The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Saraki

  • 2019: Saraki urges Christians to pray for Nigeria

    Senate President Bukola Saraki yesterday asked Christians in Nigeria to pray earnestly for a hitch-free 2019 elections. He also charged to intensify their prayers for the peace, unity and restoration of the country’s glory. Saraki noted that Nigeria was passing through a turbulent period. He said this in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital at an end of year programme he organized to felicitate with the Christian community in the state.

    The programme included the distribution of food items to Christian men and women selected from across the state. About 2000 women, widows and men benefitted from the programme which was attended by many religious leaders. The Senate president who was represented by his Deputy Chief of Staff,  Gbenga  Makanjuola, expressed gratitude for the support he has so far received from the Christian community and requested for their continued association.

    He added that “we know what is happening in Nigeria today, we need peace because that is the first thing before any other thing. We plead with our fathers and mothers to continue to pray for Nigeria, that God will restore the glory of Nigeria. By the grace of God this is the beginning of good things to come to you. The Senate president appreciates the Christian community in Kwara state. I am not here to make sweet talks but all the points you raised will be looked into and there is none of the requests that won’t be attended to,” he said.

  • Shagari: Saraki leads Senate delegation to Sokoto tomorrow

    PRESIDENT of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki will tomorrow lead a delegation of the Senate to Sokoto, to condole with the family of Alhaji Shehu Shagari who died in Abuja at the weekend.

    In a statement in Ilorin by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki said described Shagari as a nationalist and the last of the Nigerian titans who directed the affairs of the country in its teething days in the First and Second Republics.

    The statement said, “The Senate President will be at the head of a delegation that will visit Sokoto not only to commiserate with the family of the late nationalist but with the people of Sokoto State and the entire country because the late Alhaji Shagari represented so many good pages in the history book of our dear country.

    “At the most critical times in the life of the nation, Alhaji Shagari was there as part of the group directing the affairs. He was part of the people who won independence from the colonialists, proved that Nigerians could direct the affairs of their country, saved Nigeria from disintegration when the unity of the country was threatened and was the pioneer elected President of Nigeria when the nation first experimented with the presidential system of government.

    “Even in his retirement from politics, he silently worked for the unity and progress of Nigeria. Alhaji Shagari was a genuine democrat. He had been a stabilizing factor in Nigeria. He deserves a special honour from all Nigerians. Both the Federal and Sokoto State Governments should name befitting monuments in his honour.”

     

    … Secondus pays tribute

    Prince Uche Secondus, the National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says Nigeria has lost one of its most compassionate and humane leaders in the late former President, Alhaji Shehu  Shagari.

    In a statement by his Media aide, Ike Abonyi, yesterday in Abuja, the PDP chairman said that Shagari was the last man standing among principled leaders upon whom the democratic foundation of the country was established.

    He said that Shagari as President in the Second Republic ensured that his reign caused minimal pain to the people because of his humane approach to governance.

    According to him, “The Second Republic president will be remembered for his principled approached to governance and his God-fearing disposition as evidenced in the way and manner he piloted the affairs of the country within the ambit of the rule of law, without nepotism, bias of religion, tribe or geography from 1979 to 1983.”

     

    …An epitome of high moral leadership Ekwueme family

    The family of the late former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, have expressed their condolences over the death of former President Shehu Shagari.

    Ekwueme’s first son, Goodheart Obi Ekwueme, said this in a statement on behalf of the family and the entire people of Oko in Anambra State.

    He described Shagari as “an epitome of high moral leadership”, having meritoriously served Nigeria without any blemish whatsoever, a virtue he evidently shared with his late Vice, Dr Ekwueme.”

    The Ekwueme family noted that Shagari had the most cordial working relationship with his Vice President and both had greater hearts of service for the nation.

    “They were more nationalistic in their work relation and even though they both had different religious backgrounds, they were not polarized by the issues of religion and tribe. They were first and foremost Nigerians before being Christians or Muslims, Fulani or Igbo. They were both selfless,” the family said.

    The family recalled that Shagari demonstrated his humility in his message through his son, Aminu Shagari, at Ekwueme’s burial, where he said he chose him as his Vice President because of his impeccable integrity and character.

  • APC, Saraki trade words over disruption at Ilorin Emirate’s event

    Senate President Bukola Saraki and All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Kwara State, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, have traded words over the abrupt end of the annual convention of the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressives Union (IEDPU) on Christmas Day.

    Political urchins disrupted the IEDPU 53rd annual conference.

    The event held at the Emir of Ilorin palace forecourt.

    It was going on smoothly until the launching of the 2019 calendar of the union, which was opened by Alhaji Fatai Ishola Ajidagba, the Chairman of Ifelodun Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State, with the donation of N5 million.

    When Abdulrazak was asked to launch the almanac, some people who dressed in the same uniform (aso ebi) started shouting to prevent him from speaking.

    But his supporters started shouting his slogan O To Ge! (Enough is enough!) to counter his aggressors.

    The incident forced the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, to leave the venue in anger when the crowd became uncontrollable.

    When the APC governorship candidate was also called to the podium to announce his donation, he made an attempt to echo the slogan of his campaign organisation.

    Suspected supporters of Senate President Bukola Saraki started shouting: “Sai leader, Sai Bukki, Atunwa 1”.

    Attempts by the organisers to restore normalcy and continue the programme proved abortive.

    The security guards had a hectic time before the Emir could be ferried out of venue.

    The highly disappointed IEDPU National Executive Council members, led by their National President, Ambassador Usman AbdulAziz, later went to the palace to apologise to the Emir.

    The IEDPU’s calendar, a major source of revenue generation for the union, could not be launched because of the development.

    Abdulaziz warned politicians against turning the state into a battle ground with their behaviour and utterances.

    He said: “Politics should not be reduced to unnecessary bickering, unproductive name-calling, mischievous allegations, callous comments, character assassination, hate speeches, encouragement of chaos, whipping up religious or ethnic sentiments, among other negative strategies which politicians exploit and explore to win the sympathy of gullible voters.

    “Our take on 2019 elections is very simple. Ilorin should not be turned to a battle ground by political gladiators.”

    Reacting to the incident, Abdulrazaq’s media team said: “The development at the IEDPU programme, where some louts and street urchins shouting ‘Sai Bukky’ disrupted a community event, is disappointing, embarrassing and antithetical to good moral and ethics for which Ilorin community is known.

    “Apart from reminding everyone of the desperation for which the evil status quo in Kwara is known, the sad event clearly points at the extent to which the parasitic gangs will go in the coming months to continue to keep Kwara and its people down.

    “The disruption of the event, just when …AbdulRazaq was about to give his speech, exposed the shenanigans of the urchins and their paymasters whose uninspiring radio programme earlier in the day had drawn the scorn and condemnation of every Kwaran, home and abroad. The disruption was probably a damage control for their insulting radio programme.

    “The intention was to damage the good image of the APC candidate and slow down the tsunami that is already consuming their unproductive political fiefdom in Kwara. But they clearly failed in their evil plot as their thugs – similar to what they did in Offa, where their ankara wears betrayed their allegiance – were too crude to conceal the fact that they were on an errand to attack Abdulrazaq and make it look like the fine gentleman was going about with thugs.

    “Like a cobra fighting for its life, everybody knows that they have since lost the battle of ideas and are unabashedly desperate to wrestle in the mud to survive. It is too late. The people of Kwara are saying O To Ge! – Enough is Enough.

    “We will not wrestle with the pigs. We won’t fall for their gutter politics. We are for decent debate, even as we mobilise the people of Kwara to end the years of tyranny and corruption.

    “Regardless, we wish to state that we are bona fides of not just Ilorin Emirates but also Kwara State and we won’t watch while some political merchants, who have no real stake in Kwara, deploy their sidekicks and thugs to unleash violence on our people. We will ensure that the characters who disrupted the IEDPU event for political reasons are arrested and made to face the full weight of the law. We call on the police and other security agencies to be alive to their constitutional duties and bring those characters to book…”

    The media aide to the Senate President, Abdullahi Olesin, said: “Saraki was not the cause of the disruption because he was not present at the convention but for people to act that way when he was not there indicated how popular he is among his people.

    “What happened at the IEDPU convention showed how much the people of the state love Saraki. It was a clear signal to the opposition that Kwara remains the stronghold of Saraki. Those who rose in stout defence of Saraki are not politicians but ordinary citizens who appreciate the purposeful leadership that Saraki is rendering.”

  • Saraki, Mark urges Christians to pray for successful elections

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, former Senate President, Senator David Mark, on Monday felicitated with Christian faithful and all Nigerians as they celebrate the Christmas and New Year festivities.

    Saraki in a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja, congratulated Nigerians for their resilience in the face of the challenges facing the nation and urged them to pray for improvement in the social, political and economic condition of the country, in the New Year.

    Mark on his own once again harped on the need for peaceful coexistence between and among Nigerians irrespective of ethic or religious leanings.

    Saraki urged Nigerians to make it part of their New Year resolution that they will play their constitutional roles to ensure that the country has a peaceful, credible, free and transparent elections in February and March 2019.

    He said that Nigerians should also pray that the results of the elections will lead to rapid socio-political and economic development of Nigeria.

    Saraki said, “I wish all Nigerians a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. I want to call on Christians, in particular, and Nigerians, in general, to emulate the virtues of Christ, who through self-sacrifice brought salvation to humanity.

    “This is a time for us to be our brother’s keeper, extend our generosity to one another and ensure that the less-privileged among us are not left out of the ensuing merriments.”

    He added that the upcoming election is another opportunity to lay a new foundation for the growth and prosperity of the nation and to banish poverty from the land.

    While praying for journey mercies for as many Nigerians that would travel during the period, he urged the police and other security agencies to be alive to their responsibilities and ensure that the lives and property of Nigerians are fully secured at all times.

    “The security agencies must of necessity redouble their efforts to ensure that the Christmas and New Year celebrations are observed peacefully across the country,” Saraki stated.

    In his goodwill message to Nigerians commemorating this year’s Christmas celebration, Senator Mark urged citizens to be guided by the lessons of the Christmas season which is anchored on love, forgiveness and peaceful coexistence.

    Senator Mark canvassed for religious tolerance amongst various adherents saying “We must as a people strive to imbibe the culture of mutual respect, trust and unity as the antidote to the myriads of problems facing the nation”.

    He implored citizens to shun those mundane issues such as ethnicity or religious discriminations that tends to threaten the peace and unity of the country.

    Senator Mark pointed that only those who have ulterior motives would exploit or resort to the emotional fault lines of ethnicity and religious differences in order to gain what they could not ordinarily achieved under normal circumstances.

    He also stressed the need for authorities to review the nation’s security arrangement for an improved performance saying that the unabating security situation in the country unarguably calls for self examination .

    Senator Mark was of the opinion that government and security operatives needs to do more to restore hope and confidence amongst the citizens that they can be protected in any part of the country.

    To this end, he urged that all hands should be on deck to preserve and protect the corporate existence of Nigeria, pointing out that no matter the situation “ We have no other country to call our home other than Nigeria”.

    Even as the 2019 election campaigns gathers momentum , he implored Politicians to play according to the rules of the game as the only way to sustain our democracy.

    Senator Mark cautioned against campaign of calumny saying that only issue based campaign would convince the electorate ahead of the polls.

    Also the Senator representing Lagos West Senatorial District, Solomon Adeola, urged Christians in particular and Nigerians in general to use the occasion of the Christmas celebration to renew their faith in Jesus Christ and pray for a peaceful and rancor free 2019 General Elections in a few weeks time.

    In a Christmas message to felicitates with his constituents and Nigeria Christendom at the occasion of 2018 Christmas, Senator Adeola said Christmas symbolizes the celebration of the birth of a new dawn for the salvation of souls for all humanity especially for the Christians and should therefore not be used for only merry-making.

    Read Also: Buhari greets Nigerians at Christmas

    Adeola noted that this year’s celebration coming weeks to a crucial election is another opportunity for fervent prayers for a new dawn and prosperous future for individuals and the Nigeria nation.

    While acknowledging that Nigerians in general are going through a difficult gestation period for sustained economic growth that is mercifully not compounded by the usual fuel scarcity as witnessed in time past during Yuletide, the senator urged all Nigerians to be patient and look forward to a better future.

    The Lagos West senator added that “with abiding faith in Jesus Christ all our challenges will be a thing of the past as we move to next level of our development.”

  • SERAP sues Saraki for allegedly paying jailed Dariye N14.2m monthly

    THE Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a suit against Senate President Bukola Saraki over payment of N14.2 million allowance to former Plateau State governor Senator Joshua Dariye.

    In the suit filed at the Federal High Court, Lagos last Friday, SERAP is asking the court to stop the Senate President from paying former Senator Joshua Dariye N14.2 million monthly allowances while he serves out a 10-year prison sentence for corruption.

    Joined as co-defendants in the suit are Dariye and the National Assembly Service Commission.

    According to SERAP, Dariye is still receiving the N750,000 salary and N13.5 million monthly allowances from the Nigerian Senate six months after his conviction.

    The organisation said a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in June convicted Dariye for diverting N1.162 billion state ecological funds while he was governor.

    The former Plateau State governor was sentenced to 14 years in prison, which was later reduced to 10 years by an Appeal Court in Abuja.

    Dariye is said to have been paid N85.5 million as allowances since his conviction in June.

    SERAP said such payment violates Nigerian laws and international obligations.

    SERAP is, therefore, seeking an order restraining Saraki and the National Assembly Service Commission from paying Dariye any further allowances while serving his jail term in Kuje prisons, Abuja.

    “SERAP is also seeking a declaration that Dariye’s seat in the Senate is automatically deemed vacant, having being convicted and sentenced to a prison term and currently serving jail term and having been absent at the sessions of the Senate for a period amounting in the aggregate to more than one-third of the total number of days allowed, and that he is, therefore, not entitled to any allowances reserved for a sitting and serving senator.”

    In addition, “SERAP is also seeking an order compelling Dariye to return salaries and allowances paid to him as a senator while in prison, having not performed the functions and office of a sitting and serving senator and having not deservedly earned such.”

    It argued that a judgment of a competent court of law subsists until set aside on appeal, adding that the Supreme Court of Nigeria has made this point very clear in several cases.

    No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

  • Akpabio chides Saraki, Dogara

    Senator Godswill Akpabio has described the inability of Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara to deliver their speeches during President Muhammadu Buhari’s budget presentation as a sign of weakness. He urged them to resign peacefully.

    Akpabio, in an interview with reporters shortly after Buhari presented the 2019 Appropriation Bill at the National Assembly in Abuja, said: “They really couldn’t talk because they shouldn’t be sitting on those seats since they now belong to a minority party.

    “When I was in the minority party, I was the minority leader; I wasn’t the Senate President.

    “So I will expect that what has happened today should be a wake up call on the Speaker and the Senate President to resign peacefully,” he said.

    Read also: Atiku promises ease of doing business in Southeast

    On the rowdy session, he said such action was a characteristic of a parliament all over the world.

    “But you could also notice that the majority party, the APC, showed its strength. There was a lot of quietness; there was a lot of silence whenever the President was making key points.

    “The rest were just normal nuances of politics,” he said.

  • Dogara congratulates Saraki on 56th birthday

    Mr Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, congratulated Dr Bukola Saraki, President of the Senate, on the occasion of his 56th birthday anniversary.

    Dogara felicitated with Saraki in a statement made available to News Agency of Nigeria by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Turaki Hassan, in Abuja.

    He commended the Senate president for his constant promotion of the independence of the legislature and his outstanding contributions to the nation building, describing him as “a courageous and patriotic leader.”

    “I note with great pleasure that in the last three and half years, you have demonstrated great courage and patriotism while conducting the affairs of the Senate and the National Assembly as a whole.

    Read Also: Strike can’t stop NASS from sitting – Gbajabiamila

    “Your consistent display of unwavering commitment to the unity, peace and progress of Nigeria and particularly, the independence of the legislature is legendary and worthy of commendation,” he said.

    According to Dogara, the Senate under Saraki’s leadership has remained focused and people-oriented owing to his dexterity, capacity and vibrancy”.

    “As you mark this auspicious occasion, I wish to join your teeming well-wishers in praying to Almighty God to grant you more wisdom and sound health to continue to serve the nation,” he said.

  • Secondus alleges plots to arrest Atiku, Obi, Saraki, Dogara

    •You’re flowing stream of fake news, says Presidency

    PEOPLE’S Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman Prince Uche Secondus has raised the alarm, alleging plots by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest some key leaders of the opposition party on trump up charges.

    Secondus listed the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar; his running mate, Peter Obi; Senate President Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara and the party’s other leaders as some of those marked for arrest.

    But, the Presidency denied the reports claiming that the Buhari-led government ordered raid on the home of PDP presidential candidate’s son and the alleged blockage of the Obi’s bank accounts and his family.

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the reports are manifestation of the PDP’s growing expertise in fake news.

    He called on the public to disregard the reports.

    The statement reads: “The story about the raid ‘ordered by Buhari-led government’ on the home of PDP presidential candidate’s son and the fairy tale on the alleged blockage of the bank accounts of the running mate and his family are both untrue, and should be dismissed as just another manifestation of the PDP’s growing expertise in fake news.

    “Nigerians must be becoming wary by now, of a political party with absolutely nothing to offer in the coming elections and has instead, transformed into a knight in shining armor, slaying the truth.

    “In this so-called transformation, PDP has changed into nothing but to a ceaselessly flowing stream of fake news.

    “It is impossible to find in Nigeria today, anyone propagating fake news more than the PDP.

    “Our advice to Nigerians is: ignore them.”

    In a statement yesterday by his media aide, Ike Abonyi, Secondus warned that the country would explode any moment the EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu continued with such impunity.

    Alleging plots to prefer frame up charges against the PDP chieftains, the main opposition party chairman warned that the country is presently sitting on gunpowder.

    Prince Secondus cautioned the Acting EFCC chairman, saying that he won’t get away with the hatchet job he has taken upon himself by using instruments of state to harass and intimidate opposition figures.

    Regretting that Magu has made himself a willing tool for oppression, Secondus said available intelligence indicated that the EFCC chairman was working in cahoots with some prominent chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “They are presiding over clandestine meetings and developing strategies for the APC, which is aimed at caging and crushing critical leaders of the opposition,” Secondus said.

    The party chairman said aside arrest and detention of the targeted opposition leaders, their family members and business associates have also been lined up for intimidation and harassment, including freezing their business interests and their bank accounts.

    Read also: 2019: Knocks for Obasanjo over anti-Buhari comment

    He described as an afterthought fabrication, the EFCC’s statement that the two sons of Atiku, whose residence was raided by the commission operatives on Saturday, were not the target of the raid.

    Secondus noted the security search on Atiku on November 11, when he arrived in the country from Dubai, saying the country has gone into full blown dictatorship.

    “After that embarrassment and harassment aimed at intimidating the candidate and nothing incriminating was found on him, no apology was extended to him as a former number two citizen.

    “They followed it up with the freezing of the bank accounts of our vice presidential candidate as well as that of his friends and family members as part of a large scheme to keep the party distracted from its focus of regaining power in 2019,” the statement added.

     

     

  • Saraki as Kwara State?

    My constructive engagement with my brother, the Senate President, BukolaSaraki on  governance issues of our dear state, certainly predated my emergence as the governorship candidate in February 2019 election under the Labour Party (LP).  The Senate President, Saraki was recently reported that he “would start off setting (sic!) salary arrears owed certain category of workers in Kwara State from next week”. He reportedly announced the news during the PDP monthly stakeholders’ meeting at the ‘Charity House’ in Ilorin, Kwara State.

    I expected to no avail, Senator Saraki to refute this this singular unacceptable undignified news about workers’ pay credited to him. I agree with the received wisdom that the “greatest truth is honesty, and the greatest falsehood is dishonesty.” The civil servants of the great pioneer state of Kwara created in 1967 are   certainly not Senator Saraki’s domestic staff. Even for his domestic staff, he is not at liberty to pay salaries long due at his pleasure “from next week”! Paradoxically too, he is neither the defaulting governor nor local government chairman. Salary payment is not an act of political and petty partisan charity to workers by any individual. On the contrary, Kwara State government headed by Governor Fatai Ahmed and the local government chairmen as defaulting employers must immediately pay all workers’ entitlements failing which they should resign as elected officials of the state.

    We dare not hail charitable wage-defaulters no less than we must offer solidarity for the unpaid workers. The 1999 constitution envisages salaries and pensions as legitimate earnings for services rendered by workers for the state. Relevant labour laws legitimize these constitutional provisions with sanctions for non-compliance. The 1999 constitution recognizes the state not an individual or “a leader” (ascribed or earned). Former President Barack Obama long warned Africans against big men who trample under state institutions! Democracy remains government of the people by the people, for the people not of one single individual for himself and by himself!

    Before “next week”, is the senator aware that some unpaid workers were long dead? At the same forum, the state governor, Ahmed reportedly blamed his inability to clear the backlog of salary arrears on drop in the federal allocation to the state and the refusal of the federal government to release the state’s last tranche of the Paris Club refund. But does the drop in federal allocation affect his own salaries, emoluments, huge security votes and expensive travel budgets through chartered flights?

    Does the non- release of Paris Club affect the payments of emoluments of his commissioners and advisers and waste of resources on projects of dubious developmental value?

    The down side of the good two term governance of Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State was crisis of salary payment. But it was gratifying to read that throughout his tenure, he did not collect salaries!

    Governor Ahmed must for once just consider the plight of that worker whose salary was not paid for one to seven months or criminally paid at whimsical reduced rates. For the worker who is a sole breadwinner, the family support has collapsed.  Food is difficult to find to feed the children with all the implications for malnutrition. Some kids are withdrawn from school on account of non-payment of school fees while the next Sallah or Christmas cloth will necessarily elude the children. We pray that the family of the workers not paid is not sick either. Many workers have passed on due to lack of out- of-pockets money to treat preventable diseases like malaria, pneumonia or auto accidents. Since the breadwinner cannot meet expectation, depression has logically replaced love within many working households.

    The options before a worker not paid in a state without social security and comprehensive Medicare like Kwara State are better imagined. Non-payment of salaries makes work ever precarious. President Muhammadu Buhari commendably asked the wage defaulting governors and their patrons: “How do you get sleep at night when your workers are not paid as at when due”? The point cannot be overstated: Wages are amount of remuneration that a state and local government or any employer is required to pay workers for the work performed during a given period not “later next week”. Nigeria currently faces a crisis of governance with respect to payment of legitimate salaries and wages of workers. It is unacceptable that in 2018, some state governors shamelessly argue against N30,000 minimum wage – N1000 per day for an average of working family a man, his wife and four children,  $80 dollars per month, compared to monthly minimum wage of $200 Nigerian workers earned in 1981. Nigerian workers are no “working” beggars. South Africa just announced its first monthly minimum wage of $206. I   salute the governors who agreed with organized labour, organized, private sectors and the federal government on the new minimum pay of N30,000! Conversely the governors who are opposed to minimum pay must resign. They are   unfit to be in the office based on 1999 constitution which accepts the principles of negotiated minimum and living wages.

    I commend the CBN under Governor Godwin Emefiele. He rightly pointed out that increased minimum pay is a necessary condition for Nigerian economic recovery. At its recently concluded   Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja,  the CBN communique reads that “…. given the negative output gap, the proposed increase in the national minimum wage would stimulate output growth due to prolonged weak aggregate demand arising from salary arrears and contractor debt”. Both Lagos and Kano states are leading on the ranking of GDP and ease of doing business. It’s not surprising because the two states relatively pay good salaries and promptly too! Good wage is smart economics for nation-building, through improved effective demand and eradication of income poverty. Nigeria.

    President Buhari commendably set up the new minimum wage committee and gave it free hands to operate. The president should urgently push for a speedy legislation on a new negotiated minimum wage of N30,000 for Nigerian workers by the National Assembly. Non-payment of good pay amounts to what I call economicide, (systemic destruction of lives on account of lack of means of live hood). Its time Nigeria treated wage-related crimes, non-payment, low payment, wage-diversions (so-called ghost payments) and politicization of wage payments as economic crimes!

    All faiths underline the importance of prompt remuneration for working men and women. Prophet Muhammed (PBH), said: “Allah said, ‘I will be the opponent of three on the Day of Judgment:…and one who hires a workman and having taken full work from him, does not pay him his wages, on the Day of Judgment, Allah The Exalted will be the opponent of those types of people. Hence, the employers who hire workers then delay their wages for a month or two or three must fear Allah.

    The Prophet also added: “Pay the labourer his wages before his sweat dries”. “You shall give him his wages on his day before the sun sets, for he is poor and sets his heart on it; so that he will not cry against you to the LORD and it becomes sin in you.

    According to Pope John Paul II, ‘A just wage for the worker is the ultimate test of whether any economic system is performing justly’.

     

    • Aremu mni, is Labour Party governorship candidate in Kwara State.

  • Don’t politicise NSIP scheme, beneficiaries tell Saraki, others

    NIGERIAN Social Investment Programme (NSIP) beneficiaries yesterday cautioned Senate President Bukola Saraki and other politicians against politicising the programme.

    The beneficiaries said the NSIP has been a life-saver for many of them.

    Saraki had reportedly described the scheme as an attempt by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to curry voters to his side in 2019.

    Addressing reporters yesterday in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, spokesperson of the beneficiaries Danwahab Ambali said no fewer than 5,000 people had benefitted from the first phase of N-Power in Kwara State.

    Ambali said: “With me here are beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer and Tradermoni, all part of the NSIP.  It is important to state here that the NSIP scheme to us has been nothing, but a life-saver.

    “I graduated from the University of Ilorin with a Bachelor of Science degree in Anatomy in 2009. For six years, I was without any gainful employment until 2016 when I became an N-Power volunteer.

    “My participation in the programme has really impacted my life, because it was through N-Power that I got the money to do my M.Sc programme and also enhance my personal skills in other areas.

    “Like me, N-Power and other SIP programmes have improved the lives of many that I know in Kwara State here.

    “Here with me is Mrs. Memunat Ismaila, who was widowed since 1996 with no help from anywhere. To feed her children, she became a petty trader, selling pepper. She kept struggling for her small business to survive, until respite came when she got the first tranche of Conditional Cash Transfer, which she put into her business. She now lives a more dignified life with her children.

    “Ibrahim Moshood here is a fashion designer, who was in need of a shop. It was the Tradermoni he got that he used to get a shop and standardised his business. So, the Social Investment Programme is working for us.”

    He added: “It is, therefore, to defend the integrity of the NSIP programme so that others can benefit that we have found it necessary to come out openly to say that we do not believe that the NSIP is tailored towards any political gain. We say this because we heard Dr. Saraki say that the NSIP is nothing but a ‘systematic vote-buying for the 2019 election’.

    Ambali said Saraki’s claim was not true since many of the beneficiaries did  not start benefiting from the programme because the 2019 elections is approaching.

    “Like I said before, I became a beneficiary in 2016. Some of my colleagues got in in 2017. In fact, Senator Saraki himself had praised the programme in the past, and some of his aides indeed tried unsuccessfully to nominate people into the programme, claiming that they were APC before they defected.”