The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Illegal

  • Fed Govt to ban illegal recruitment agencies

    ILLEGAL recruitment agencies will soon be banned by the Federal Government, the Minister of Labour and  Employment Dr Chris Ngige has said.

    Speaking at the Third Annual Workshop of the Human Capital Providers’ Association of Nigeria (HuCaPAN), Ngige, represented by his ministry’s  Permanent Secretary  Dr Clement Illo, urged the group to  abide by its code of conduct.

    According to him, hiring the right person for the job was important because fewer employers recognise that the right person would be more productive, learn faster, and require less supervision and training.

    He said: “No doubt, the process of recruitment provides the way to decent and productive employment. Some Private Employment Agencies (PEA)  do not apply the fundamental principles in their recruitment process.

    He said: “Discrimination occurs more often during the recruitment process than any other human resource practice. For this reason, ensuring that recruitment policies and practices conform to international best practices as advocated by the International Labour Congress ( ILO) is important for realising the benefits associated with the decent work agenda, which Nigeria has subscribed to.”

    The minister said non-discriminatory recruitment practices bring considerable benefits to companies.

    He added that there is high level of deficit in the promotion of decent job agenda. “But our role is to reduce those decent work deficits. You are supposed to be in the forefront and the union is expected to play a vital role in regulating the terms and conditions of workers,’’ he said.

    HuCaPAN President, Mr Neye Enemigin, said the union was ready to partner the Federal Government on work initiatives in line with ILO’s mandate for social justice.

    “We can assist in the areas of decent work, including safety and fair labour practice for employees in the semi formal work sector.  We want the Federal Government  to strengthen the role of the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the core areas of formulating, monitoring, implementing and enforcing government policies on employment generation, industrial relations, productivity improvement, social security and occupational safety and health in the work place.

    “PEAs, through HuCaPAN, intends to contribute to the development of the country through ensuring decent jobs for workers, ensuring the respect of labour laws, and practice of industrial relation, among others. In this regard, we are available to serve the committee, jointly present bills to the National Assembly and share our knowledge for the good of the sector, among others,”  he said.

    Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Council (NECA) Director, Mr Segun Oshinowo, represented by the Director of Membership, Mr  Timothy Olawale, urged the union to use the forum to address the issue of casualisation, saying that casualisation is evil and worse than unemployment.

    He emphasised that ILO recommended that a temporary worker should be made permanent, within 24 months.  He said this had not been applied in Nigeria.

    “I expect this gathering to address this, make recommendations and ensure its implementation.

    “We expect you to also address the issue of decent work, safety and fair labour practice for employees as it is applied in the ILO law,” Oshinowo  said.

  • Sokoto shuts 20 illegal schools

    No fewer than 20 primary and secondary schools in Sokoto State were last week sealed by the state government.

    The affected schools, the government said, violated regulations guiding their establishment.

    This was contained in a statement signed by the chairman of the committee on the closure of unregistered schools in the state, Alhaji Shehu Lema.

    The statement said the decision was sequel to the recommendations of the committee to the ministry of basic and secondary education.

    It said: “The axed schools were closed as they were operating illegally and in non- conducive environment.

    “They were also operating in rented apartments in contravention of the laid down rules and regulations of establishing such schools.

    “These affected schools had also recruited unqualified teachers, another flagrant violation of the regulations.’’

    The statement further urged parents not to patronise the affected schools. It also called on them to liaise with the ministry in seeking new schools for their children and wards.

     

  • Council demolishes illegal structures

    Authorities of Eti-Osa East Local Council Development Area have embarked on demolition of shanties and junkyards. The exercise, which was carried out sequel to the directive from the state government, was to engender safe and serene environment for the well-being of the people.

    Speaking at the commencement of the exercise, the Sole Administrator of the council, Prince Babatunde Ayo Ayeni, said it had become necessary to enforce the removal of such illegal structures from the highways because of the danger they pose to human lives and security.

    The council chief said the exercise was to eradicate street trading on the highways and to make sure that the markets provided for trading activities are made use of.

    He stressed that Obadore, Ado  and Folashade Ojo markets which have sufficient spaces that are unoccupied are available for the traders.

    Mr. Ayeni promised that the council would not fold its arms and allow the markets become dilapidated while traders risk their lives and other road users’ while selling their wares on traffic.

    In the course of the demolition exercise, which began from Alfa bus stop to Sangotedo and Ajah, some structures were completely removed while owners of some were given seven days’ ultimatum to vacate their roadside shops and relocate to the markets provided for them.

    According to Prince Ayeni, the traders are on the road without the permission of the federal, state or local governments. He also pledged that the exercise would be a continuous one until the highways are rid of all illegal structures and sanity restored to the roads.

  • It’s illegal to pay ex-governors as senators, says Falana

    It’s illegal to pay ex-governors as senators, says Falana

    •’They are on life pension’

    If activist-lawyer Femi Falana has his way, former governors who are now senators would no longer be paid salaries as lawmakers.

    He also would have the 109 senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives refund the salaries they got for services not rendered.

    Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said it was illegal for former governors, who have been placed on life pension in their states, to earn salaries and allowances in the National Assembly.

    He also stated that the lawmakers ought not to have been entitled to the payment of their full salaries and allowances for failing to sit for the mandatory 181 days before going on a seven-month recess.

    The Lagos lawyer, in a lecture he yesterday delivered as the investiture of Mr. Dele Ojogbede as President of Rotary Club, Ikoyi in Lagos, counselled the Federal Government on what to do with those undermining the anti-corruption war.

    He also commented on the allegations of corruption against the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Gen. Tukur Buratai, Internal Affairs Minister Abdulrahman Dambazzau and Comptroller-General of Prisons Ahmed Jafaru, as well as the alleged budget padding in the Greeen Chamber.

    On of ex-governors in the Senate, Falana said:  “It is high time the Federal Government stopped the payment of salaries and allowances to former governors who are in the senate. Since they are on pension for life, it is illegal to continue to pay them salaries and allowances at the same time.”

    According to the lawyer, none of the 469 lawmakers in the National Assembly had justification for the emoluments they collected in the first legislative year under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    His words: “The APC-led National Assembly has also engaged in collecting jumbo emoluments for services not rendered to the nation.

    “Whereas Section 63 of the Constitution provides that the Senate and the House of Representatives shall each sit for not less than 181 days in a year, Section 68 thereof states that any legislator who fails to attend the proceedings of the Senate for less than one third of the required number of days shall automatically lose his or her seat.

    “For the first legislative year which ended on June 9, the Seventh session of the National Assembly did not meet the constitutional requirement. Specifically, due to incessant recesses, the House of Representatives sat for only 104 days while the Senate sat for 96 days. This means that the Senate sat for barely 50 per cent of the required sitting period.

    “Indeed, some of the senators who had to attend criminal courts where they are standing trial for corrupt practices did not seat for up to 70 days throughout the legislative year.

    The Senate was actually shut down on a number of occasions to enable the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki to attend the proceedings of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) where he is standing trial for false declaration of assets. And in solidarity with him, a number of senators abandoned their duties to accompany him to the tribunal.

    “Since the labour policy of “no work no pay” is applicable to all public officers the legislators ought not to have been paid when they did not perform any legislative duty.

    “In other words, having failed to sit for the mandatory period of 181 days the legislators were not entitled to payment of full salaries and allowances for the whole legislative year.

    “Having been paid full emoluments when they failed to sit for the required number of days, the legislators ought to refund some money to the treasury.

    “In the circumstance, the Accountant-General of the Federation should ensure that the legislators are made to refund the money collected for the number of days they failed to sit in the National Assembly.”

    He urged the anti-corruptions agencies to investigate and ascertain how COAS Buratia came about the $1.5 billion property he claimed to have disclosed in his asset declaration form.

    “Aside the statement, the CCB should proceed to investigate and confirm that the properties were legitimately acquired from the income of the general.  This investigation should be speedily and transparently conducted to assure Nigerians that there are no sacred cows in the prosecution of the war against corruption”, Falana said.

    He recommended that the dismissal dose given to two judges for age falsification should be served on the prisons’ chief, who has not denied allegations that he doctored his age.

    Falana said: “Since two judges were recently dismissed for reducing their ages and ordered to refund the money they had illegally collected the Comptroller-General of prisons ought to be removed from office without any further delay.”

    The senior advocate said those involved in the 2016 Budget padding should be dismissed from service and handed over to anti-corruption agencies for prosecution.

    He said the budget padding row rocking the leadership of the House of Representatives should not be allowed to be treated as the lower chamber’s internal affair but be investigated and offenders sanctioned.

  • Immigration arrests 2,000 illegal immigrants in Oyo

    •131 children rescued from traffickers

    Over 2,000 illegal immigrants living in Oyo State have been arrested and deported by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) within the last two months.

    The state NIS Comptroller, Mrs. Victoria Isang, who disclosed this to reporters, added that 131 children were rescued from human traffickers in the last four months.

    Mrs. Isang spoke while addressing members of the Correspondents Chapel of the Oyo State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Ibadan, the state capital.

    The NIS boss said the illegal immigrants were all nationals of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), who either did not register their entry or renew their three-month ‘rights to stay’ in the country after its expiration.

    She said the arrest of illegal immigrants was largely made possible by the efforts of the border corps of the service, who were specially trained to mount surveillance on unregistered borders as well as men and officers combing various communities.

    Mrs. Isang said the Service does not delay in repatriating those arrested because of the security threat they constitute in Nigeria.

    On children trafficking, the immigration boss said  131 children were rescued from 144 suspected traffickers within the last four months. She said that 56 of the victims had been reunited with their Nigerian parents.

    The suspected traffickers, according to her, include 75 Nigerians and 69 non-Nigerians.

  • NUC shuts ‘illegal’ varsity in Delta

    NUC shuts ‘illegal’ varsity in Delta

    The Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC) yesterday sealed off the premises of World Mission University, Abraka, Delta State, declaring its activities illegal and without approval from the regulatory body.

    The institution, located on a  storey building on old Sapele Road in Abraka, Ethiope East Local Government Area, had 84 students in various disciplines, such as Nursing and Health Care, Information Technology, Building and Electrical Technology, Mass Communication and Computer Science. The school also ran diploma programmes in vocational studies.

    The university’s National Coordinator, Pastor Hannah Lucky, said the institution started operations in Benin, Edo State in awarded diploma certificates to 5,000 graduates.

    The coordinator said campuses affiliated to the university were in Oghara.

    She said Nursing and Healthcare had 42 students; Information Technology, 12; Building and Electrical Technology, six; Media Department, four and Computer Science and Vocational Studies, 34 students.

    Mrs Lucky said the school’s proprietor was planning to get approval from the NUC.

    According to her, the institution will award degrees to its first batch of deserving students in August.

    She  said lecturers were qualified volunteers, adding that the school created training centres for vocational courses.

    But NUC’s Head of Closure Team, Moses Awe, who led a four-man team, regretted that there was a rise in illegal universities, despite government’s efforts at expanding access to tertiary education.

    He said: “It has become a notorious menace in Nigeria, despite the efforts of the Federal and state governments at expanding access to the university education. You are aware that as of today in Nigeria, we have over 140 universities with the proprietorship of federal and state universities. You are also aware of the National Open University (NOUN), which is also an extension of expanded access.

  • Sheriff declares Edo PDP governorship nominations illegal

    Sheriff declares Edo PDP governorship nominations illegal

    The embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Ali modu Sheriff, has said the party’s governorship primary in Edo State is illegal.

    Sheriff voided the primary, which was held on Monday by the Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee, saying it was a contraption by an “illegal” caretaker committee.

    The former Borno State governor urged party members to disregard the primary.

    A letter on the primary by Sheriff and PDP National Secretary, Prof Wale Oladipo, was addressed to the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The duo urged INEC to avoid legitimising the Edo primary, saying the party would conduct a proper primary to nominate a candidate.

    Sheriff released a scheduled congress in the state to between June 23 and 29 with the inauguration of a congress committee scheduled for Thursday.

    The embattled chairman warned the party’s state chapter chairmen and other officers to desist from holding meetings with the Makarfi committee.

     

    He added that such actions would attract sanctions.

     

  • Protecting Nigerians from illegal bio-tech products

    In 2001, the federal government, under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Technology,  developed a National Biotechnology Policy to promote biotechnology. The signing into law of the National Biosafety Agency Bill in April 2015 by former President Goodluck Jonathan enlisted Nigeria among the league of nations that legally practice modern agricultural biotechnology.

    The National Biosafety Act is crucial in the management of modern biotechnology in the country, and signing the bill into law allows the domestication of the technology in Nigeria and enables the nation to utilise this cutting edge technology to create employment, boost food production, eliminate hunger and ultimately enhance economic development.

    Biosafety means ensuring safety in the applications of modern biotechnology and use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). The signing of the biosafety bill into law provides the legal framework to check the activities of this technology locally as well as imported Genetically Modified crops into the country. It also provides an avenue to engage Nigerian scientists/experts from different fields to identify and pursue solutions to our local challenges.

    However, this development was received with mixed feelings as some Nigerians feel the nation is not yet ripe for the domestication of this technology, citing health and environmental concerns as their reason.

    Though no adverse effect has been recorded via the application of modern biotechnology in other advanced countries that are already utilising it, the federal government in its wisdom established a biosafety regulatory agency, the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), to ensure safe application of this new technology.

    The Act established the NBMA charged with the responsibility of providing regulatory framework, institutional and administrative mechanism for safety measures in the application of modern bio-technology in Nigeria to prevent any adverse effect on human health, animals, plants and environment.

    The coming in of the NBMA strengthens government’s position under a legal framework to achieve the important goal of using this technology as a tool. So, in actual sense the NBMA is the safety valve that the federal government has adopted to ensure that the practice of modern biotechnology in Nigeria is safe.

    The process of the development of the Biosafety Act followed a systematic public involvement from 2002 to 2015, and the National Biosafety Management Act 2015 prescribes procedures for the application of modern technology, risk assessment before the adoption and use of any genetically modified organisms, and penalties for contravening the Biosafety Act.

    Since its establishment in 2015, the NBMA takes its role as the biotechnology regulatory body very seriously and has already developed various regulatory instruments as well as laying down framework to ensure safe application of the technology in Nigeria.

    The agency’s activities include surveying, tracking and profiling of GMO’s in Nigeria; enlightenment of the public on biosafety matters; consultation with sister regulatory agencies for partnership; development and reviewing of national biosafety regulations and guidelines and capacity building and training of staff of the agency.

    Prior to the National Biosafety Law in Nigeria, there were GMO suspects which made their way into the Nigerian market through the nation’s porous borders from countries like America and Brazil, who are already consuming GMO products. But with the advent of the regulatory body, one of its first assignments was to issue a moratorium to such companies, individuals or institutions dealing in unapproved modern biotechnology activities in the country to formalise their dealings with it to ensure that they’re suitable for our environment and health system.

    To make sure this assignment is carried out effectively, the agency established a national biosafety lab for GM detection and analysis to ensure that all GMOs are properly analysed to prevent any adverse effect on environment and human health.

    Apart from registering GMO products in the country, the agency has also gone ahead to accredit qualified institutes to carry out modern biotechnology activities in the country.

    Five institutes have already gotten approval from the agency to engage in biotechnology activities; they include the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike; Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR), Zaria; Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA); National Cereals Research Institute Badeggi and the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Abuja.

    The agency has also shown its determination to ensure that Nigeria fully adheres to the tenets of the biosafety law which recognizes the complex issues to be addressed by central authorities in the judicious application of modern biotechnology.

    Biosafety Law defines offences and penalty for violation of the act; contains powers to authorize release of GMOs and practice of modern biotechnology activities and confers the power to carry out risk assessment/management before the release, handling and use of GMOs.

    It also covers all genetically modified organisms/Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) and products thereof including food/feed and processing, and socio-economic consideration in risk assessment.

    The agency has at various fora’s assured Nigerians that the law will also promote active commercialization of the research and development projects in our various universities and research institutes hence improving our economy as well as support the country to become one of the leaders in biotechnology, particularly in Africa.

    The NBMA has proven that it has the capacity to give Nigeria the desired holistic biosafety in a transparent manner, so that the nation can benefit from modern biotechnology maximally without compromising safety to the environment and human health.

     

    • Usman, a public affairs analyst, is based in Makurdi, Benue State.
  • NCAA to sanction illegal drone operators for airspace violation

    NCAA to sanction illegal drone operators for airspace violation

    •Issues safety guidelines

    The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has warned against the proliferation of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), otherwise called drones, in the airspace.

    The NCAA said the use of drones without approval/ permit in the Nigerian airspace constitutes a threat to safety,

    It, however, issued safety guidelines on use of the equipment without permission.

    Spokesman for NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, in a statement yesterday,  said RPA/UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) are being deployed for commercial and recreational purposes in the country without adequate security clearance.

    He noted that with the preponderance of these operations, particularly in a non– segregated airspace, there has to be proactive safety guidelines.

    “The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is yet to publish Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), as far as certification and operation of civil use of RPA is concerned.

    He noted that the NCAA put in place Regulations/Advisory Circular to guide the certification and operations of civil RPA in the airspace.

    “This is contained in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs 2015 Part 8.8.1.33) and Implementing Standards (Nig.CARs 2015 Part IS.8.8.1.33).

    “Therefore, no government agency, organisation or an individual will launch an RPA/UAV in the Nigerian airspace for any purpose whatsoever without obtaining requisite approvals/permit from the NCAA and Office of National Security Adviser (NSA).”

    Adurogboye reiterated that applicants and holders of permits to operate RPA/Drones must be guided by safety guidelines.

    In addition, he said operators must ensure strict compliance with conditions stipulated in their permits and the requirements of the Nig.CARs.

    Violators shall be sanctioned.

  • Illegal immigrant ‘exploited genital mutilation laws to stay in Britain’

    An illegal immigrant from Nigeria was granted leave to remain in Britain after falsely alleging that her daughters would be subjected to female genital mutilation if they were sent back.

    A High Court judge ruled that the three girls, aged 13, 10 and seven, needed protection from their father after hearing claims he was making arrangements for them to be “cut”, the London Telegraph reported.

    In a landmark case, the girls became the first subjects of a female genital mutilation (FGM) protection order, by the British courts.

    But that decision has now been overturned after a different judge dismissed the claim, describing it as part of an “immigration scam”.

    The case will raise concerns that more illegal migrants could seek to dishonestly take advantage of tough new rules aimed at protecting young girls from barbaric FGM practices.

    The family arrived in Britain in 2012 on a two-year visitor visa but when the husband returned to Nigeria, the woman stayed on with the children.

    Last summer, she twice failed to persuade the Home Office to allow her to remain in the UK, but then 19 days later made the claims about her daughters facing the threat of FGM.

    Mr Justice Holman said despite only hearing one side of the story the threat was so great the family should be allowed to remain.

    But following the decision, the father travelled to London to deny that he had ever intended to subject the girls to FGM and a different judge declared that the woman had “fundamentally and dishonestly misrepresented the true position”.

    Mr Justice MacDonald said it was “more likely than not” that the allegations had been part of an “immigration scam”.

    The judge also ruled that the children should no longer live with their mother in London but be cared for by their father – and he has given the man permission to move the youngsters to Nigeria.

    The judge concluded that the woman was lying when she claimed to have been subjected to FGM.