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  • What govt should do this year, by NLC

    What govt should do this year, by NLC

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has advised the Federal Government to create jobs, address infrastructure deficit and tackle the problems in the oil sector to avoid fuel shortage.

    In a message to Nigerians to mark the New Year, NLC President Ayuba Wabba slammed Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s planned sack of over 22,000 teachers who failed a competence test.

    The congress recalled the loss of over four million jobs in 2017, according to statistics provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) as against the provision of three million jobs annually promised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in its manifesto.

    According to Wabba, 2017 saw the working people, pensioners and other Nigerians facing a series of daunting socio-economic and security challenges, even though they had hoped that the year would offer succour for the masses.

    He said: “Rather than work to create jobs and improve the condition of Nigerian working people and Nigerians in general, leading elements in the ruling APC government, like Governor Nasir El-Rufai, have been taking measures to further chastise and ruin Nigerians by throwing tens of thousands of workers into the unemployment market and wretchedness.

    “In the same vein, despite the huge revenue that the states have received through the Federal Government intervention funds to clear arrears of unpaid salaries and pensions in many states of the federation, coupled with additional payment of three tranches of windfall (Paris Club debt refunds), states like Kogi, Osun, Benue, Ekiti, Bayelsa and several others entered 2018 with huge arrears spanning up to ten (10) or more months of wages and pensions.

    “Under these conditions, Nigerian workers, pensioners and their families remained the most despondent group in an economy that even the well-to-do are groaning and struggling to survive.”

    He stressed that recently Nigerians had witnessed one of the worst shortages in the supply of petrol in the history of the country, in spite of the Federal Government’s repeated claim that with the complete removal of subsidy on petroleum products, scarcity of petroleum products would become a thing of the past.

    Wabba said the position of the congress regarding the prevailing situation in the petroleum industry has been that the crisis in the industry is due to the inability or refusal of our ruling elite to refine all petroleum needs in Nigeria, adding that Nigeria remains the only major producer of crude oil that imports refined products.

    He said: “For us in the Congress, and for majority of working people in Nigeria, the hope placed on the capacity of President Buhari to bring about positive change is being undermined by his government’s inability to address the infrastructural deficit and other related problems in the oil industry, such as making our existing refineries work at optimal capacity by refining products for domestic consumption.

    “Not only is government unable to achieve this for almost three years now, but moving forward, more refineries, especially modular refineries, which can be built between 12 and 18 months, are required to address the reoccurring challenge of fuel scarcity and price hike in Nigeria and stop the exploitation of ordinary Nigerians. The inherent corruption in the system has made this impossible for more than three decades and should be addressed headlong.”

    On the new minimum wage, Wabba said the tripartite committee recently inaugurated should expeditiously conclude its assignment and ensure that a new minimum wage is put in place before the third quarter of the year and urged the National Assembly to give accelerated hearing  to the bill that will be produced by the committee.

    On local government autonomy, the NLC President said: “Congress appreciates the recent passage of three core bills on local government autonomy in Nigeria by the National Assembly. It is our belief that the passage of the constitutional amendment to guarantee local government autonomy will promote good governance and deepen democratic culture at the grassroots level.

    “We call on the Houses of Assembly to demonstrate courage, patriotism and assert their desired independence by passing these constitutional amendment bills designed towards emancipating our local governments and freeing their finances from being usurped by governors who are determined to truncate the quest for democratisation at the local government level.”

    Wabba called for putting the payment of primary school teachers’ salaries on first line charge of the Federation Account to assuage the fears of all stakeholders in the local government system.

    “We believe that the ascendancy of the APC to power was rooted on the personal integrity and anti-corruption pedigree of President Buhari. As we move into 2018, our expectation is that the executive arm of government would push for the implementation of key anti-corruption protocols and good governance principles in our public and private institutions.

    “In the same vein, we call on the government to increase the tempo of the fight against corruption in a way that is fair, just and all encompassing.”

    Wabba said the workers will observe January 11 as a day of solidarity with the workers of Kaduna State. He promised that the union would mobilise workers to march for the reversal of the sack of kaduna teachers.

    Labour and Employment Minister Chris Ngige, however, assured Nigerians that the government would stem job loses his year.

    In his New Year message, Ngige asked Nigerians not to tremble over the recent statistics on job losses released by the NBC as the development is effectively modulated by a similar release by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), which indicates over a seven  million job growth in the Agricultural sector during the year.

    He said: “I wish to assure Nigerians that 2018 will not be as bleak as 2017 in terms of job losses as the Federal Government has put enough checks to forestall a repeat of what was encountered in 2017.

    “As a matter of fact, the figure released by the NBC must be placed alongside statistics by the Central Bank of Nigeria which shows that over seven million jobs have been created in the Agricultural Sector. This is the only way to arrive at a balanced job situation in the country.”

    He said the Federal Government would work harder to create more jobs and sustain the current efforts at protecting the existing ones. “We shall continue to maintain our principled stand against retrenchment and encourage the state governments to do same.”

  • Nigerians losing hope on change promised them-NLC

    Nigerians losing hope on change promised them-NLC

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC ) has said that the failure and inability of President Muhammadu Buhari led government to address the infrastructural deficit and other related problems, especially in he oil industry has dashed the hope placed on the change promised Nigerians by the APC led government.

    The congress said Nigerians have continued to be at the receiving end, with over 4 million Nigerians losing their job in 2017 according to statistics provided by the National Bureau of Statistics as against the three million jobs annually promised the party.

    In his new year message to Nigerians, NLC President, Comrade Abubakar Wabba lamented that rather than work to create jobs and improve the condition of Nigerian working people and Nigerians in general, leading elements in the ruling APC government, like Governor Nasir el-Rufai, have been taking measures to further chastise and ruin Nigerians by throwing tens of thousands of workers into the already saturated unemployment market and wretchedness.

    According to him, 2017 saw the working people, pensioners and other Nigerians facing series of daunting socio-economic and security challenges, “even though we had hoped that the year would offer succour for the masses of the people.”

    Wabba said the deplorable economic situation in 2017 is aptly captured by the statistics recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which indicated that over 4 million Nigerians lost their jobs in 2017. 

    He said: “Against the background of the campaign promise of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) government to create three million jobs annually, this statistics from the NBS underscores the grave and depressing situation of the Nigerian economic landscape in 2017.

    “Rather than work to create jobs and improve the condition of Nigerian working people and Nigerians in general, leading elements in the ruling APC government, like Governor Nasir el-Rufai, have been taking measures to further chastise and ruin Nigerians by throwing tens of thousands of workers into the already saturated unemployment market and wretchedness.

    “In the same vein, despite the huge revenue that the states have received through the Federal Government intervention funds to clear arrears of unpaid salaries and pensions in many states of the federation, coupled with additional payment of three tranches of windfall, (Paris Club debt refunds), states like Kogi, Osun, Benue, Ekiti, Bayelsa and several others entered 2018 with huge arrears spanning up to ten (10) or more months of wages and pensions.

    “Under these conditions, Nigerian workers, pensioners and their families remained the most despondent group in an economy that even the well-to-do are groaning and struggling to survive. No wonder,  our country is one of the worst, known for having many hungry people in the world according to the World Hunger Index report 2017.”

    He stressed that in recent times, Nigerians have witnessed one of the worst shortages in the supply of petrol in the history of the country in spite of Federal Government’s repeated claim that with the complete removal of subsidy on petroleum products, scarcity of petroleum products would become a thing of the past.

    Wabba said that the position of the congress regarding the prevailing situation in the petroleum industry has been that the crisis in the industry is due to the inability or refusal of our ruling elite to refine all petroleum needs in Nigeria, adding that Nigeria remain the only major producer of crude oil in the world that depends on importation of refined products from abroad.

    He said “For us in the Congress, and for majority of working people in Nigeria, the hope placed on the capacity of President Buhari to bring about positive change is being undermined by his government’s inability to address the infrastructural deficit and other related problems in the oil industry, such as making our existing refineries work at optimal capacity by refining products for domestic consumption. 

    “Not only is government unable to achieve this for almost three years now, but moving forward more refineries, especially modular refineries which can be built between 12 and 18 months are required to address the reoccurring challenge of fuel scarcity and price hike in Nigeria and stop the exploitation of ordinary Nigerians. The inherent corruption in the system has made this impossible for more than three decades and should be addressed headlong.”

    On the new minimum wage, Wabba said the tripartite committee recently inaugurated should expeditiously conclude its assignment and ensure that a new minimum wage is put in place before the third quarters of the year and urged the National Assemboy to give accelerated hearing g to the bill that will be produced by the committee.

    On local government autonomy the NLC President said: “Congress appreciates the recent passage of three core bills on Local Government autonomy in Nigeria by the National Assembly. It is our belief that the passage of the constitutional amendment to guarantee Local Government autonomy will promote good governance and deepen democratic culture at the grassroots level.

    “We therefore call on the State Houses of Assembly to demonstrate courage, patriotism and assert their desired independence by passing these constitutional amendment bills designed towards emancipating our local governments and freeing their finances from being usurped by governors who are determined to truncate the quest for democratisation at the local government level.”

    Wabba wants the National Assembly and State Houses of Assemblies to ensure that payment of primary school teachers’ salaries is put on first line charge of the Federation Account to assuage the fears of all stakeholders in the local government system.

    “Over the years, the Congress has advocated for good governance as a basis for sustainable development of our country. We have in similar tone campaigned against corruption in our body politics, as this malady has remained the greatest impediment to our quest for national development.

    “We believe that the ascendancy of the APC to power was rooted on the personal integrity and anti-corruption pedigree of President Buhari. As we move into 2018, our expectation is that the executive arm of government would push for the implementation of key anti-corruption protocols and good governance principles in our public and private institutions.

    “In the same vein, we call on the government to increase the tempo of the fight against corruption in a way that is fair, just and all encompassing.”

  • Robbers attack NLC Chairman’s house, abduct wife

    Robbers attack NLC Chairman’s house, abduct wife

    Armed robbers on Sunday attacked the residence of Nigerian Union of Labour, Ebonyi state chapter Chairma, Mr Leonard Nkah at Mile 50 Abakaliki.

    The robbers, five in number stormed the residence of the Chairman in the evening of Saturday and ransacked the house and took away some valuables including some undisclosed amount of cash.

    Mr Nkah in a chat with The Nation confirmed the incident but noted that he was not around when the robbers struck.

    “I was called by my wife around 9pm that robbers came to our house and demanded for my whereabouts. They said they got information that there was money that was brought in and that they need the money. They forced her to lie down despite the fact that she was pregnant. They ransacked the house and took whatever they could find but they were disappointed that there was no such huge amount of money in my house”

    He lamented that the robbers physically attacked and abducted his wife and later dumped her in a bush.

    “They assaulted my house help who opened the door when they came in, they also assaulted my wife and later abducted her. They beat her up while forcing her to lie down with her pregnancy which was difficult for her. They took her to other residents in the area where they also robbed before dumping her in the bush”

    “I thank God I wasn’t there, if I was there maybe it may have been a different story. They had information that I had huge sum of money. I was gathering resources to organise this reception for the Governor today, maybe some people told them I have money”.

    Mr Nkah urged the police to beef up security in the state during the Christmas to checkmate the activities of the criminals.

    Also, a journalist, Mr Moses Erogu of Ebonyi State Broadcasting Corporation, EBBC, had his house bugged on Sunday Morning by unknown criminals.

    Speaking to our Reporter, Mr Erogu, who is the Government House Abakaliki Correspondent of EBBC said the incident happened when he and the family were in the Church.

    “I took my family to 6am mass and from there I went to work. Later my wife called me to come home and when I got there I saw that they broke into the house and ransacked the house, took away some valuables including a phone belonging to my sister and some cash in the house”.

    Mr Erogu, whose building is located behind the state House of Assembly at Nkaliki lamented the increasing rate of criminal activities in the area and called on the police to do more to secure the area.

    Police spokesman in the area, Loveth Odah could not be reached for comments for comments.

    But Special Assistant to Governor David Umahi on Internal security, Kenneth Ugbala confirmed the incident to our Reporter.

  • NLC to governors: use Paris Club refund to pay salaries

    NLC to governors: use Paris Club refund to pay salaries

    The Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC ) has asked state governors to prioritise their activities and ensure that they use Paris Club refund to pay workers’ salaries and pension.

    President of Congress, Comrade Abubakar Wabba told The Nation that governors, who have refused to pay salaries and pension were not doing so because of the lack of money, but because they have not considered the payment of salaries as a priority.

    He urged workers to ensure that such governors are voted out during the next election.

    Wabba said: “Most of the governors have abuse the trust of the President Muhammadu Buhari, especially those that are not paying. They will go begging that once the money is released, they will use it to pay salaries. This is about the third episode.

    “The Chairman of the Governors Forum once made a promise publicly that they were going to use the money to pay salaries. Even in his own state, he did not use the money to address Labour issues. So, we are tired of this whole deceit of going to beg the President because they know he is passionate about workers and pensioners.

    “They will get money and come back to do something different. In states where they are not paying salaries and pension, you have seen what is happening with the rate of crime on the increase and people dying from starvation and frustration, while kidnapping is on the increase.”

    Wabba said the governors should know that it is in their own interest to pay workers and pensioners their entitlements.

    He noted that social consequence of not paying is glaring in those states because of the rise in criminal activities there.

    The NLC President said: “Our position usually is that they should prioritise the payment of workers and pensioners entitlement because there is no way you can have peace and development if workers entitlements are not being paid. It is arising from that that the President has continually told them to go and settle these liabilities.

    “We hope that with the little commitment they have made, it will work out this time around. If they pay, fine, but if they don’t pay, they should also know that they will not receive the support of the workers and pensioners. Right now, there are about nine states that are in this situation and we use this medium to thank those governors that are paying as and when due.

    “If they don’t pay, we have said it over and over again that workers should vote them out. They should know that if they don’t pay, the workers will not support them and if they pay, the workers will be happy and support them. That is the position we have taken long before now and that position has not changed.

    “For governors that have done well, we have asked workers to go and support them. It is actually in their own interest to settle all categories of workers so that workers can support them and also be very productive.”

  • NLC calls for upward review of pension

    NLC calls for upward review of pension

    Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC) President Comrade Ayuba Wabba has called for an upward review of pension to help minimise the economic hardship facing pensioners.

    Wabba said this at the 16th edition of Pensioners Day Celebration in Abuja.

    He said the review of pension was long overdue, saying the federal and state governments had been adhering to the constitutional provision.

    “Section173(3) and 210(3) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Constitution 1999 (as amended) stipulate that pension be reviewed every five years or together with any increase in workers’ wages,’’ Wabba said.

    According to him, it is criminal that the Federal Government pays N4000 as pension to some pensioners in this harsh economy.

    “If we want a better Nigeria, then we must be willing to take care of our pensioners and workers.

    “Our country is so blessed with various resources, but it is a pity that we cannot account how it is being spent,” he stated.

    Wabba praised President Muhammadu Buhari for releasing the bailout fund to states to pay pensioners and workers, urging that the government monitors and makes them accountable on how the money is spent.

    He said government needed to take care of the security and welfare of its people to avert surmount of the security challenges in the country.

    NLC president appealed to pensioners to support one another, adding that the NLC will continue to show its support and solidarity.

    The Executive Secretary of Pension Transitional Administration Directorate, Ms Sharon Ikeazor, said the payroll for pensioners for December was ready and pensioners would get their pension before Christmas.

    “We got release to pay six months pension”.

    “For police pension, we paid them one year out of the 33 months and we just have a balance for 21 months for police pensions.

    “The government is making the money available; we will pay up,” she said.

    Ikeazor said the essence of the verification was to ensure pensioners were fully captured so that there would not be a need for them to come back again.

    She promised that by the first quarter of 2018, the directorate would pay the arrears of the 33 per cent increase.

  • Ayade has failed workers – NLC

    Ayade has failed workers – NLC

    The Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC ) in Cross River State has given the Governor Ben Ayade a seven-day ultimatum, beginning from yesterday (Wednesday) to implement a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) reached between both of them on July 2, 2017, else workers would resume strike.

    Addressing reporters, at the end of a State Executive Council (SEC) meeting at the NLC secretariat in Calabar, its chairman, Comrade John Ushie, said the governor had failed workers in the state by reneging on the agreement.

    It would be recalled that workers in the state had embarked on an indefinite strike earlier this, which they suspended after coming to an agreement, embodied by the MOU with the state government on July 2.

    Ushie said, “We express our disappointment with the government for failure to honour some critical aspects of the memorandum of understanding that was signed on July 2, 2017. Among them are some of the issues of the failure of government to pay gratuity to retirees from June 2013 till date.

    “We are also aware that the Cross River State Government, after that action that was suspended on the 2nd of July had agreed to pay that week.

    “The 2013 retirees were to be paid off their gratuity without any further delay or pressure. But we are here again to tell the whole world that that agreement was not kept and the government has jettisoned the agreement again.

    “That has led to this meeting today as directed by the National Executive Council meeting, which was held on the 16th of November, where the NEC directed all state councils where the government has not implemented fully the payment of salaries, arrears of salaries, arrears of pensions and gratuities to go back and put into a force a strategy to put into force that is complied with. And that was done on the basis of the fact that the Paris Club Refund has been released to all the state governments and that money was meant specifically to pay arrears of salaries, gratuities and pension.

    “But permit me to mention here that for Cross River State specifically, from 2015 did not own any arrears on salary. But we are aware that they owe arrears of pension and gratuities.

    “And so for us as labour, our thinking was that when this money came, government was to use it to clear the arrears and therefore use others for the payment of salaries as it was agreed initially.

    “But our disappointment is that the government did not keep to that agreement and therefore reneged on it. And today we are still discussing on the issue of gratuity of 2013, which the governor himself told us that the second Paris Club Fund that was coming was to be used for.

    “Today as it stands the government of Cross River is owing gratuity from 2013 till date. And soon we would enter 2018 as the workers continue to retire without their entitlements,” Ushie said.

    Ushie said the government had also failed the workers in terms of the implementation of the workers promotion; regularizing the state payroll system; selective payment of imprest to Ministries, Departments and Agencies; and failure to return the Etim Edem Motor Park to the National Union of Road Transport Workers, which were all part of the MOU.

    He said all efforts to reach the government to resolve the issues had proved abortive.

    “Government has failed to regularize the state payroll.

    “Since October 2016 they employed a consultant to handle payroll and we pointed out that they will not be able to handle the payroll because we already had in place a payroll that was superb and being copied by other states in this federation.

    “Today the state is paying half salaries, distorted salaries, even workers who gain promotion get to earn even lower than what they were earning before, as a result. Also there has been this conflict that the Accountant general’s Office would pay salaries, and in another month, the Office of the Head of Service would pay and this confusion has set it for workers not have their accurate salaries which has brought untold sufferings to the workers.

    “The government should make haste to correct this immediately.

    “SEC also views with dismay the selective payment of imprest to the MDAs. We have said it that no MDA would function properly without imprest and one of the things that would make MDAs work hard and deliver is the imprest, and where there are selective or no payment at all, it therefore means the civil service is gradually grinding to a halt.

    “Also failure to return the Etim Edem Motor Park to the National Union of Road Transport Workers, which is their jurisdictional scope of work is another issue discussed here and SEC has directed that government should without delay release the park to this statutory body, who are the only people recognized by the constitution and labour act to load and offload in a motor park.

    “SEC also wishes to inform the public that all efforts made to reach the government on the resolution stated above have proved abortive. We have done that severally through writing letters to the governor and through many other means without any response and this has led to this point.

    “SEC has given the state government a seven day ultimatum with effect from December 13, 2017 to fully implement the MOU. Failure to this, we shall resume our strike action which was suspended on July 2,” he said.

     

  • NLC wants affordable workers’ houses

    NLC wants affordable workers’ houses

    President of Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC ), Mr Ayuba Wabba, on Tuesday in Abuja called for a realistic housing scheme that would enable workers afford houses in the country.

    Wabba made the call at a two-day public hearing organised by House of Representatives Committee on Housing.

    The hearing was sequel to the adoption of a motion on “the need for stakeholders to ensure full compliance with the National Housing Fund (NHF) Act for effective housing delivery in Nigeria’’.

    “For us to address the issue of housing deficit, we must have an agreeable interest rate that is affordable to citizens and workers, if not the houses will be built and will not be affordable,’’ Wabba said.

    Read also: NLC calls for upward review of pensions

    He called on the Federal Government to intervene by providing the necessary funds required to drive the housing scheme in the country.

    The NLC president, who decried the violation of the NHF Act by some stakeholders, added that failure of commercial banks to contribute to the fund also retarded progress of the scheme.

    “The major issue has been the interest rate on the loan that is now available with our commercial banks.

    “This has been a serious burden and cannot be called a mortgage,’’ he said.

    He expressed worry that Nigerian workers could still not afford the houses in spite of putting in 2.5 per cent of their monthly salaries to have shelter.

    “We actually keyed into the scheme but along the line in 2003 and 2004, we had challenges because the houses were built and workers could not afford them.

    “The type of houses required were not the type built, so hundreds of houses are lying fallow in Abuja because nobody can afford them,’’ Wabba added.

    He stressed the need to take the houses to rural areas to enable workers have access to them.

    NAN

  • NLC calls for upward review of pensions

    NLC calls for upward review of pensions

    President Nigeria Labour Congress, ( NLC ) Comrade Ayuba Wabba has called for an upward review of pension to help minimise economic hardship facing pensioners.

    Wabba said this at the 16th edition of Pensioners Day Celebration in Abuja.

    He said that the review of pension was long overdue, saying Federal and State government had been adhering to the constitutional provision.

    “Section173(3) and 210(3) of the federal republic of Nigeria constitution 1999 (as amended) stipulate that pension be reviewed every five years or together with any increase in workers’ wages.’’

    According to him, it is criminal that federal government pays N4000 as pension to some pension in this hard economy, if we want a better Nigerian than we must be willing to take care of our pensioners and workers.

    “ Our country is so blessed with various resources but it is a pity that we cannot account how it been spent.

    He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for releasing the bailout fund to states to pay pensioners and workers, urging that government monitors and make them accountable on how the money was been spent.

    He said government needs to take care of the security and welfare of its people in other to avert some of the security challenges in the country.

    He appealed to pensioners to support one another, adding that the NLC will continue to show their support and solidarity.

    Executive Secretary of Pension Transitional Administration Directorate, Ms Sharon Ikeazor, said the payroll for pensioners for December was ready and pensioners would get their pension before Christmas.

    “ We got releases to pay six months out of 12 months been owed civil service pension out of the 36 month we have paid six month out of it.

    “ For police pension we paid them one year out of the 33 months and we just have a balance for 12 months for police pensions.

    “Government is making the money available we will pay up,” she said.

    She said the essence of the verification was to make sure pensioners were fully capture so that there would not be need for them to come back again.

    Ikeazor promised that by the first quarter of 2018 the directorate would pay the arrears of the 33 per cent increase.

  • Fuel scarcity, an act of cruelty and sabotage, says NLC

    Fuel scarcity, an act of cruelty and sabotage, says NLC

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described as an act of cruelty and sabotage the current fuel scarcity in the country.

    NLC President, Comrade Aruba Wabba said in a statement in Abuja that the congress also consider the  scarcity as an insult to the collective pride of all good Nigerians as we ought not to be operating at this philistine and pristine level.

    In the statement entitled “Fuel scarcity: No reason is good enough”, the NLC said whatever it takes, the government must take immediate steps to fix this problem within the next few days, adding that even though several reasons have been adduced for the scarcity, no excuse is good enough.

    The statement reads: “The Nigeria Labour Congress condemns the prevailing scarcity of petroleum products across the country leading to avoidable pain and suffering.

    “Diverse reasons have been given for this scarcity but no reason is good enough for the present wave of suffering inflicted on the citizenry via scarcity of petroleum products. We at the Nigeria Labour Congress consider this scarcity as an act of cruelty and sabotage from which a few privileged are benefitting.

    “The timing of this artificial scarcity is not lost on us as it is intended to maximise gain and profit since it is a well-known fact that the Christmas season witnesses the biggest movement of people, goods and services.

    “We also consider this scarcity as an insult to the collective pride of all good Nigerians as we ought not to be operating at this philistine and pristine level. More than ever before, we should get right the business of petroleum products, from the upstream to downstream.

    “We have made the point without number that we have no business importing petroleum products after 60 years of discovering in commercial quantity, crude oil in our shores.

    “Accordingly, we strongly urge government to fix this problem within the next few days, whatever it takes.”