The Nation Newspaper

Tag: negligence

  • Expert attributes industrial accidents to negligence

    African labour experts have attributed industrial accidents, injuries and diseases in work places to negligence by industrial entrepreneurs who often compromise safety standards and regulations.

    Director at the African Regional Labour Administration Centre (ARLAC), Mr. Daniel E. Neburagho stated in Harare, Zimbabwe at a workshop on Employment Injury Compensation Schemes.

    Neburagho said the workshop was a collaboration of ARLAC and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to strengthen labour administration systems in 19-member countries.

    According to him, ILO statistics reveals that only 33 per cent  of the global labour force is covered by the law on employment injury through mandatory social insurance, adding that the statistics also indicates that even when voluntary social insurance coverage and employer liability provisions are included, only 39.4 per cent of the labour force is covered by the law.

    He observed that, in practice, actual access to employment injury protection is even lower, largely because of poor enforcement of legislation in many countries, the majority of which are in Africa and Asia.

    He stressed that, often times, industrial accidents, injuries and diseases occur because safety standards and regulations are compromised by industrial enterprises.

    He said: “As the popular saying goes, prevention is better than cure and once adequate preventive measures are in place, it obviously reduces the incidence and liability of catering for injuries and diseases during work.”

    While emphasising the need to enhance working conditions in respect of occupational safety and health, he expressed optimism that as more countries move from employer liability as the basis for employment injury protection to a mechanism based on social insurance, levels of protection for workers are likely to improve.

    Participants at the workshop were drawn from Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Nigeria, Malawi, Mauritius, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.

  • Inexcusable negligence

    Inexcusable negligence

    Festive occasions such as Christmas and the transition to a new year are times when responsible organisations – public and private – do everything to ensure that they do not default on their obligation to promptly pay their workers’ salaries and allowances. This is to enable the employees meet their responsibilities to their families and participate in the joyous spirit of the season.

    It is thus scandalous that thousands of federal civil servants reportedly spent the last Christmas period and New Year in distress and deprivation because of the non-payment of their December salaries. To worsen matters, they also said they are being owed outstanding emoluments since July 2013. This clearly inexcusable situation has prompted the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) to call on the Federal Government to redeem its obligation to its members or face industrial action.

    Of course, the duty of an organisation to pay the salaries and allowances of its workers is not limited to festive periods. It is a legal obligation, which must be met at all times once the workforce fulfils its own part of the bargain. The ASCSN is thus in order when it asked the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to explain why the Federal Government could not pay salaries to its workers as and when due, especially since she has consistently maintained that the country is not broke.

    We can understand the agitation of the association when it asserts that “if 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”. The ASCSN can also not be faulted when it contends that “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 of public funds are being looted without qualms and those involved in the stealing spree are not being brought to book”.

    We find the response of the Federal Ministry of Finance to this brewing crisis rather tepid and unconvincing. The ministry gives the impression that it is unaware of the non-payment of the December, 2013, salaries as well as six months emoluments of the aggrieved civil servants. If so, this is nothing but inexcusable negligence. Again, the finance ministry claims that the feedback it got from many civil servants is that they had been paid and the problem is not thus a generalised one. It is our position that there is no excuse for owing even one worker his or her legitimate earnings.

    It is also a weak excuse for the ministry to attribute what it calls ‘few delays’ in payment to the alleged failure of individual civil servants and their ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to update their accounts to meet the requirements of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The ministry has the responsibility to sensitise and pressurise the affected MDAs to meet their statutory requirement in this regard. In any case, if the problem is not more widespread than the ministry suggests, it is unlikely that the threat of a nationwide strike by federal civil servants would today loom over the nation over this matter.

    We join the ASCSN in calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene urgently and ensure that the grievances of the workers are speedily addressed before the situation degenerates. Incessant strikes by workers in diverse sectors of the economy have done so much harm already; another industrial action by federal civil servants will be one too many.

  • How govt’s negligence ‘killed’ 107 Eggon indigenes

    How govt’s negligence ‘killed’ 107 Eggon indigenes

    The hearing in absentia of a memorandum by Pastor Joshua Daudu, District Head of Bassa in Nasarawa State, which accused the Fulani of using mercenaries to attack his people yesterday led to a drama at the sitting of the panel on Nasarawa killings, reports Sanni Onogu, Lafia

    The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the killings in Nasarawa State was yesterday told how the negligence of the government and security agencies led to the killing of 107 Eggon indigenes when their villages were invaded by mercenaries.

    This was contained in two memoranda heard in absentia by the Justice Joseph Gbadeyan-led commission in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, yesterday.

    The first memorandum was submitted by the Ward Head of Eggon Ruttu, John Allu and Peter Galilee Ezhim, on behalf of the affected communities in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

    The second memorandum was submitted by Nuhu Kagbu and Bala Ayaka on behalf of Iggah Community in Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area.

    According to Allu and Ezhim, Governor Tanko Al-Makura and security agencies allegedly failed to intervene when 19 Eggon villages were invaded four times.

    They alleged that 56 Eggon indigenes were killed in the attacks carried out by mercenaries.

    Properties were also destroyed.

    The panel was set-up by Al-Makura following the alleged killing of over 50 policemen and operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) in an ambush by members of Ombatse in Alakyo village, last May 7.

    Following the withdrawal of the Eggon communities in Ruttu and Burum-Burum from the proceedings, Justice Gbadeyan ordered the Commission’s Secretary, Abubakar Sadiq Ishaq, to read the memorandum.

    The Eggon communities alleged that between January 12 and February 2 armed groups they referred to as “mercenaries/militia” allegedly invaded 19 villages, killing 56 persons without provocation.

    They said: “It was also observed by Eggon people that as the attacks were continuing, the resident Fulani were seen running alongside Eggon and other people to Doma and other nearby towns for safety. This gives us further credence to the impression that foreign mercenaries were used in the insurgence.”

    They added that the Burum-Burum community which is inhabited by Alago, Eggon, Gwandara, Tiv, Hausa, Fulani and Igbo people was invaded four times in two months because security agencies and the state government did not respond to distress calls for intervention.

    They noted that the different tribes had “lived in peace with each other over the years with incidences of inter-tribal marriages.”

    The communities added: “Suffice it to state that in all these incidences, distress calls were placed to law enforcement agents but none showed up. Our people were left at the mercy of God, their strength, and the mercy of the invaders/attackers.

    “All efforts to get the government to intervene even when they were informed of these impending attacks ahead of time failed.”

    In their demands, the communities urged the government to be more proactive in future by living up to its responsibility of protecting lives and properties.”

    Also yesterday, Eggon leaders from Iggah community in their memorandum submitted by Nuhu Kagbu and Bala Ayaka, called for the prosecution of persons or groups that allegedly invaded and killed their kinsmen.

    Kagbu and Ayaka accused security agencies in state of failing to stop three attacks on their communities by mercenaries which led to the killing of 42 persons.

    The memorandum accused Gwandara youths of aiding and abetting the mercenaries to raze Eggon villages.

    They insisted that the government and security agencies failed in their duty to protect lives and property when suspected mercenaries invaded Eggon villages thrice, killing 42 persons between February 2 and March 17

    The memorandum reads: “The mercenaries were heavily armed with charms worn all over their bodies and with assorted sophisticated guns as the sound of the shooting is heard in far away communities.

    “Usually, they came in large numbers, shooting sporadically and at sight, thereby causing panic, pandemonium, fright and deaths. Equally, after shooting, they would set the houses at sight ablaze.

    “It is equally worthy to state here that while these killings and destruction of properties were being perpetrated by the mercenaries, some youths who happened to be of Gwandara extraction rose and began setting people’s houses ablaze while some of the mentioned communities like Iggah were caught and brought to their chiefs who identified them to be his subjects, but subsequently pleaded that they should be forgiven in the interest of peace and harmony.”

    Counsel representing Kwandare Community at the panel refuted reports that the community has withdrawn its memorandum .

    The lawyer, Ubandoma Abdullahi, said the petition which was submitted by Alhaji Musa Darinya (Ubangarin Kwandare), Alhaji Aliyu Maigida (Makungijin Kwandare), Alhaji Iliyasu Galadima (Wambai Kwandare), Mallam Abdullahi Galadima and Mallam Aliyu Oboshi on behalf of Kwandare community, “is still very much intact before the Commission.”

    He said: “The publication was made in error. The memorandum by the Kwandare Community is still very much intact before the Commission. I also want to state that at no time was the submission withdrawn.

    “We are very much ready to go on with the memorandum which was duly filed before the Commission and slated for hearing this Thursday. In fact, because of the over-zealousness of my clients to move the memorandum, they were before the Commission today (yesterday).

    “We want to say that the publication should be retracted as it does not reflect the true position of Kwandare Community on the memorandum which will be coming up for hearing on Thursday this week.”

     

     

  • Inexplicable negligence

    Inexplicable negligence

    IT was a million dollar question. “Could someone please explain why you don’t have refineries in Nigeria?” The query came from Mitchel Rivers, co-President of the African, Caribbean, Pacific and European Union parliaments (ACP-EU), who was briefing the press at the end of the organisation’s three-day meeting in Abuja.

    One of the main issues on the agenda of the meeting was the alarming scale of theft of Nigeria’s oil and Rivers’ felt, quite rightly, that this problem would most likely not have arisen if the country had functional refineries. The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, recently revealed that Nigeria loses 400,000 barrels of oil daily, the equivalent of N7.3 million a day, to oil thieves.

    The communique issued at the end of the ACP-EU parley reflected the seriousness attached to this issue by the organisation. It reads in part: “Members expressed concern at the high rates of oil theft, wastage and illegal bunkering which lead to substantial revenue losses and degradation. Members called on the Nigerian government to put in place appropriate mechanisms and measures to fight this organised syndicate”. To tackle this challenge, Rivers disclosed that it was decided that the European Parliament take steps to stop the purchase in Europe of oil stolen from Nigeria. Consequently, any crude oil for sale in the European market must now be accompanied with a certificate of origin.

    Explaining the rationale for this decision, Rivers said “We want to ban European refineries from buying un-certificated Nigerian oil; 400,000 barrels of oil a day is a huge loss. We need to get traceability of oil to avoid theft. The oil companies are involved in this and everybody is making big money. The bunkering tankers are better equipped than the Nigerian Navy. This is a huge international organised crime. We did it with diamond; we can do it with oil”. It is most unfortunate that Nigeria has become the spoilt child of the international community, passing unto others a responsibility that ought to be its.

    Not only is the country incapable of refining the bulk of her crude oil locally, it manifests inexplicable negligence in securing her shores and protecting her oil. If the vessels manned by oil thieves are better armed than those of the Nigerian Navy, we wonder how the humongous allocations to security over the years have been expended. By the same token, what benefit is the country deriving from the billion Naira contracts awarded to ex-militants in the Niger Delta to protect the oil pipelines? It would appear that the outside world loves us more than we love ourselves. For, ordinarily, it should be no business of theirs if we do not have the good sense to effectively protect a commodity that is the lifeline of the country’s economy. If the oil is prevented from being stolen in the first place, the issue of its being bought would not arise.

    However, it is not just the oil companies that are complicit in this sordid affair. Oil bunkering is most certainly a complex operation. The vessels involved are huge and anchored on the high seas. It would require an intricate network not just to burst the pipelines and steal the oil but also to transport the stolen commodity from the shore to the high sea. This will necessarily entail the cooperation of local chiefs, community leaders, the military and even government officials.

    If that is so, what is the guarantee that vessels carrying stolen oil will not be armed with valid certificates, thereby negating the lofty aim of the EU? The Federal Government should act decisively to check this menace. A state that cannot protect the commodity on which its existence substantially depends cannot but be a laughing stock.