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Tag: salaries

  • Osun spends N5.1b on salaries, pensions

    Osun spends N5.1b on salaries, pensions

    •NLC hails state govt

    THE Osun State government has explained how it disbursed the second tranche of its Paris Club loan refund it received from the Federal Government.

    Addressing reporters yesterday at his office in Osogbo, the state capital, Information Commissioner Adelani Baderinwa said N5,131,680,567.59 was expended on full salaries and pensions up till last month (July) for Levels 1 to 7 workers, being the most vulnerable, “the balance of the full salaries for the remaining workers up till August 2015, and balance of 2015 leave bonus”.

    The state government, in agreement with labour unions in the state, agreed to use the second tranche of the Paris Club loan refund for the payment of salaries and pensions.

    Baderinwa said: “Workers on levels 1 to 7, being the most vulnerable and the largest chunk of the state civil service, have received their full salaries and entitlement up to July, 2017. Likewise, workers on grade levels 8 to 11 comprising of 21,624 workers, showed understanding with the government to accept 75 per cent of their salaries and full leave bonus.

    “It is only workers on grade levels 12 to 17, who receive 50 per cent of salaries and full leave bonus. So far, they have also showed maturity and understanding with the state government. The same formula applies with our pensioners.”

    The commissioner said the payment formula was jointly agreed with the Labour-led Revenue Apportionment Committee, which consists of the labour union leaders and representatives of government, chaired by a veteran Labour leader, Comrade Hassan Sunmonu.

    The Apportionment Committee reviews revenues of government and agrees on how these are apportioned to pay salaries and pensions, he said.

    According to him, this model is unprecedented for governments in Nigeria.

    Also, the Chairman of the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Babatunde Jacob Adekomi, has given the Rauf Aregbesola administration a pass mark for disbursing the Paris Club loan refund well.

    Adekomi spoke on a radio programme monitored at the weekend.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Teachers’ salaries

    •It is crucial to empower local governments to perform their statutory role in a democratic setting

    A coalition of three unions has agreed, in the spirit of compromise, to support local government autonomy proposed by the National Assembly. The unions are:  Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN). This is, however, on the proviso that primary education would not  be under the management of local governments.

    Speaking at a regional Constitution Review Committee of the 1999 Constitution in Lagos on behalf of the teachers, the National President of the NUT, Michael Alogba, said: “We are here to say no to autonomy if primary education will be put under local governments.” Further, he argued for revival of the defunct National Primary Education Council (NPEC), a central agency the union perceived to have been responsive to the needs of teachers: “We are not averse to local government autonomy, but the fact that experience is a great teacher has shown that when primary education was put under local governments, it was suffering galore and we do not want a continuation of that.”

    On his own part, the NULGE president, Ibrahim Khaleel, added: “We are for autonomy, that is why we are here, and when you are talking about visibility of government, the only thing that will make it visible is when finances, administration are free from unnecessary encroachment… So, the NUT is our sister union and there is no ambiguity between their demand and our own. In summary, demands of the coalition of unions of teachers, local government employees, and medical and health workers include putting education on direct funding from the Federation Account, barring which, it must be put under state management.

    Although the union leaders do not see any ambiguity in the positions they have proffered: Yes to local government autonomy, No to placement of primary school education under local government management, we see glaring ambiguity in these positions, particularly in the unions’ conceptualisation of the role of local governments in consolidation of democracy at the grassroots, social development, and national development. Every serious labour union must be sensitive to the capacity of its employer to pay workers’ salaries.  Therefore, the NUT is perfectly within its rights to feel worried about the capacity of local governments to pay teachers’ salaries.

    Admittedly, there were times in the 1990s when local governments in many parts of the country were unable to pay teachers’ salaries as and when due, the period is too short in the nation’s history to serve as sufficient condition for theorising that local governments are essentially unable to manage primary education. In many modern democracies, local governments are in control of primary and secondary education while states do the same for tertiary institutions. Many federal states even do not have universities the way Nigeria does. Germany and the United States are such examples. To demand a situation where federal, state, and local governments manage primary education may lead to more problems than stakeholders of primary education are able to imagine at the present stage in amendments of the 1999 Constitution.

    Certainly, teachers, like other public employees, have been victims of recurrent reform of local governments in the country. The first few years of ‘New Breed’ politicians towards the end of the Babangida regime were years of failure of local government administration in respect of primary school development. Even states in the last two years have defaulted in payment of civil servants’ salaries. Thus, the challenge before the country is not to push for multiplication of sub-national units or critical sectors: education, the military, the police, and other agencies to be funded from the Federation Account. Doing so, or even releasing critical sub-national levels as local governments from performing the crucial role their counterparts in other countries do to advantage may not be the answer.

    The answer is for the country to commit to modern governance in all sectors. What is the significance of having a three-tier governance structure in which the third tier and the closest to the grassroots is released from managing primary public, and regulating private primary education? Citizens need to be involved in provision of public education, particularly pre-primary and primary school education, and there is no more democratic way to do this than to give this charge to local governments.

  • Don’t borrow for states to pay salaries

    *Labour cautions Fed Govt.

    Labour has opposed the Federal Government’s idea to borrow  for states to pay salaries, especially when the governor’s are yet to account for the bailout fund and Paris Club refund.

    President of the United Labour Congress (ULC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, who addressed reporters in Geneva, Switzerland, lamented that many governors have refused to pay workers’ salaries.

    He said it was particularly surprising and sad that after collecting the bailout and money from the Paris club refund, many of them were still unable to pay salaries and pensions.

    He reiterated that borrowing for the states to pay salaries is no solution to the problem.

    Ajaero said: “It is always a sad thing when you keep hearing that workers in the public sector are not being paid, including pensioners who are owed for nine to ten months.

    “Now, you will begin to ask if there are unions in those areas to compel governors to pay workers’ salaries because they create the wealth.

    “Now with the Paris club refund; it is sad that we are still talking about unpaid salaries. Let me say that ULC is worried about it and we were able to push for it in some states. We are committed to partnering the NLC and TUC to see how to move the struggle forward and ensure workers, who work so hard, get their salaries.

    “I don’t think if the Paris club money was given to governors, and it was not judiciously used, the next option is to borrow to give this same people. That will be clearly wrong.

    “ULC is not subscribing to Nigeria taking loan to give to governors to pay workers’ salaries, especially when they have not accounted for the previous money. Even at the sectorial level, the ULC cannot move into any sector if they are not invited because there is demarcation in union practice.”

  • KWASU now a debtor institution, says Pro-Chancellor

    KWASU now a debtor institution, says Pro-Chancellor

    Alhaji Saidu Isa, Pro-Chancellor, Kwara State University (KWASU), has said that the university has assumed the status of a debtor institution following its recent financial constraints.

    Isa made the statement on Saturday in Malete, Ilorin, during the 5th convocation ceremony of the university.

    He said that the university had in the last two years, depended on its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to pay staff salaries and offset some recurrent expenditure.

    The Pro-Chancellor, who is also the Chairman of the university`s council, appealed to the state government to revert to status quo by giving monthly subvention to the university to augment its IGR.

    ”This is because our IGR has been overstretched beyond capacity and it is now difficult to pay salaries.

    ”The management, having found no alternative, has resorted to going cap-in-hand to borrow from banks in other to meet some obligations,’’ he said.

    Isa disclosed that the loans so far taken by management was close to one billion naira and was essentially used to pay salaries.

    He said there were some critical teaching and research related facilities that were lacking in the university but could not be provided due to funding difficulties.

    In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abdulrasheed Na’Allah, while corroborating Isa’s submission on financial constraints, said that payment of staff salaries had become a luxury rather than a right.

    He appealed to individuals, philanthropists and business organisations to support the university through donations to alleviate its financial constraint.

    ”Overcoming these challenges is critical to the attainment of our envisioned loftier heights and will serve as catalyst for the growth and development of our dear community, state and the country,” he said.

    The VC advised the grandaunts to distinguish themselves by building on the entrepreneurial skills acquired during their course of study in the university.

    ”As a KWASU graduate, you have no business giving your CV’s to families, friends and organisations in search of a job.

    ”Through the entrepreneurial skills you have acquired, strategically position yourself in the business world through branding and quest for business excellence.

    ”And do not forget the spirit of community service already instilled in you,” Na’Allah stressed.

    In his remark, Gov. Abdulfatah Ahmed represented by the Commissioner for Education, Musa Yeketi, reiterated his administration’s commitment to harness the full potentials in agriculture to unlock desired development.

    The governor challenged the academia to deploy its researches towards designing required machines to process raw materials that were being wasted yearly into finished products.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a total of 989 students graduated from six colleges.

    Thirty-one of them had First Class, 496 Second Class Upper Division, 376 Second Class Lower Division while 84 had Third Class.

    Adeniyi Aderounmu was the best graduating student with a CPGA of 3.90. (NAN)

  • Cameroonian soldiers block highway, demand salary payment

    No fewer than fifty armed Cameroonian soldiers demanding unpaid salaries briefly blocked off a major highway in the north of Cameroon on Sunday morning, an army source and the government said.

    The soldiers, who were at the end of a tour near the border with Chad in Cameroon’s Far North region, demanded two years’ worth of salaries and expenses that they said they were owed.

    “Soldiers from the air force…took up arms against the advice of their military hierarchy and blocked national route 1 after dismantling their posts at the frontier,” said an army source in the regional capital of Maroua.

    The source said soldiers returned to barracks later on Sunday after discussions took place with army generals, said the army source.

    It was not clear how much money the soldiers demanded.

    Soldiers in northern Cameroon operate in one of the region’s most dangerous areas.

    Suicide attacks carried out by Boko Haram have become less frequent this year due to military successes against the militants, the threat remains.

    Boko Haram killed nine soldiers in Chad last month.

    A government spokesman declined to comment on the amount of the salaries or if they will be paid. He said that negotiations with the soldiers will be led by the Defence Minister, who is currently out of the country.

    “The agitation has been quickly curbed and calm reigns,” he said. (Reuters/NAN)

  • Governors resolve to pay salaries, pension arrears

    Governors resolve to pay salaries, pension arrears

    The 36 state governors have some good news for pensioners in their states.

    The states chief executives have resolved to clear the backlog of salaries and pensions once they receive the next tranche of the Paris-London Club loan refunds.

    The decision was taken at a meeting hosted on Thursday night by the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar.

    Yari is the Governor of Zamfara State.

    The governors met in anticipation of the release of the other half of the Paris-London Club refund.

    The funds are expected to be paid into the accounts of the state governments within the month.

    Pensioners in many of the states are owed a backlog of gratuities and pensions.

    Many pensioners are said to have died of hunger arising from the non-payment of their entitlements for months.

    The governors at the Thursday meeting were understood to have deliberated on the matter and concluded that in order to set the country on the path of growth, something immediate should be done to ameliorate workers’ plight by offsetting the backlog of their pay and emoluments.

    “We all agreed that a substantial amount from the next tranche of the Paris-London refunds be used in the settlement of workers salary and pension arrears,” Abubakar said.

    Of the N522.74 billion owed the states, N388.304 was paid to them last December.

    Similarly, the governors committed to the verification of the input of all the consultants involved in the harmonization of the refunds due to each state, since 2005 when the demand for the refunds commenced.

    At the moment, there are litigations from more than 10 different consultants still agitating for settlement for their roles in the quest to have the refunds made to states.

    The forum set up a committee headed by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State to review the consultants issue and provide a solution to the demands by the consultants on the Paris-London Club refunds to states.

    Other members of the committee are Governors Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi); Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (Sokoto); Simon Lalong (Plateau); Seriaki Dickson (Bayelsa); Nyesom Wike (Rivers); and Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe) who is a former Accountant General of the Federation.

    The forum also resolved to work harmoniously in a manner that would transcend all political affiliations so that all governors would speak with one voice on issues of national importance.

    To achieve this, a committee made up of the Governors of Imo, Bayelsa, Abia, Ekiti, Kano, Nasarawa and Bauchi was constituted to work for the “reconciliation of the forum and the betterment of the country.”

    The forum split into two in 2013 following interference in the election of the chairman of the body by the then Jonathan administration.

    The government was not comfortable with the re-election of the then Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who was at loggerheads with President Jonathan.

    The government instead backed and recognised ex-Plateau Governor Jonah Jang as chairman of the body despite the fact that he got the support of only 16 of his colleagues as against the 19 for Amaechi.

  • FG to release N10bn for arrears of civil servants’ salaries, allowances

    FG to release N10bn for arrears of civil servants’ salaries, allowances

    Federal civil servants may soon have cause to smile as the Federal Government has assured that it will soon release the sum of N10 billion for the settlement of unpaid salary arrears and allowances of public servants in the country.

    Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, gave the assurance after a meeting with the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udo Udoma, Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita.

    Ngige said the meeting was part of the efforts of the Federal Government to clear all arrears such as outstanding allowances on promotion, twenty-eight days relocation, repatriation, training, burial expenses and death benefits to public servants.

    He said that government’s decision was anchored on a clear understanding that clearing these arrears forms part of the palliative measures being taken to cushion the harsh economic realities on public servants.

    He said further that the meeting was in furtherance to the directive of the Federal Executive Council held on May 24, 2017, adding that since the Federal Executive Council decision, the office of the Accountant General of the Federation was already processing the sum of N10 billion for the payment of promotion arrears with modalities for payment being worked out to make sure that wrong persons are not paid this first olive-waving step of the Federal Government.

    He also said that a disbursement of the sum of N14.6 billion had earlier been done in early 2017 to take care of the salary arrears arising from the shortfalls in the 2016 budget.

    Also in today’s meeting were the Director General of the Budget Office, Mr. Ben Akabuze; Mrs. Batagarawa, the Permanent Secretary in the Office of Head of Service who represented Mrs. Oyo-Ita; and the representative of the Minister of Finance

    The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria had earlier issued a 14-day strike notice on the Federal Government over the issue. The ultimatum ended on May 30, 2017.

    The Minister of Labour and Employment has been engaged in marathon meetings with the leadership of the Trade Union Congress led by its President, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama and the Nigerian Labour Congress led by its President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, in the last one week on the issue.

  • LAUTECH hospital workers protest unpaid salaries

    LAUTECH hospital workers protest unpaid salaries

    The workers of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, at the weekend protested unpaid salary.

    They said they were last paid in January last year.

    The workers, who caused gridlock, carried placards with inscriptions, such as: “LAUTECH workers dying of hunger”, “Enough is enough since 2016”, “Ajimobi don’t wait for God’s wrath”, “Ajimobi please pay our salaries in full”, etc.

    Addressing reporters, the Secretary of Unions LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Lawal Abiodun, said the problem began in January last year, adding that it was borne out of the government’s stance that LAUTECH was an educational institution that could generate fund internally from students’ tuition fees.

    He said the unions made the government to understand that the students paid into the school’s coffers.

    Lawal said: “LAUTECH Teaching Hospital (LTH), Ogbomoso has been wrongly classified by the Oyo State government as one of the tertiary institutions that has students from whom the institution collects tuition fees. LTH does not collect fees from LAUTECH students, who use the hospital for their clinical training. They pay their fees to the university. Hence LTH Ogbomoso cannot generate revenue from the students.

    “As a result, the government since January last year has not paid the workers’ salaries, but subvention, which is not paid in full. This has made the institution to pay workers half salaries, making life difficult for them.

    “During our last visit to Health Commissioner Dr. Azeez Adeduntan, he said Governor Abiola Ajimobi agreed to pay our 100 per cent salaries and promised to raise a memo in that respect, but since, the memo has not been written.”

    He said LAUTECH hospital has lost consultants and nurses to other hospitals that are well-funded, adding that this is tantamount to imminent collapse of the hospital.

    Lawal said to save the hospital from collapse, workers’ full salaries must be paid.

    Efforts made last night to reach Dr. Adeduntan for his reaction were fruitless, as his lines were unreachable.

  • Doctors and planned harmonisation of health workers’ salaries

    SIR: Ordinarily, the Association of Hospital and Administrative Pharmacists of Nigeria (AHAPN) does not delight in joining issues with sister associations in the healthcare sector just for the fun of it.

    It is imperative to make it known to the public that the Nigerian Medical Doctors are responsible for the rot in our healthcare delivery system. Her members who are the Chief Medical Directors/MDs are the major instruments of decadence as they encourage corrupt practices, frank embezzlement and misappropriation of the funds made available for our healthcare system. The recent discoveries of misappropriation and outright theft of the funds made available by GAVI Foundation is a pointer to this.

    Healthcare delivery worldwide is a collaborative process, with the patient as the centre of attraction. Every professional has a role to play to ensure optimum patient care. There is nothing fantastic about Nigeria’s healthcare sector today under the leadership by coercion of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).  It is an open secret that our healthcare sector is in shambles today, due largely to undue territoriality that is the hallmark of Nigerian doctors as against the need to strengthen professionalism.

    In developed societies, every health professional has a defined role to play in the delivery of healthcare. The medical doctor by virtue of his training makes a diagnosis, the pharmacist makes drugs available following the principle of rational drug therapy and pharmaceutical care, the medical laboratory scientist works hard to ensure laboratory tests are carried out to aid diagnosis. There is also a role for dieticians, physiotherapists and others, all collaborating for optimum patient care and better patient outcomes, in line with international best practice.

    The Nigerian medical doctors and especially the NMA have an over bloated ego about their importance, yet the Nigerian healthcare system is near comatose. Elsewhere in the world, including African countries, all healthcare workers are accorded their due respect by all. Just recently in Ghana, their medical association called out doctors on strike to protest whatever; the Ghanaian government gave them a deadline to resume work or be replaced with Asian trained doctors. Of course the doctors capitulated and went back to work without having their demands met. Were it to be in Nigeria, such issue would have been handled with kid’s glove.

    It is high time the Nigerian government called the bluff of NMA, which has continued to abuse the privileges accorded her over the years with impunity. The rest of the world is forging ahead to render excellent medical practice and the NMA had better wake up from her slumber or be left behind. Elsewhere in the world, especially in advanced climes where health indices are very near ideal like in the USA, Canada, Scandinavian countries, and even in Burundi here in Africa, consultant nurse prescribers and consultant clinical pharmacist prescribers are the order of the day.

    We at AHAPN are in support of the planned harmonization of healthcare workers’ salaries. This harmonization should be based on the outcome of a Job Evaluation Committee Report of 2008 by the Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Labour, and National Salaries Income and Wages Commission. We strongly believe that this will be one sure panacea for peace in the healthcare sector in Nigeria. Professionals should be remunerated based on actual input to patient care and not by how much noise is made by their parent bodies. The Federal Government should go a step further and rotate headship of the Federal Ministry of Health and federal tertiary health institutions among all qualified professionals in the health sector. This will engender healthy competition among the healthcare team for the overall good of Nigerian patients. Enough is enough.

     

    • Pharm. Martins Oyewole (National Chairman, AHAPN) &

    Pharm. Jelili Kilani  National Secretary, AHAPN

  • ‘Kwara not owing pensions, salaries’

    ‘Kwara not owing pensions, salaries’

    Kwara State is not owing  pensions and salaries, despite the economic situation in the country, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication to Kwara State Governor, Dr. Muyideen Oluwakorede, has said.

    In an interview with reporters, he said the governor was able to achieve this through the reform of the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state.

    According to him, the governor was also able to reduce the cost of governance from about 40 per cent to 30 per cent.

    He said contrary to reports in a newspaper (not The Nation) that the state is owing 11 months’ salaries and pensions, the state does not have any pension or salary arrears.

    He said the only area where there are arrears is with the local government workers and pensioners.

    He said the local government is also not owing 11 months as speculated but only has various degrees of arrears of one and half months, three or six months depending on the IGR capacity and the allocation.

    He further explained that the local government is a different tier of government and in Kwara  autonomous.

    The governor’s aide said: “The state government is not owing any salary or pension. Except for local government situation, which is a different tier of government and with special regards to the case of Kwara State is autonomous. Their funds by law comes through the state and are allocated publicly by law by a body comprising the chairmen of the local government, their treasurers and the state commissioner for finance.

    “The local governments are not even owing 11 months as claimed. What we have is various degrees of arrears. Suffice to say that local government allocations have drop from about N2.7 billion on average to about N1.6 billion this month.

    ‘’Meanwhile, the local government council requires N2.1 billion to pay primary school and junior secondary school workers and pensioners, needless say running governance. So by their own decision they pay a proportion that a particular month covers and this has nothing to do with Kwara state government. This is just a situation with regards to the drop in allocation to all tiers of government in the country.

    “Despite the drop in allocation, the governor has often times come to the aid of the local governments by augmenting their allocation. The last one was to the tune of N280 million. But this funds has to be appropriated in the budget. Otherwise, the governor’s hands are tied to the extent that he cannot help the local government. The local government cannot be blame and it is not that we are making a case for them to owe. But if we look at it from the perspective of somebody that is to get N2.7 billion naira allocation and has now drop to N1.4 billion and they require 2.1 to be able to meet their financial obligation, such person will certainly have challenges in meeting with obligations.”

    Akorede noted that the problem of the local government also has to do with the fact that they are unable to generate enough revenue  to operate, pay salaries and pensions, including arrears.

    He however said the problem was not peculiar to the state local governments but also to others in the country.

    Oluwakorede  added that the basic issue affecting the councils was the significant drop in allocations, saying that not all local government were viable enough to create revenue to fund their operations.