The Nation Newspaper

Tag: staff

  • Kogi varsity denies sacking staff

    The management of Kogi State University (KSU) in Anyigba has denied sacking its members of staff, who were employed by the immediate past Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof Hassan Isah.

    Reacting to a CAMPUSLIFE story published last Thursday, the management said it had not issued termination letter to anyone since the VC, Prof Mohammed Sani Abdulkadir, assumed office.

    The VC, who confirmed that management investigated the last-minute employment by Prof Isah, refuted story of the sack, saying only a few  whose appointment did not pass through normal procedure would be disengaged.

    Prof Abdulkadir said the university had nothing to hide on the matter, urging the reporter always cross check information before going to the press.

    Reacting to allegation of illegal recruitment of staff, Prof Isah, who spoke to our reporter on telephone, denied employing 340 staff in the twilight of his administration.

  • Bet9ja rewards agents, staff

    Bet9ja rewards agents, staff

    In recognition  of their partronage and dedication  to making  Bet9ja   Nigeria’s number one sports betting company, the company honoured  some outstanding  staff and agents during its  2015 End-of-the-year party and awards night in Lagos .

    In what was a highly thrilling and well organised event,  staff, agents and customers of KC Gaming Network, operators of Bet9ja, went home with various gifts and also received awards in various categories.

    In his address, the  Chief Executive Officer(CEO), Ayo Ojuroye praised the company’s customers and agents for their loyalty and commitment in 2015.

    “We are very happy with your performance in 2015, hence the need to appreciate your efforts. Without your hardwork and dedication, we won’t be here today. You, agents, customers and staff have done absolutely well and we really thank you for this. We are  excited  that through your efforts, Bet9ja has grown in leaps and bounds.

    The Executive Chairman, Kunle Soname presented the employee of the year award to Ernest Abanum while Akin Akerele won the award for the Manager of the year.

    Ace comedian, Seyi Law  thrilled guests with rib-cracking jokes to the delight of the guests, while music fan’s favourite, Sean Tizzle held the crowd spell bound with the rendition of various tracks from his top of the hit album, ‘Loke Loke’

    Then Oritsefemi’s performance had everyone on their feet with his Double Wahala track and Igbeyawo as the guests asked for more from him.

    Bet9ja has achieved  tremendous success in Nigeria’s betting industry in less than four years of operation, with offices in more than 19 states and with the highest winning bonus.  .

  • ‘Staff must shun corruption’

    Few Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye has warned heads of Secretariats, Departments and Agencies (SDAs) to shun corruption and keep their hands from funds meant for the development of the Federal Capital Territory.

    Dr Ajakaiye called for a holistic change of altitude by the civil servants by thinking outside the box and being innovative in their approach to government business and considering it a service to humanity.

    The warning was contained in a statement released by Deputy Director cum Chief Press Secretary, FCT, Muhammad Sule.

    Dr. Ajakaiye warned Heads and Directors of some Secretariats, Departments and Agencies in Abuja of the danger in compromising their positions and denying the people their due.

    Sule said, “Dr. Ajakaiye lamented that a leakage may seem small in some cases but cumulatively pose great danger to the entire system with devastating effects on the residents as well as the visitors to the Territory.

    “The Permanent Secretary reiterated these leakages if contained would go a long way in improving the infrastructure and services in the entire 8,000 square kilometers of the Federal Capital Territory.

    “The country desires change and the change is already here: In the words of President Muhammadu Buhari, we should not fear him but fear the consequences of our actions. He called for holistic change of altitude by thinking outside the box and being innovative in our approach to government businesses by considering it a service to humanity.

    “Dr. Ajakaiye further charged the Heads of the Mandate Secretariats and Directors to genuinely devise means of doing things proactively now that the country’s economy is dwindling.

    “We should all put our thinking caps to be solution providers and think outside the box to spawn buoyant Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to sustain its operations, because funds are really not there again as it used to be”.

    “He therefore enjoined the Senior Officials in the FCTA not to be possessive in terms of property or monetary accumulation because these might not make meaning to their children but rather on legacies that are capable of enduring positive effects on the society.”

     

  • NDIC boss urges banks on outsourced staff

    NDIC boss urges banks on outsourced staff

    The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has called for a closer look at the phenomenon of outsourced or contract staff in banks to ensure healthy and sound practices in the banking industry.

    Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Corporation, Umaru Ibrahim, made the call in Abuja during a courtesy call on him by the President and other Council Members of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).

    The NDIC Boss said bank examination reports had indicated that the high incidences of fraud and forgeries in the banking system had been linked to outsourced or contract staff.

    Umaru also said that in as much as regulators appreciated the necessity for banks to cut costs, it was incumbent on all stakeholders to fashion out capacity building and other strategies to motivate all employees to contribute positively rather than engaging in criminal acts that impact adversely on the entire banking system.

    The NDIC CEO also expressed concern about the plight of female employees in the banking industry. He noted that banks often engaged female employees and set for them very high targets on deposit mobilisation and other asset creation ventures, which put undue pressure on the female employees.

    According to him, although some improvement had been recorded with regards to the situation, there was still need to provide a more conducive working environment in order to attract and retain a talented female workforce in the sector.

    The President of the Institute, Mrs Debola Osibogun regretted that over 75 per cent of fraud cases in the sector had been traced to outsourced bank staff who were neither professionals nor members of the CIBN.

    While noting that the Institute had no control over the banks, she disclosed that a Committee of the Institute was already working with heads of operations of banks on the challenges being posed by the outsourced staff and would soon submit its report to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for consideration.

    The CIBN President also said the Institute had been mandated as the agency for competency framework for banking industry by the CBN, adding that the CIBN had visited banks’ academies and had issued accreditation certificate to the academies of the FirstBank, Access Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank.

  • Ekiti teaching hospital staff trained abroad on patient management

    Ekiti teaching hospital staff trained abroad on patient management

    Thirty-four members of staff of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) have undergone a five-day training to equip them for better service delivery.

    The training, which was organised by JFC Training College, London, United Kingdom, was aimed at making the workers imbibe new techniques in handling patients and conforming with the basic international health and safety regulations.

    In most of the health institutions in Nigeria, nurses, physiotherapists and doctors move patients in bed, wards and around the hospital manually, which poses problems to the staff and the patients.

    Moving and handling patients requires techniques which would also reduce the rate at which doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and other caregivers complain of backache while health workers should also be protected against infections.

    A team of resource persons who are experts in the fields of health and social care, first aid health and safety among others took the EKSUTH workers through practical and theoretical aspects of handling patients in line with modern practices.

    At the certificates presentation to the participants, Programme Facilitator, Prince Bisi Oyedele, described the performance of  workers during the training as “fantastic.”

    He said having undergone the training, EKSUTH workers are now competent to practise what they have learnt and urged the hospital management to provide them with equipment.

    The class governor of the participants, Dr. Taye Ige, thanked the management for organising the training, describing EKSUTH Chief Medical Director, Dr. Kolawole Ogundipe, as a “man of vision who stands by his words and a man who wants results.”

    Ige also extolled the virtues of the facilitator whom he described as “a good teacher and a man dedicated to knowledge.”

    Some staff said the training has empowered them and opened their eyes to the best new practices in handling patients.

    Dr. Emmanuel Toyin Adeleye of the Department of Internal Medicine said the training was all-encompassing and timely, noting that it has enriched their knowledge to add value to healthcare delivery.

    He continued: “The training was all-encompassing; it’s like meeting the needs of the time, getting the participants abreast of what’s needed on patient management.

    “This type of training is bringing us on the front page like other centres of excellence on patient management. It is beneficial to the community, to the hospital and to the workers.”

    Mrs. Abimbola Aladete of the Department of Paediatrics said training was very interesting.

    She said it was packed with various teachings on health and support, legal implications on injuries that can be sustained by patients, moving and handling of patients by means of instruments not common in the country.

    Mrs. Aladete said: “We have been here between Monday and Friday mornings and evenings. They are things we have known before but taking new shape makes us to see the programme as not tiring.

    “We learnt new techniques about first aid, essential treatment that can be given to people, even neighbours when faced with emergencies. We are privileged to be part of this programme.”

    Programme Facilitator, Prince Oyedele, in a chat with The Nation said the skills and knowledge gained at the training would positively rub off on EKSUTH as participants are expected to share knowledge with co-workers.

    Oyedele said further: “It is not just about moving and handling patients around, we have international best practices on health and safety, first and both theory and practical aspects.

    “This week has been so fantastic; you can see that they really need this in terms of their cooperation and patience in this class.

    “We have doctors, consultants, pharmacists, physiotherapists, laboratory technicians and virtually every department has been touched including security of environment of themselves and that of patients.”

    EKSUTH CMD, Dr. Ogundipe, said training and retraining of staff occupy a front burner in his development agenda for the health institution even though little resources are available in the state at present.

    He said: “We appreciate the fact that we don’t have so much resources in Ekiti State but we admit that in terms of healthcare delivery, Ekiti State is better than many of these states that have resources.

    “That is why we have put up this training, in some places, they have equipment but no manpower while in others they have manpower but no equipment.

    “We are discussing with the governor and he is excited to make this hospital comply with the latest trends. We have also made calls to philanthropists home and abroad.

    “Our aim is to ensure that all the staff are trained towards handling patients and those trained now will also help train others.

    “We are able to ask for  more people to be trained to so that the rest can benefit.”

  • Don’t scrap staff schools

    The Federal University Staff Schools Association (FUSSAN) has begged President Mohammadu Buhari to jettison the idea of privatising staff schools by stopping their funding by the Federal Government.

    President of the association, Rev Chidi Nwankpa, at their 16th Annual National Conference at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), said the development was a threat to the existence of staff schools, which would lead to the destruction of education at the foundation level.

    The president said the staff schools have done well over the years, producing a lot of people who have done well in various endeavours.

    He wondered why the University Staff Schools should be singled out to be privatised when schools belonging to the Navy, Police, Army etc are still funded by the Federal Government.

    He said privatising the schools would lead to loss of jobs as well as water down the quality of education at this level.

    “We work daily from morning till night. Teaching children is where the major work is, else secondary and tertiary institutions would not get good products,” he said.

    Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof James Epoke, said the Committee of Vice Chancellors in its last meeting had resolved against the privatization.

    He said the staff schools were an an area building manpower for the nation and must be nurtured.

    Chairman of the board of governors of the University of Calabar Staff School, Prof Simon Utsalo, said the schools which is 39 years old has grown over the years by efforts made by various Vice Chancellors.

    He was particularly grateful for the contributions made by Epoke towards the school’s development.

    Headteacher of the Unical Staff School, Mrs Florence Eleng, hoped that the conference would provide answers to most of the problems facing staff schools.

     

     

    The conference was attended by FUSSAN members from all over the country.

     

     

     

  • Promotion: NTDC staff shut down headquarters

    Promotion: NTDC staff shut down headquarters

    Staff of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) Monday shut down the headquarters of the Corporation over the failure of the Director-General, Dr Sally Mbanefo to abide by the agreement signed with the staff on March 2, 2015 on promotion, improper placement, use of consultancy services as well as other administrative issues.

    The protesting staff also accused the DG of embezzling over N300m million released by the federal government for the development of the Corporation, staff training and welfare.

    The staffs carried placards with inscriptions such as, ‘All We Are Saying: Sally Must Go’, ‘Domestic Tourism Promotion Is Not About Visit To Government House For Selfish Interest’; ‘Pls Baba, Save NTDC The Apex Tourism Implementing Agency From Extinction Under Sally’ and among others .

    The Chairman, FCT Chapter of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), Comrade Anthony Benjamin who spoke with newsmen after the protest admitted that Mbanefo reneged on the signed agreement saying that the strike would continue until the DG was removed by President Muhammdu Buhari and replaced with a competent professional.

    He said; “We have been copying our letters to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation but it appears that they don’t supervise the parastatals well because they all have problems.

    He described the DG as an incompetent Tourism Manager that has been squandering money in NTDC without achieving any meaningful result even as he regretted that countries like the Gambia, South Africa and Kenya depended on tourism for their economic growth.

    On whether he was aware that no fund has been released for capital project this year, he said, “The overhead have been released which can be used in carrying out some of the projects.

    Reacting, the Chairman, NTDC branch of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), Comrade Okpomo Samuel  Unwuchola maintained that the DG signed an agreement with other individuals and private  organisations with the aim of increasing the revenue of NTDC.

    He regretted that the DG failed to account for the proceeds realised through event sponsorship by private organisations adding that she engages in reckless spending by employing people and placing them on jumbo salary ahead of more competent staff.

    According to him, “We are in charge of management of the entire tourist sites across the States but today, the tourist sites are dilapidated and cannot be upgraded by NTDC.

    Unwuchola lamented that NTDC have shunned local festivals like Osun-Oshogbo, Argungun, Durbar as well as international exhibitions this year, which he believed was a contributory factor to the extinction of domestic tourism.

    The DG however refused to react to the various allegations leveled against her  as she neither picked calls nor replied to emails and text messages sent to her phone as at press time.

  • FRCN DG tasks staff on service delivery

    The Director General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Mr. Ladan Salihu, has directed the staff of the corporation to imbibe the spirit of quality service delivery in line with the focus of the President Buhari’s administration.

    He urged the directors in the establishment to ensure prompt execution of cases requiring their attention to reduce the bottlenecks that have impeded quality service delivery.

    Mr Salihu, who gave the directive at the 2015 FRCN SERVICOM conference held in Owerri with the theme “Quality Service Delivery and Corporate Reputation”, maintained that the directive became necessary in view of the nation’s current challenge which he said “requires effective and unbroken dissemination of information.”

    According to him,”our country is now in a new information age and it is incumbent upon us to serve as a veritable link between the leaders and the led through quality service delivery because the people are thirsty of information and we should keep them duly informed on the issues of democracy and the rule of law”.

    The FRCN boss also charged media professionals “to always separate myth from truth and rumours from clear information and black from white.”

  • Commissioner seeks cooperation of Local Government chairmen, staff

    The Commissioner for Local Government Matters in Enugu State, Rt Hon. Chijioke Edeoga, has held a meeting with all local government chairmen in the state and all the staff of the ministry to seek cooperation.

    Edoga said he called the meeting to find ways of straightening work ethics and relationships among staff and other stakeholders of the ministry for better output.

    Edeoga, an aide to President Goodluck Jonathan on National Assembly matters, urged the staff to be dedicated and committed.

    While commending staff of the ministry for running a robust establishment, Edoga asked for the cooperation of all, adding that “only a focused and well-mobilized team can achieve good results”.

    According to him, “there is need for us to work together so we need to know each other and set up the rules of our engagement. I seek your cooperation because we would make progress by so doing. In that case, we would have justified the confidence reposed in us by the Executive Governor of Enugu state Rt Hon Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. There is no point in over emphasizing the  fact that a united work force will serve all of us better and Enugu state much better in the long run.”

    Speaking earlier, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Mr. Gerald Nnaji, welcomed the new Commissioner, pledging the loyalty of the staff, just as the ALGON Chairman, Hon. Cornelius Nnaji of Enugu East Local Government Area, who spoke on behalf of the local government chairmen, thanked the commissioner for the invitation.

  • SEC trims staff, offices in major restructuring

    SEC trims staff, offices in major restructuring

    Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has undertaken a major restructuring exercise that cuts its operations, workers and technology with a view to improving service delivery to all stakeholders.

    The restructuring entails both a review of the organisational structure as well as a voluntary retirement scheme to trim down the wage bill of the regulator.

    Under the restructuring exercise, SEC is closing four of its existing seven zonal offices. Under the previous organisational structure, SEC operated with a head office in Abuja and seven zonal offices in Kaduna, Kano, Ibadan, Lagos, Maiduguri, Onitsha and Port Harcourt. Under the new arrangement, SEC has decided to close down four of its zonal offices in Kaduna, Ibadan, Maiduguri and Onitsha in order to allocate both human and material resources to strengthen the remaining three in Kano, Lagos and Port Harcourt.

    In a statement yesterday, SEC said the decision to close the zonal offices was arrived at because it could leverage on technology and shift resources to the use of both print and electronic media for public enlightenment to achieve the primary objective of investors’ education.

    The Commission stated that its new complaints management framework will delegate first stages of complaints management to the operators and trade groups, which implies that less and less complaints will be handled by the SEC, further reducing the need for multiple zonal offices.

    “In essence, by closing the four zonal offices and strengthening the remaining three, SEC can do more at a lower cost, this will free up resources to be allocated to critical areas of the Commission’s mandate like investor protection and investor education,” SEC noted.

    It also noted that it intends to strengthen functions such as monitoring, investigation and registration at the Lagos zonal office which will enable operators to reduce their overhead cost.

    According to the Commission, the move to shift more roles and functions to the Lagos office will boost institutional capacity and increase efficiency while improving service delivery by reducing turnaround time for processing applications. In addition, SEC can reduce its overhead cost as well while taking full advantage of proximity to operators to discharge its responsibilities in a timelier manner.

    Another aspect of the structural reform at SEC as an institution is the composition of workers by ranking. The Commission had been operating at an unsustainably top-heavy structure with a lot more senior level staff and junior level ones. For example, as at January this year, there were over 30 Deputy Directors, more than 40 Assistant Directors and upward of 80 Senior Managers. This issue had direct effect on workers’ morale as well as motivation because it inhibited career progression.

    To address this situation, the SEC Board approved a voluntary retirement scheme proposed by the Executive Management to incentivise top-level staff above the age of 45 who had served the Commission for more than 10 years and a nearing their retirement to voluntarily retire. Through this exercise, at the end of July 2015, 43 very senior staff exited the Commission, some of whom had served for more than 20 years and had stagnated for up to 11 years on the same position due to the non-availability of vacancies.