chain.

    He said the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari towards the revamping of the agricultural and indeed the cassava subsector became inevitable, especially in the face of dwindling oil prices and global economic regression.

  • NUPENG to govt: punish employers for ‘unjust sacking’

    NUPENG to govt: punish employers for ‘unjust sacking’

    The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has called on the Federal Government to punish employers in the oil, aviation and electricity sectors who sack indiscriminately.

    Speaking with The Nation, NUPENG President Comrade Igwe Achese urged the National Assembly to halt the retrenchments in these sectors in order not to worsen unemployment.

    He hailed the Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige, for threatening to withdraw the licences of banks for sacking some workers.

    He said banks were unfair to their workers who toil daily to make their businesses viable, adding that workers were always at the receiving end, even when the banks declare huge profits and dividends.

    Relatedly, President-General, Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), Comrade Chris Okonkwo, has said over 2000 disengaged workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) were yet to receive their severance pay three years after the Federal Government’s privatisation of the power assets.

    Okonkwo, who made this known at a briefing in Lagos, bemoaned the development, saying it does not show determination on the part of the government to settle the outstanding payment of the ex-workers.

    He urged the Federal Government to ensure that all outstanding and related payments on severance of PHCN workers were settled.

    “Government is also advised to urgently conclude severance payments and others involving past and present workers in the sector to close that chapter.

    “The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Minister of Labour and Employment and Director-General of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), should take specific note to avoid another threat to industrial peace in the sector in connection with this matter,” he said.

    He also advised the Federal Government to take urgent steps to bring investors and workers to sign up to rules of engagement based on law to mitigate imminent collapse of industrial peace in the power sector. The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) had backed banks on workers’retrenchment, accusing the government of meddling in the matter.

    It disagreed with  Dr. Ngige on his directive to banks and financial institutions to suspend the exercise.

    NECA Director-General Olusegun Oshinowo said labour laws did not empower the minister to issue such a directive, which he described as “uninformed and populist”.

    He added that the laws had envisaged redundancy, which was why provisions were made in Section 20 of the Labour Act to guide the actions of parties in the event of retrenchment or redundancy,  Oshinowo said. the minister seemed not to have understood the fundamentals of industrial relations and labour laws in Nigeria and, thus, acted ultra vires.

    His words: “NECA affirms that no employer will take pleasure in declaring redundant employees which it has invested significant resources in developing over the years. Usually, redundancy exercise is foisted on employers on account of an unhealthy economy and the dynamics of the business, which often demands staff rationalisation.’’

    Oshinowo said it was part of the inalienable right of an employer to determine the optimal staff level it requires to sustain its operations, adding that employers have rights, which include the right to hire and fire within the rules governing such employment contract.

    “Employers’rights are employers’ prerogatives, which are not subject to ministerial directives.

    ”Where an employer has found it necessary to carry out retrenchment, it would respect the laws of the land and the laid down procedures for redundancy.

  • Govt needs review of approach to energy access, says PwC

    Govt needs review of approach to energy access, says PwC

    The time is right for policymakers to reappraise their approach to accessing energy, a report from PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) has advised.

    The report said going by the trends, two-thirds of the world’s population will be without electricity by 2030, which is the target year to achieve the newly agreed post-2015 UN Sustainable Development Goal of universal access to energy.

    The PwC report titled: “Electricity beyond the grid: accelerating access to sustainable power for all”, said a new approach that better recognises the part that off-grid technology can play is needed.

    Partner and leader, Power & Utilities unit of PwC Nigeria, Pedro Omontuemhen, said: “For the millions of people, who do not currently have access to electricity, the old assumption that they will have to wait for grid extensions is being turned on its head by new technological possibilities. There are currently 634 million people without electricity in Africa and in Nigeria. We estimate that only one in five persons has access to power from the electricity grid.  This leaves four in five people living in urban and rural communities, having to fend for themselves with makeshift and localised power solutions. Faster progress is needed, and we believe it can be achieved if national energy policies adopt a more comprehensive approach to energy access, embracing the new starting points for energy provided by stand alone renewable technology and mini-grids.”

    Current electrification strategies tend to focus on national grid extension plan, but Olumide Adeosun, Associate Director in the firm’s advisory practice, said: “It is critical that Nigerians take steps to understand and embrace the new starting points for energy provided by stand-alone renewable technology and mini-grids as discussed in this report. We believe these solutions provide a viable, bottom-up solution to the patchy availability of electricity in Nigeria.

    Some of the enablers, such as mature mobile payment platforms and data analytics capabilities are already in place.  Others will require investors and communities engaging policy makers to formulate an integrated energy access strategy, work together in their communities to accelerate momentum in the electrification of Nigeria’s urban and semi-rural locations.”

    The report foresees a major transformation of the electricity sector in the period ahead and sets out five recommendations for accelerating the increase of electrification. One of them is to develop an integrated energy access plan and map – so that everyone can plan with more certainty for either off-grid or grid extension solutions.

    Another is to create an enabling environment for off-grid development – including clearer criteria for mini-grid development, support for skills and training and more supportive regulation to allow private players to unlock the off-grid market potential.

    There is also the need, according to the report, to recognise the value of and promote the growth of mobile infrastructure, microloans and payment solutions in supporting energy access – mobile infrastructure is proving crucial in the take-up of stand-alone home systems, giving providers a low-cost channel for customer relations and an ability to automatically manage non-payment.

    Establishing an off-grid innovation and development fund – a highly visible development and innovation fund, the report said, can play an important part in spurring off-grid growth in each country.

    Also, having a high-level energy access champion that can drive results – to cut through bottlenecks and monitor results.

  • Oyo govt vs Labour: Who blinks first?

    Oyo govt vs Labour: Who blinks first?

    The last two weeks have been tough in Oyo State. The government and the workers have been sparring over sundry issues, especially salary and schools’ ownership. Some labour leaders arraigned for allegedly disrupting a stakeholders meeting in education and destroying government property.

    The aggrieved labour leaders called out workers on an indefinite strike. Secondary school pupils protested alleged plan to ‘sell’ public schools.

    They were caused by the goverment’s decision to partner with some stakeholders on the management of some public schools as a way of improving quality of learning in public schools.

    The government on May 31, in an advertorial, published an advertisement invited interested stakeholders to apply for partnership in managing some schools. The advertisement also invited all interested stakeholders to a meeting slated for June 1.

    But operating on the belief that the initiative was aimed at selling off public schools, labour leaders went to the venue and protested  that government was planning to sell the schools under the guise of the planned Public Private Partnership (PPP). They also led protest disrupt to the stakeholders’ meeting held the following day.

    Government reschedule the meeting to the following week. Law enforcement agents arrested seven of the labour leaders including the Oyo State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Waheed Olojede.

    They were arraigned the following day and granted bail the same day. But the bail conditions could not be fully met until Monday. They spent the weekend in Agodi Prison, Ibadan.

    While in detention, their colleagues served a seven-day ultimatum on the government to clear salary arrears and drop the charges against their leaders or face an indefinite strike.

    After their leaders lease, labour ordered workers to begin indefinite strike last Tuesday.

    Since then, workers have stayed away, while government closed down public schools indefinitely to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

    But the stakeholders meeting was held on last Wednesday with labour and teachers shunning the talk shop which held under tight security.

    At the meeting, however, Governor Abiola Ajimobi appealed to stakeholders for the embarrassment of the previous week while acknowledging that the government might have made some mistakes in its approach to the initiative.

    Since then, there has been a stalemate. Government has stuck to the project and continues to engage interested corporate organisations, individuals and communities. It insisted that it would not interfere in the affairs of the court but indicated willingness to move forward. Labour has also rolled out the conditions government must meet before participating in any dialogue or ending the strike.

    The NLC insisted that the government must drop the charges against its leaders, clear all salary arrears and abandon or review the school management initiative.

    The situation will compound the poor financial condition of the government and also put ordinary workers in more severe financial straits as they have only been paid till December, last year.

    While insisting that some people are deliberately misleading the public on the idea, the Special Adviser to Governor Ajimobi on Communication and Strategy, Mr Yomi Layinka, explained that the initiative was still at the preparatory stage, not yet a government policy.

    Layinka emphasized that the idea was not about returning schools to missionaries or sell to anyone but to partner with willing communities, corporate bodies and others that can raise the quality of learning.

    His words: “This initiative is not about returning schools to anybody. The government is simply inviting all interested stakeholders (not necessarily former owners, missionaries and communities) to partner with it in the sustainable management of public secondary schools.

    “We are NOT ceding, selling or privatizing public schools. The government’s intention is to partner with interested stakeholders who wish to support the government in the management of these schools. They may be alumni associations, communities, or philanthropists.

    “Presumably less than 10 per cent of the 631 public secondary schools in Oyo State are likely to be involved in this partnership.”

    Layinka added that the initiative would not take education out of the reach of the poor because “government will moderate fees in the affected schools to ensure affordability, apart from the availability of alternatives within the same environment, whose facilities will also undergo facility upgrade.”

    He added: “ The beauty of the proposed partnership is that students in the schools likely to be affected is that current students from JSS II to SSS III will continue to enjoy free education and not pay school fees until they graduate.”

    In the fate of those schools not captured in the project, Layinka explained: “All public schools in Oyo State are currently undergoing assessment and improvements, not only in the areas of infrastructure but even in terms of curricular development.

    “The recently introduced N1,000 education levy in public schools is meant for this purpose in addition to other investments intended for their upgrade and development.”

    The government spokesman added that the planned programme is open to all senatorial districts of the state, without restriction to any particular areas.

    Layinka further explained that the idea had been undertaken in Lagos, Ogun, and many eastern states. “They have successfully run various partnership models that ensure the engagement/support of the private sector working alongside their respective ministries of education.”

    He added: “The main reason is to allow for the participation of interested stakeholders in the management of our secondary schools for the greater good of our students, their parents/ guardians as well as our education management system.”

    Speaking about fears of possible religious conflicts, he said: “There shouldn’t be any fears. The government intends to ensure freedom of religious preferences through  its regulatory mechanisms and shall stoutly resist any form of religious imposition or intolerance. Our religious diversity will be maintained.”

    Also explaining how staff will not be negatively affected by the initiative, Layinka emphasized: “Fist of all, all teachers are at liberty to choose between staying with their present employer (government) and whoever the partnering entity becomes. In either case, such employee/employer issues can easily be sorted out on terms and conditions that are mutually agreeable to both parties. Suffice to say that government will not leave any teacher at the mercy of any of its partners since government will always remain an active regulator of the relationships and standards of engagement.”

    However, labour leaders are not yet showing signs they want to back down on their demands even as Ajimobi insisted that they must apologize for allegedly disrupting the stakeholders’ meeting. The government also condemned the strike, saying it did not follow laid down guidelines.

    In the coming days, the public is expecting some surprises from, particularly the government, with many also looking in the way of elders across the state to intervene ending the logjam.

  • NLC praises govt on recovered loot

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has praised the government for giving a transparent account of recovered funds.

    Its President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, in a press statement, said the quantum of recoveries vindicated labour’s support for the fight against corruption, and its insistence on more stringent punishment for offenders.

    It has also exposed the extent of rot in the system and why virtually everything in the polity failed to work.

    ‘’We recall that in our national rally against corruption, we had made the point that we must look at the bigger picture of national recovery by ensuring that recovered funds are deployed to critical infrastructure such as roads, power, key industries and other sectors capable of stimulating the economy,” Wabba said.

    “NLC finds it necessary to, once again, urge the government to deploy recovered funds to key infrastructure or sectors.

    He urged the government not to relent in its recovery drive and fight against corruption, as information has revealed that the recovered funds are just the tip of the iceberg.

    ‘’We at the NLC believe the importance of the fight against corruption cannot be overstated for a couple of reasons. Certainly, we as a people cannot continue to live like this, except we want to be the laughing stock of the rest of the world.

    ‘’Similarly, our teeming youth and the army of the unemployed who look on to their country for their means of livelihood will not fold their hands while a few privileged individuals corner the national resources.

    ‘’We believe that for the war against corruption to endure, we as a people must be firm and resolute in our support for good governance and fight against corruption’’, Wabba said.

    He stated that the nation must entrench the culture of accountability, ensuring that public officers are accountable even out of office.

    He said to further strengthen the anti-corruption agencies, labour calls for the establishment of special courts to try corruption cases, adding that the judiciary has a big role to play by ensuring timely and speedy disposal of corruption cases.