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Tag: shutdown

  • NUPENG vows to shutdown sector over sack threat

    NUPENG vows to shutdown sector over sack threat

    Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has warned that it will shut the oil sector if the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) sacks its members as threatened in a recent ultimatum to the Federal Government.

    The marketers have given the government a 14-day ultimatum to settle the N650 billion debt allegedly owed its members.

    In a statement by its Executive Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, DAPPMAN said if the government failed to meet the deadline, it would direct its members to shut all the depots the NNPC uses to store imported products as well as disengage their over 10,000 workers.

    However, NUPENG President, Igwe Achese, who addressed the  reporters after the NUPENG Elders Stakeholders Meeting in Lagos, said the union would protect its members from the threats.

    Achese noted that there was an urgent need to call for dialogue with the marketers, adding that if the issues were not promptly addressed, NUPENG would be at the receiving end.

    “The problem will not only affect workers, but also tanker drivers. Hence, if it happens, we will react to protect our members. If workers are sacked, the union will react accordingly,” he said.

    The NUPENG chief said the government should wake up to the reality that NNPC alone could not sustain petroleum supply in the country.

    “We have always said it that, for fuel crisis to end, our refineries must come back on stream. If we are importing, that should only be a stop-gap,” he said.

    The union, he said, would give the Federal Government maximum support to ensure that all the refineries got back to their full working capacity, but that the government must ignore those that were calling for privatisation of the refineries. Instead, it should look for a way to upgrade the facilities.

  • FUTO shutdown as non-academic staff begin strike

    FUTO shutdown as non-academic staff begin strike

    Academic and other official activities were yesterday grounded at the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) by protesting members of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU).

    The aggrieved workers, under the auspices of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising of Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the National Association of Academic Scientists (NAATS), said they were following the directive of the national body.

    Chairman of JAC Comrade Ibeji Nwokeoma said: “The Federal Government gave N23 billion for the payment of earned allowance to all workers of Federal Universities, unfortunately, the money was hijacked by our sister union and they shared it as their spirit moved them, giving over N18 billion to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) alone, leaving a little above N4 billion for three independent staff unions. ASUU hijacked the money at the national level in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education.

    “We felt it was wrong and we asked the Federal Government what the sharing formula was, why they could give one union over N18 billion out of the N23 billion. We also want to know the yardstick for the sharing, whether population or the nature of work they do in the university, but till now, the Federal Government has answered us.

    “So we are demanding that if what they gave is academic earned allowance as they called it, the government should give us our own fair share of the largesse. They should also give the Non-Academic Staff their own earned allowance because we all work in the university.

    “We have been peaceful all these while about the strike but the government has been recalcitrant and that is why we adopted the measure to draw the public’s attention to prevail on the Federal Government to address the issue so that our students will not suffer”.

    SSANU Chairman, Comrade Franklin Matheus, said: “We want to inform the public through this action that we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Government on issues including shortfall in workers’ salaries, earned allowances and Staff School emoluments, but none has been implemented. We agreed that these earned allowances will be paid before the end of last year, but what the government did was to give ASUU N23 billion and a paltry N4 billion to all the non-academic staff unions. So if the Federal Government can pay N23 billion to ASSU as earned academic allowance, we are demanding N66 billion as our earned allowances.

    “We want the government to obey the judgment of the Industrial Court. We can only end this strike if the government addresses the skewed allowance and pay us N66 billion which is the earned allowance for non-academic staffs.”

  • CLO petitions Radio Nigeria over shutdown of Yenagoa FM station

    The Bayelsa chapter of Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has petitioned the management of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) over the shutdown of broadcast by its FM station, Creek 106.5 FM, Yenagoa.

    According to CLlO, the station, which started broadcast in 2014  has remained inconsistent on air in the last one year denying the people of Bayelsa access to news and programmes on the station, particularly the network news at 7a.m. and 4p.m.

    In the petition made available to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday, CLO gave the FRCN management two weeks to resume broadcast in the public station or the matter would be officially reported to higher authorities.

    The petition by the CLO State Chairman, Chief Nengi James, was addressed to the Director-General of the FRCN.

    The CLO wondered why the management of the station would have to rely on the Bayelsa State Government to continue to provide temporary accommodation for its operations in Yenagoa.

    James noted that such monetary assistance from the State government was capable of eroding the true independence of the station and would raise a lot of ethical issues.

    The civil society group said that the impact of the gesture on fairness and independence could only be imagined.

    The group observed that the development was a plot to undermine the people of Bayelsa, adding that the move was unacceptable and would be resisted.

    The group noted that there was ample evidence to show that the state government had since allocated land for the construction of the South South Zonal headquarters and the broadcasting house of the FM station in Yenagoa.

    James frowned at the temporary relocation of the Zonal headquarters to Port Harcourt since 2013.

  • Egbin threatens shutdown over N110b debt

    Egbin threatens shutdown over N110b debt

    The management of Egbin Power Plc, Nigeria’s largest power plant, has threatened to shut down operation owing to non-payment of N110billion debt. This may throw a huge segment of the population into blackout, The Nation has learnt.

    The plant has 1320megawatts (Mw) capacity.

    Its Managing Director, Mr. Dallas Peavey, yesterday in Lagos lamented that the huge debt has caused serious liquidity problem to the firm coupled with gas supply and transmission challenges. The problems, according to him, have stretched the company to its limit, adding that by next week, the firm may close shop, which will push the country into another round of blackout.

    Peavey told reporters that the plant was being gradually forced to shut down due to debt and adverse effect of grid instability that endangers its turbines. He identified inadequate gas supply to generate at optimal capacity as another challenge.

    According to him, the planned shutdown of the plant may cause Nigeria’s electricity supply, which recently witnessed improvement to get worse in the coming weeks.

    Peavey said: “Egbin power plant is one of the biggest single power generating stations in Africa with an installed capacity of 1320 Mw consisting of six units of 220Mw each.

    “Following the conclusion of the government’s privatisation exercise in November 2013, the consortium formed by the partnership between New Electricity Distribution Company and the Korean Electric Power Corporation (NEDC/KEPCO) acquired Egbin Power.” He added that the effect of the debt has become worse for the company.

    He said: “We owe the gas companies and have others like our technical partners (KEPCO) to pay, and importantly our lenders, the banks. We have made massive investments in making the plant available to generate electricity sustainably but unfortunately, we can’t break even due to the gross inefficiency in the value chain.

    “The government guarantees to pay us for every megawatt we generate and sell to NBET but they have not done that.  We just got paid for the month of December 2016, three months later and we were only paid a paltry 28 per cent out of the total 100 per cent of the verified and accepted invoice for that month.”

  • UNILAG shut down over students protest

    UNILAG shut down over students protest

    The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has suspended all academic activities indefinitely and directed all students to vacate the campus with immediate effect.

    A statement signed by the University management said no student should remain in the halls of residence after 10am on Friday.

    The directive was issued following a protest on lack of water, electricity and increased cost of coming to school to attend lectures by students on Thursday.

    The statement reads in part: “The Senate of the University of Lagos at an emergency meeting held on Thursday, 7th April, 2016, considered the situation on campus occasioned by the ongoing agitation of the student body over poor electricity and water supply in the community, and the difficulty faced by large number of students living off campus to attend classes as a result of the fuel crisis… However, in order to forestall further breakdown of Law and order on campus… All academic activities on campus are hereby suspended with immediate effect; the University is therefore closed with immediate effect; No student should remain in the halls of residence after 10am on Friday, 8th April, 2016; a decision to reopen for normal activities will be taken as soon as municipal services improve.”

    Meanwhile, the University Students Union has countered the Senate’s directive, ordering all students to remain on campus.

    A statement signed by the Students Union said management’s order was impromptu and has left students stranded with nowhere to go and in the mercy of hoodlums.

    It said: “It is unfortunate that despite priding itself as the University of First Choice and the nation’s pride, the University of Lagos Management cannot handle this simple issue. The Vice Chancellor has demonstrated his insouciance towards the welfarism of the students. Despite his availability on campus today, he refused to avail the students of his presence.

    “In light of this public display of irresponsibility, the Union wishes to state that:
    1) It is an inhumane move with a dastardly motive to demand the vacation of students from the University community. This is because it has got to the notice of the Union that certain hoodlums are around the school to waylay students who are trying to leave the school.

    2) Students who live in distant areas have confessed that they do not have transport fare to take them home. This is understandable as the notice for vacation just got to students this morning at about 6:30, leaving us with less than 4hrs to vacate.

    They (management) have displayed that they do not have the interest of the students at heart.

    Hence, we implore the students to stay in school so that they won’t be victims of circumstances. Hoodlums are everywhere and leaving the school now is dangerous.”

  • Protest: Kogi poly shut indefinitely

    Protest: Kogi poly shut indefinitely

    Authorities of the Kogi State Polytechnic (KSA) on Tuesday announced the indefinate closure of the indtitution.

    The KSA Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Luke Yakubu made the announcement in a press statement issues in Lokoja .

    He stated that the move was to forestall further breakdown of law and order in the state owned institution.

    Students of the school went on the rampaged over the alleged killing of a female student by a commercial motor cyclist popularly called okada rider.

    Motorists traveling along the Okene-Abuja road were trapped for several hours, while properties running into millions of naira were destroyed as the students in their hundreds took over the road, burning tyres, in protest of the death of their colleague.

    Law enforcement agents had a hectic time before they could disperse the protesting students and forging them back into the campus.

    Our correspondent reliably gathered that what led to the incident happened in the town in Adankolo on Monday morning when the said female student had a misunderstanding with the okada rider over fares.

    The okada rider was said to have brought out his knife and stabbed the hapless student on the stomach which later led to her death on Tuesday.

    According to the source, when the death of the female student was announced her colleagues went on the rampage, besieg8ng the highway.

    They also commandeered a traler belonging to Dangote group, beat up the driver and later set the vehicle ablaze. Another trailer that was also accosted suffered similar fate.

    Motorist, passers-by and commercial motorcyclists were molested by the students, as vehicular movement came to a standstill.

    It took the intervention of armed mobile policemen to bring situation under control as students marched towards NATACO around the International market.

     

  • NLC urged to shelve planned shutdown of NIPOST

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has been urged to stop the plan to shut down NIPOST headquarters.

    President, Senior Staff Association of Communications, Transport and Corporations (SSACTAC),  Nigeria Postal Service NIPOST, branch, Mr. Gabriel Imafidon, made the appeal in Abuja while responding to a letter sent by the NLC on its plans to picket the office.

    According to Imafidon, the planned shutdown is over allegations of diversion of check-off dues of staff of the Nigerian Union of Postal Telecommunication Employ (NUPTE), NIPOST branch, to SSACTAC coffers. He added that the union would prefer to dialogue with NUPTE and for NLC to seek clarification on labour laws establishing it before picketing its office.

    He said: “NLC has directed all its industrial unions to contribute 50 persons each to join in the picketing. We don’t want to join issues with them on the pages of newspapers or the electronic media. The way they are going about it shows elements of high-handedness. We stand to be corrected. We urge the NLC to seek clarification within the ambit of the law.

    “We expected that the NLC,  as a sister body, would work to ensure peace between  SSACTAC and NUPTE through dialogue, or better  still, advise NUPTE to go to court and challenge the  management’s action.’’

  • Manufacturers threaten shutdown over electricity tariff hike

    Manufacturers threaten shutdown over electricity tariff hike

    Manufacturers yesterday threatened to close shop, following the  increased electricity charges which impact heavily on their production.

    The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) recently reviewed upward the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO 2.)

    The manufacturers at a meeting in Abuja yesterday told NERC that the new tariff is not acceptable to them because of the parameters  used in computing it.

    Energy and fixed charges for factories and businesses in the MYTO 2.1, they said, are the highest in the world, thereby making it unsustainable to run businesses in Nigeria.

    They noted that could interrupt the expected success of the Federal Government’s industrial revolution policy, adding that fixed charges by the distribution firms had risen astronomically in the new structure.

    The Ikeja Branch Coordinator of Steel Manufacturers Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Felix Okojie, said the commission must revert to the old MYTO, which took effect from June 2012 and had a five years life span to run.

    Okojie cited the decision of NERC to jack up fixed charge from N702.11 to N123, 321 for Abuja distribution network, N750 to N155, 923 for Benin and N781.13 to N226,797 for Kaduna as an attempt to destroy the manufacturing sector and throw people out of work.

    He further explained that a comparative analysis of the cost of energy in Nigeria and other countries showed that Nigerian business pays the highest in the world.

    “The MYTO 2012 to 2017, which was supposed to operate for five years, constituted our long-term planning. So, coming at the middle to increase and not just a mere increase but an increase of almost 44 to 45 per cent is completely destructive. In some areas, it is 100 per cent.

    “It is like nobody is actually thinking about the progress of industries in the country. You do not just wake up from nowhere and begin to disrupt a long term plan. In the MYTO, it was not mentioned that the five-year plan, which started on the 1st of June 2012, was going to be distorted at any time,” Okojie said.

    He added: “The explanation that they have the right to adjust it any time is completely new to us. Maybe that is internal administrative thing but even if they would have that, since we are the major stakeholders, they should carry us along.’’

  • Niger Delta group threatens shutdown if Jonathan does not win

    A group, Eye of Niger Delta (END), has threatened to shutdown the Niger Delta,  if President Goodluck Jonathan is not re-elected.

    The group said nothing could stop him from wining the  election next year.

    Rising from an emergency meeting  in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, the group said it has uncovered plans by some northern leaders to betray President  Jonathan.

    The leader of the group, Comrade Tari Victor Ben, said the Niger Delta  is the key to Nigeria economy, adding that would not take it for granted if the President is not re-elected.

    He said President  Jonathan has made a lot of sacrifice for Nigerians through his transformation agenda, adding that deserves the support of lovers of and democracy.

    He said: “We are in the meeting today to endorse President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 re-election campaign, but we are also aware of the scheming by some Northern leaders.  Jonathan represents the Niger Delta region. Of course, without him as the President we will shutdown the region.

    “It is now clear that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is a blessing to the nation and the fruit of his transformation agenda is for everyone to see.  His agenda to transform the nation affected all sectors of the economy.   He also opened new federal universities and 124 Almajiri schools.

  • Volks announces Russian shutdown

    The Russian auto industry is not in a great place right now. A weakened currency, the rouble, is stinging automakers, and in the case of Volkswagen, has prompted a trimming of production.

    VW lowered production projections at its Kaluga factory from 150,000 units per year to just 120,000. Kaluga, which builds the Tiguan crossover and Polo compact, as well as the Skoda Fabia and Octavia, kicked off its production reduction last week, with the start of a 10-day furlough.

    The German manufacturer is not exactly pulling the plug on its Russian operations. VW was quick to point out to Reuters that a new engine production facility and parts depot will go online in Russia next year. Although VW’s trimming of expectations does reflect larger concerns in the country, the most obvious of which were voiced by Opel.

    “There is no doubt that the situation in Russia is a concern. The market has shrunk substantially over the past few months and the Ukraine crisis has added to the uncertainty,” Opel spokesman Peter Christian Kuespert told Automobilwoche, according to Reuters.