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Tag: NLC

  • Furore over hike in imported vehicle tariff

    Furore over hike in imported vehicle tariff

    To the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), the policy will bring more pains. John Ofikhenua and Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie report

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday lampooned the Federal Government for increasing the tariff on imported vehicles without providing a feasible alternative. Besides, the Congress also criticised President Goodluck Jonathan for what it calls shielding the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah over the two N225 million armoured vehicles .

    According to NLC, her ‘protection’, by the Presidency indicated that the present administration’s battle against corruption is a sham.

    NLC President Comrade Abdulwahed Omar, at the union’s ongoing 12th Harmattan School 2013,in Kaduna the Federal  Government of initiating policies  capable of inflicting pains on the working people the National Automobile Policy by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, last month, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for reeled out new tariff on imported vehicles, which raised the charges by about 70 per cent effective from January 2014.

    Omar, said coming the announcement of the new tariff a few weeks to the commencement of its implementation further confirmed people’s fear that Dr. Okonjo-Iwela the Minister of Finance was merely implementing the International Menetary Fund (IMF) programme in the country.

    According to him, raising tariffs without providing an alternative would to leave the people at the mercy of unscrupulous car dealers who would exploit the situation to create artificial scarcity with its attendant effects on transportation.

    “It is lamentable that the Federal Government has again come up with a programme that has the tendency to inflict pains on the working people in Nigeria. We were told that Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance has announced a new tariff regime that raises the charges on imported vehicles by 70 per cent.

    “While NLC is not opposed to new policy, we hold that coming up with a new tariff barely few weeks to its implementation without viable alternative is not proper. In the least, it would just leave Nigerian people under the grips of some unscrupulous dealers who would lash on the new tariff to create artificial scarcity,” he stated. On Oduahgate, Omar lambasted President Jonathan for treating her case with a kid glove, stressing that the way he took the minister on a business deal abroad when corruption charges were dangling on her head was capable of presenting Nigeria a as laughing stock before the international community.

    According to him, the President would have summoned the needed political will to drop the minister to clear her name rather than giving the international community the body language that the country condoned graft. He noted that the organized labour would continue to insist on transparency and fight for the goods of the masses, even if it would mean confronting the Federal Government.

    Also, the Federal Government has drawn flaks from the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) on the recent increase on tariff on imported cars. NACCIMA president, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, said the policy is harsh and most likely not well thought out as it negates growth. He told The Nation that the released levies payable on imported new and used vehicles as well as imported new tyres from 20 to 70 per cent is anti-progressive with no indices to back it up.

    In a related development, dealers of imported cars also estimated that the increase would translate into an increase of 75 per cent on imported cars which may make sales difficult and consequently endanger the business. Abubakar advised government to graduate the levy yearly in order not to kill private enterprises. He wondered why government is in such a hurry to increase tariff on imported cars when no industry is known to produce cars locally. He said: “Government should graduate the levy gradually, may be yearly and also go further to put in place policies to revitalize ailing industries before crippling the sectoral growth with the ill-thought-out policy.” He warned that the policy will not only endanger the sector but will also heighten the unemployment level in the country currently.

  • ‘Africans should re-examine relations with China’

    ‘Africans should re-examine relations with China’

    African labour unions have urged governments on the continent to re-examine their relationship with China, accusing it of unfair dealings in tapping the continent’s resources.

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the Trade Union Congress, Ghana (TUC-Ghana) spoke in Abuja where they brainstormed on issues affecting Africans.

    A communiqué signed by the First Deputy President of COSATU,Tyotyo James; President of NLC,Abdulwahed Ibrahim Omar and Secretary-General ,TUC (Ghana), Kofi Asamoawa, also urged governments to create a roadmap for the reindustrialisation in the continent.

    It said: “Africa should re-examine its relationship with China as China is not interested in Africa’s industrialisation but only in its raw materials to drive China’s industrialisation.

    “Industrialisation is an agenda that the people of Africa must pursue and that Africa must develop in order not to remain a market for goods and services from industrialised nations.”

    It added that women and youth structures must be accommodated in the unions, constitutions, saying there must be deliberate policies to address their issues.

  • TUC, FMBN partner on 3.5m housing scheme

    The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has said it will partner and work with Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) on the National Housing Fund (NHF) for the provision of minimum of 3.5 million housing units of various ranges for workers in the next 15 years. This will also be in collaboration with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). The housing scheme has the necessary infractructure.

    In a communiqué signed by the TUC National President, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama, after its National Executive Council (NEC) in Kaduna, the Congress said good and affordable shelter is a critical issue of major interest to workers, adding that there was need to provide good shelter for every worker.

    The TUC decried the situation where many workers who religiously contributed to previous housing schemes of the Federal Government did not get the houses or any refund of their contributions. The Congress was particularly bitter by the fact that most records of such contributions were not properly kept by the project operators which include both the federal and state governments.

    TUC lamented the high-cost of the houses which made the houses to be essentially beyond the reach of the average worker.

    TUC said it will give the FMBN a trial period of one year to show substantial commitment to the project, threatening to back out of the project should the bank show any sign of unseriousness.

    “That the TUC and NLC must be fully carried along from start to finish of the project. That is, from conceptualisation to planning, costing, building supervision and allocation of the houses. To this end, the TUC insists that the labour centres must be duly represented in the boards of the FMBN, NHF and other relevant bodies involved in housing projects for workers.

    “FMBN must render monthly progress reports on the project to the two labour centres and ensure that all pre-existing, present and future records of NHF contributions made by workers are duly updated and made readily and easily accessible to the contributors,” the communique read in part.

    It added that full refund of contributions plus accrued interest thereon shall be immediately made to workers who were wrongfully denied the houses under previous schemes.

    The communique noted: “That relevant portions of the law be reviewed to compel employers to be more transparent and accountable to their workers on matters relating to remission of contributions to the NHF on behalf of the workers as and when due.”

  • NLC seeks support for Western Sahara

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said position of the Federal Government on Western Sahara among the comity of nations will be a major turning point for the liberation of Africa’s last colony.

    To his end, it is organising an African conference for solidarity with the people of Western Sahara the last colony in Africa, under the theme: Liberation Western Sahara, ending colonialism in Africa.

    In a statement by its Acting General Secretary, Comrade Chris Uyot, it said since the government has applauded Nigeria’s position on the status of Western Sahara, saying it will not fail in the tradition of supporting liberation struggles in Africa.

    “The NLC in keeping with the tradition of Africa as the centre-piece of Nigeria`s foreign policy objective, and in line with the congress’ tradition of supporting liberation struggles in Africa and across the world, is organising an African conference for solidarity with the people of Western Sahara the last colony in Africa.

    “Participants from all over the world, have confirmed their attendance among which are international scholars, international members of parliament, international civil society organisations and the international media houses,”he added.

    According to Uyot, the conflict started when Morocco invaded Western Sahara in October 1975, after the withdrawal of Spain colonial power, thereby preventing the Saharawi people from enjoying the legitimate right of self-determination guaranteed in all international laws and UN charter.

    “And since 1991, the Organisation of African Unity (AU now) and the UN reached a cease-fire and a peace settlement agreement in which a referendum should be organised to enable the Saharawi people decide their future, but Morocco backed by a UN security Council member France, blocked the path all along these years,” he said.

     

     

     

     

     

  • NLC alleges underpayment of PHCN workers’ benefits

    NLC alleges underpayment of PHCN workers’ benefits

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC )yesterday alleged that the Federal Government in its calculation of the pension benefits for the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) refused to include June 2012 last year to this month.

    NLC said: “The regularisation of the casual staff to enable them access terminal benefits still remains an issue. The present pension liabilities as calculated by government fail to take into consideration the period from June 2012 to October 2013.”

    It added that NEC-In-Session observed that the handing over of power plants to their new owners by government was done without first sorting out the labour issues inherent in the transaction and therefore constitutes a contravention of an agreement.

    The congress explained that the “ government is yet to deal with the issues of severance pay, just as it has not dealt with appropriate pension liabilities. Similarly, it is yet to give workers the opportunity to buy 10 per cent equity in the new companies as enshrined in the NCP Act.

    “NEC advises that for government’s power reform programme to be on course, it needs to deal fairly and transparently with workers. This is necessary to avoid an unpleasant consequence.”

    In a communique from its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Kaduna, the congress asked the Federal Government to immediately probe the Minister of Aviation, Mrs Stella Oduah over the alleged purchase of two bullet proof vehicles for N255million.

    Its President Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar and Acting General Secretary, Comrade Chris Uyot, in the communique, said the NLC has the capacity to mobilise its members to protest against the Federal Government over the prolonged Academic Staff Union of Univeristies (ASUU) strike.

    Omar and Uyot therefore advised the government not to test its capacity for a protest.

  • NLC  to IGP: Call Rivers Police chief to order

    NLC  to IGP: Call Rivers Police chief to order

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have urged the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, to call the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu, to order over the tear-gassing and brutalisation of new teachers in Port Harcourt.

    The teachers gathered at the instance of the State’s Universal Basic Education (UBE) Board to receive their letters of posting.

    In a statement by its Acting General Secretary, Comrade Chris Uyot, the NLC  said the call by the Congress is necessary as the the conduct of the police was unnecessary, shameful, ill-advised, contemptuous, illegal and a throw-back to the missioner to order to protest the tear-gassing and brutalisation in Port Harcourt of newly-recruited teachers in Rivers State.”

    “We are inclined to believe Mr. Joseph Mbu, the State Commissioner of Police, who directed this heinous attack was not acting at your behest because we recall you came into office with a new code of conduct which Nigerians applauded.

    “We also demand the posting of Mr. Joseph Mbu out of Rivers State for free and unfettered investigation but especially for his excesses, and his inability to inspire confidence in the contending parties in the state.”

    The labour leader however said: “Need we remind overzealous, blood-thirsty and sycophantic officers like Mbu that we are old enough as a nation and sufficiently experienced as citizens of this country to know that it does little good when an officer of his rank compromises his institution or code of conduct in order to appease insular and selfish motives”.

    Also  the Secretary General of the TUC , Comrade Musa Lawal  said the anti-workers’ activities of the police over the Obio/Akpor Local Government Secretariat in Rivers has resulted in work stoppage and non-payment of workers salary for three months, inflicting untoward suffering to working families whose bread winners work in the local government.

     

     

     

  • Don’t shut down education, NLC tells Fed Govt

    Don’t shut down education, NLC tells Fed Govt

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to tackle the crises in the education sector to prevent a shutdown of the sector.

    NLC President, Abdulwahed Omar, in a statement, titled: Do Not Allow Education Sector To Shut Down, urged the President to confront the issues threatening the Education sector.

    The statement reads: “We urge Mr President to muster all the necessary will and skill to confront the issues that threaten this vital sector.

    “As President of the country, he has the onerous task of rising up to the challenge of restoring normalcy to the sector, whether the issues are political – as he has made the nation to believe – or are purely industrial.”

    The umbrella labour union noted that the threat of a shutdown deserved the urgency and mobilisation Dr Jonathan could muster.

    The NLC said the challenges in the Education sector were symptomatic of greater ills in the polity.

    The congress recalled that the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), for instance, was in its fourth month and had almost disrupted an academic session with collateral consequences.

    It added that the other leading unions in the Education sector – the Non-Academic Staff Union of Academic Institutions (NASU), the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) National Association of Academic Technologies (NAAT) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) – have threatened to go on strike in the next few days, except their demands were met.

    The NLC president noted that the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) had signalled its readiness to embark on a solidarity strike, if the government failed to resolve, within two weeks, its contentious agreement with ASUU.

    The statement reads: “Most of these demands, if not all, are not new, but are subsisting agreements which the government is expected to honour. Some of these agreements border on salaries, which the government has agreed to pay but has elected to observe in the breach instead. For example, the SSANU, whose members are being owed for over three months.

    “The avoidable strike by ASUU has caused enough disruption or damage to the sector. The implications for the polity are grave and should be avoided, at least for the sake of our children.

    “We also urge Mr President to discountenance the impression that the strikes against his government are politically-motivated, as nothing could be farther from the truth. Those who pursue this line of thinking are those who do not wish Mr President well. Rather than tell him the truth, they prefer to indulge in sycophancy, hypocrisy and boot-licking because it serves their personal motives.”

  • Jonathan vows to resolve labour disputes

    Jonathan vows to resolve labour disputes

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday promised to take measures that will permanently prevent labour disputes and strike actions in health and education sectors.
    A statement issued by his media aide, Dr. Reuben Abati, said the President made the promise while receiving a delegation from the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) led by its President, Dr. Osahon Enabulele.
    President Jonathan said that he will do all within his powers to positively resolve all issues that currently lead to labour disputes and strikes in both sectors because of the great importance his administration attaches to the medical and educational sectors.
    He said: “I believe that we must manage both sectors in such a way that nobody engaged in them will think of going on strike again.
    “We will continue to proactively evolve measures that will help us to permanently overcome the problems that lead to strikes by health and education professionals.”
    To facilitate rapid establishment of more centres of medical excellence in the country, President Goodluck Jonathan also pledged that the Federal Government will fully explore the option of creating a special intervention fund for that purpose.
    According to him, the recommendation of a special fund that will give low interest loans for the establishment of state-of-the-art medical facilities is a creative idea that will receive appropriate consideration from the government.
    He said: “We are committed to working with professionals and the private sector to establish better medical facilities in the country and reduce the number of Nigerians who have to go abroad annually for medical reasons.”
    Jonathan also assured Dr. Enabulele and other members of the NMA delegation that his administration will take all necessary action to ensure that the right conditions are created for Nigerian medical professionals to stay at home and avail Nigerians of their acknowledged skills and expertise instead of migrating to other countries.
  • NLC v. The people

    NLC v. The people

    It is difficult not to reckon with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) which claims to represent and protect, the interests of the toiling masses of the country. But when it appears that the NLC stands against those same interests on a fundamental issue that is at the foundation of the misery of the people, then it goes without saying that the original claim of effective and selfless representation needs a re-examination.

    It is certainly not unusual for there to be a misreading of the mood of the base by the leadership of an organisation leading to a misjudgment of the desires of the former by the latter. That scenario is the reason for the not so uncommon cases of mass revolt against the leadership. If you claim to be my leader and you don’t even understand what I want according to my best judgment of my interest, then you have no business leading me because you cannot represent my interests effectively. And what you cannot represent, you cannot protect.

    The widely reported unguarded attack by the Vice President of the NLC, Mr. Isaa Aremu against proponents of Sovereign National Conference (SNC) is not only misguided, it is misinformed. It is misguided by reason of its clear aversion to the expressed interests of the working class that Labour represents.

    Let us start with a common denominator and tease out the variations. Majority of the working class in this country have taken sides with the proponents of the convocation of a national conference, by whatever name it is called, that addresses the structural imbalances in this country because they are wise enough to know that those imbalances create serious bottlenecks in the effective delivery of the proverbial dividends of democracy.

    Consider just one item. For a long time, power has been on the exclusive list of the Federal Government. States, local governments, or private companies have no effective participation in the generation and/or distribution of power and energy. But of course, the Federal Government has been grossly incompetent in the discharge of that constitutional responsibility. Despite this, it has guarded jealously that exclusivity until recently. But we know that because of this constitutional debacle, the promise of industrial development cannot be fulfilled, leading to the misery of the toiling masses. Is it unconstitutional, as Mr. Aremu would have us believe, to seek a discussion around the kind of issues that should be the preserve of the Federal Government versus other jurisdictions? If the answer is “no”, as I am sure it is, isn’t this what the proposal for a national conference is about? And shouldn’t the NLC, as the purported representative of the working people, be in the forefront of confronting this issue?

    The media report that is available to me suggests that Mr. Aremu made his remarks when he spoke with journalists on Tuesday. I assume then that he made off-the cuff remarks. If so, one can probably excuse the incoherent nature of his declarations. What strikes me from the report that I have, however, is that there is not one reference to the interests of the working people as a reason for the position of the NLC. Mr. Aremu rested his position on several factors, not one of which touches on the misery of the people that the NLC represents. Surely, the NLC has the right to take a philosophical or ideological stand on issues, but every such philosophy or ideology must be anchored in the interest of workers.

    Now, what are the philosophical and ideological grounds of the attack of the NLC on the proponents of a national conference?

    The Labour leader put together a mixed bag of ideas in support or defence of his position. Unfortunately, it seems to me that the ideas are ill-informed. First, Mr. Aremu argues that an SNC is diversionary and unconstitutional because Nigeria has elected representatives and therefore it would be unlawful to convoke an SNC. Nobody should shortchange the system midway, he added. I dealt with this kind of argument in my comments on Senator Mark’s first position in the column titled: “Mark this logic.”

    The major issue is that this type of argument simply begs the question. Proponents of an SNC are aware that there is a constitution. They are, however, convinced that the constitution is not timeless and can be revisited to better serve the interest of the people. Constitutions are made for citizens; citizens are not made for constitutions. SNC is an attempt to remake the constitution. Therefore, the existence of a constitution cannot validly be used as an argument against SNC. And as Senate President Mark finally realised, a national conference “can find accommodation in the extant provisions of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression and association.’

    The Labour leader suggested that Nigeria is not a debating society and that Nigeria should be functional while the citizens should stop agonising. I really don’t know what this means! It is certainly not a well-considered statement even in the category of an off-the-cuff remark. If Nigeria should be functional and it is not, as even the NLC would admit, since it is not tired of leading protest rallies on a regular basis.And if there is a prospect of ending the dysfunction inherent in the system that we inherited from military unitarists and their hegemonist collaborators, what does rationality recommend?

    SNC promises to be that last hope to fix the national dysfunction. It provides an avenue for us to “organise our thoughts to make the country work” as the Labour leader recommends. And on a point of correction, nobody, not any one of the leaders or members of the various organisations proposing a national conference, has suggested that Nigeria is too big. I am not, therefore, sure what the basis is for the NLC argument that “it is wrong to say that Nigeria is too big.’

    From a globalist’s perspective, the NLC is against SNC because “SNC is no longer a global trend” and “all ethnic sentiments should be divorced from Nigeria’s national life” because “globally, the use of ethnic nationalities is no longer fashionable.” These are philosophical positions bolstered by reference to global trends. In other worlds, Nigeria should follow the trend. Of course, he is not concerned about what happened to Yugoslavia, or to the Soviet Union, or what is happening in Scotland.

    Let us assume that multinational state is the global trend. It could be a slippery slope. Do we want to suggest that whatever is the global trend is what we should follow?When it suits our self-interests we are quick to suggest that we should domesticate democracy to fit the cultures of our peoples. But those cultures are not abstract; they do not fall from the sky. They are specific to particular domains and arenothing more than an articulated mix of languages, religions and customs. We recognise them in our original national anthem. But now, if we are to follow the ideologically moderated stance of the NLC, “how can language and ethnic identity remain an issue for us?”

    This last rhetorical question posed by the Labour leaders goes to the heart of the matter and we cannot dismiss it lightly. But what is being ignored is that we had a chance to deal with this issue in the various conferences prior to Independence and we opted for a true federal system that gives recognition to the diversity of language and culture. And we know that it was the military who truncated our Republican constitution that also dealt a fatal blow to the agreements that we thought should serve us well as a nation united in diversity. An SNC would allow us to readdress the issues and take back the autonomy the military arrogated to itself.

    Genuinely frustrated that Nigerians are not embracing the global trend, and are still divided by language and ethnicity, the Labour leader made glowing reference to the United States of America where, from his perspective, the historic election of the first African American president ended all divisions and dissentions: “The day an African-African became the president of the most powerful nation in the world, the United States, colour had ceased to be an issue.” Really? Q.E.D.

  • NLC gets knocks for ‘opposing’ confab

    ne-time labour leader in Anambra State and author, Mr. Polycarp Onwubiko, has slammed the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for allegedly opposing the convocation of a national conference.

    He accused the NLC leadership of advocating what he called incremental federalism.

    Onwubiko said yesterday in Awka in a statement that NLC hinged its opposition on the grounds that national conference would lead to the balkanisation of the country.

    He described the labour leadership’s call as thoughtless and naïve.

    He said the call for the convocation of a national conference began after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election by the regime of Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.

    Onwubiko said it was bad that the national conference, which was conceptualised to bring together at a roundtable the ethnic nationalities, who were never consulted when the colonial masters amalgamated the Southern and Northern protectorates in 1914, had been prevented from taking off over the years.

    The social commentator gave insight into how governments had frustrated the convocation of a national conference.

    He said: “The 1960 Federal Constitution, which guaranteed a measure of autonomy for the regional governments (now state governments), was opted for by the nationalists to assuage the bitterness of some disparate ethnic nationalities and allow them to progress at their pace.