The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Strike

  • NNPC workers join NPDC strike

    NNPC workers join NPDC strike

    As the strike by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) workers enters its fourth day, the entire labour unions of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) – Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG)–have joined their subsidiary NDPC unions to fight the transfer of operatorship of Shell divested oil blocks.

    The striking NNPC workers yesterday switched off power and threw the NNPC towers into darkness.

    A source at the NNPC said she couldn’t fathom the reason behind the strike.

    She said: “My candid response is that NPDC lacks the capacity to operate these assets. In fact, NPDC was operating only two small blocks and suddenly another eight blocks from Shell’s divestments were transferred to it by the NNPC. “We don’t have the financial and requisite personnel to manage these blocks and this is the reason for the transfer of the operatorship to the indigenous firms in joint venture partnership with them (NPDC).”

  • Fuel crisis deepens as NUPENG, PENGASSAN strike continues

    Fuel crisis deepens as NUPENG, PENGASSAN strike continues

    The crisis in the oil sector seems to be deepening as workers of the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), under the aegis of the Petroleum and National Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, early this week, shut down their operations.

    The unions directed NPDC employees, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to shutdown indefinitely their locations and all oil production facilities nationwide in a bid to force the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and the Federal Government to reverse the transfer of operatorship of OMLs 42, 40 and 30.

    The assets were previously operated by Shell.

    The unions are aggrieved that the sale of the assets did not follow due process and would affect the fortunes of the NPDC and its workers.

    Mr. Emeka Offor’s Elcrest Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, a joint venture company of Eland Oil & Gas Plc, was awarded the operatorship of OML 40, while Mr. Ernest Ezedialu Obiejesi’s NECONDE is the operator of OML 42.

    A source from the union, who pleaded anonymity, said the strike is not national, adding that it is only an arm of the NNPC in Benin.

    He said the workers are agitated   that they were kept in the dark by the management in the entire process, and are of the opinion that management’s decision would not only threaten their jobs, but will jeopardise the future of the industry.

    He said the strike had resulted from a breakdown in communication between the management of the company and the unions.

    Speaking on the development, the President, Trade Union Congress, TUC, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, calls on  the Federal Government to immediately halt and reverse the last minutes transfers of the operatorship of OML 42, OML 40 and OML 30,  which are being arbitrarily handed over to Neconde Energy Limited, Eland/Elcrest and Shore Line respectively.

    ”We demand immediate reinstatement of the operatorship rights of the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), the NNPC subsidiary that has been successfully operating the assets to avert the brewing industrial crisis in NNPC in view of the impact it will have on the ongoing transition process,” Kaigama said.

  • Strike: Judicial workers fault Oshiomhole

    Strike: Judicial workers fault Oshiomhole

    The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has rebuked Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole for calling the strike by judicial workers illegal.

    National President of JUSUN Marwan Mustapha, at the end of the National Executive Council meeting, said Oshiomhole could not decide which judgment to obey. He added that the governor had not appealed the judgment on financial autonomy hence, it remains binding on him.

    Oshiomhole was quoted as saying that his administration would not yield to blackmail by workers.

    Oshiomhole said: “It is important for the people to appreciate that a cleaner in the office of the chief judge earns better than the cleaner in the office of the governor of Edo State. A cleaner in the office of a judge earns better than a cleaner in a commissioner’s office.

    “Administrative officers in the judiciary earn better than administrative workers in the civil service.

    “So, I believe we have done something to show the conviction of the very peculiar job of the judiciary, though there can be no justification for treating medical workers of the same qualification differently; but they benefit by reason of the arm of government they work for.

    “It hurts therefore that having benefited, and having continued to benefit from a superior compensation system relative to the rest of the civil service, they have chosen to down tools on the basis of issues that are considered completely external to them.

    “I think management of finances between the three arms of government is a matter that is better left for the heads of the three arms – the governor, the speaker and the chief judge. Between us we can discuss, as we have always done, on how to deal with matters affecting the arms.

    “We cannot surrender the authority of the state to employees who have chosen to use union actions to canvass non-union issues. As a union man, I know what the limits are and I will not concede to encroachment beyond those legal limits.

    The Union, however, believes that the governor should appeal the judgment, adding that since he didn’t do that, the court order is binding on him.

    Marwan said Oshiomhole is not a court and so cannot suspend a strike he didn’t call.

    “The NEC agreed that since it is the same court that gave verdict on the autonomy of Judiciary, the union should go back to that same court to demand for an order to garnishee the account of debtor states. And once such “absolute order” is obtained, the union can then suspend strike in those affected states.

    “Even those states that signed an MoU with the union are playing pranks and we will approach the same for the garnishee of their account,” adding that a temporary order had been given by the Federal High Court, Abuja pending June 1, when the court will decide whether or not to grant an “absolute order” to garnishee the accounts of Benue and Plateau states.

    JUSU embarked on a strike demanding financial autonomy for the judiciary. The nine states still on strike are: Edo, Nasarawa, Plateau, Osun, Enugu, Cross Rivers, Ondo, Ekiti, Adamawa and Taraba.

  • FMC Owerri workers begin warning strike

    Activities at the Federal Medical Centre Owerri were grounded yesterday as fresh round of protests rocked the centre following the query issued to union leaders who opposed the management’s decision to privatise some critical units of the hospital.

    The aggrieved workers marched round the premises, carrying placards with inscriptions such as, ‘We are tired of intimidation by management’; ‘Withdraw the query given to our leaders’; ‘We say no to privitisaiton’; ‘We need our 2013/2014 promotion arrears’; ‘Buhari please come to our rescue’, among others.

    Addressing reporters, one of the union leaders and Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), Comrade Ezeugwu Clifford, listed the worker’s grievances to include the unpaid 2013/2014 promotion arrears, which he said had been released to the management, issuance of query to the union leaders for their position on the plan to lease out some units of the hospital.

    He said the workers have embarked on a three-day warning strike to press home their demands.

    “We are going to apply the work-to-rule for three days as warning, this means that the workers will come to work but will not attend to any patient or do any kind of work.

    “We strongly oppose plans to privatise the hospital because when this happens, many patients will die because they can’t afford the charges and already as we speak, FMC Owerri is the most expensive government hospital in the country,” Clifford said.

    Another Union leader, Comrade Stanley Emegwara said: “The summary of our protest is that management should pay the benefits accruing to workers and to withdraw queries issued to our union leaders, which was meant to weaken the struggle against the planned privitisation”.

    Emegwara faulted claims of inefficiency and lack of accountability by the management as reasons for the planned privatisation when he said, “the claim that we are inefficient by the management is unfounded. Our private investigations show that FMC Owerri is one of the best performing government hospitals in Nigeria. The only grounds provided for the privatisation of government firm are inefficiency, unaccountability and lack of transparency”.

     

  • IBB University staff threatens to down tool

    IBB University staff threatens to down tool

    Niger State government have till Wednesday to effect payment of April salary of the staff of the state owned Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU), Lapai or the workforce goes on industrial action.

    The ultimatum was given by all the labour unions in the institution.

    This was disclosed by the branch chairmen of the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU), Comrade Shehu Mohammed Lawal, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Mahmood Musa Mahmood, Non-Acadrmic Staff Union (NASU), Mustapha Abdulkadir and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), Babakatcha Ndanusa in Minna, the state capital.

    ASUU chairman who spoke on behalf of the unions said over years the staff strength of the university had been increased without a corresponding increament in the financial allocation which made it impossible for the university to pay salaries now.

    He argued that the N70 million monthly subvention to the University was grossly inadequate to meet the present staff monthly wage bill of N120 million.

    “The four unions wish to bring to the notice of the government and people of Niger state the gross underfunding that has continuously plague IBB University, Lapai which has resulted to its inability to pay salaries. As it is now, salary for the month of April, 2015 has not yet been paid while there other outstanding areas since August, 2014.

    “Therefore, based on the foregoing, we are giving the state government from now to Wednesday to pay our salary or we will remain with no option than to down tools.

    ” The Union wish to forcefully put on record that payment of staff salary is the sole responsibility of the proprietor of the University,” the unions maintained.

  • Workers urged to call off strike

    Workers urged to call off strike

    An advocacy group, Access to Justice(A2Justice), has appealed to the leadership of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) to call off its strike.

    Its Executive Director, Joseph Otteh, and the Senior Programme Officer, Chinelo Chunweze, stated this in a letter to JUSUN’s National President, Marwa Adamu.

    The group noted that while the strike had been called off in many states and at the federal level, it was still on-going in about 15 states where the governments had refused to obey the court judgment on the matter.

    It noted further that in the affected states where the strike is five  months old,  the courts had been shut by the union.

    A2Justice gave two reasons for its action. It said: “First, the impact of the strike has been massive and has had the most disproportionate effect on persons who are mostly ‘outsiders’ to the policy making circuit and who exercise little or no influence over policy makers who alone can address the grievances being expressed by JUSUN in the sustained strike.

    “Second, there will be considerable changes to the composition of the executive branch in a significant number of states where the strike is taking place soon”.

    According to the group, “newly elected governors will be sworn into office in some of these states on May 29, 2015, which is less than a month from this time. This is the situation in states like Kaduna, Enugu, Plateau, Taraba and Nasarawa, among others.

    “The in-coming administrations could pursue a different policy from those being applied by the group of incumbencies, and could very well differ on policies relating to compliance with the Justice Ademola judgment. But coming into office and meeting a pre-existing and on-going strike that has effectively crippled the operations of a vital branch of the government will not represent a healthy inheritance, nor a good start to the business of governance.

    “In this instance, it appears to be more meaningful that new governments begin on a clean slate and have the space and opportunity to articulate their own policies as well as correct past policies that have created obstacles to good governance.’’

    A2Justice urged the leadership of JUSUN to consider the case of those who were affected by the strike. It listed them to include the “innocent”, there are thousands, probably 10s of thousands of people who are languishing in detention, in police and prison cells because their cases cannot be processed by courts that have been shut following the strike.

    It added:  ”The wholesale denial of the constitutional rights of these people over this protracted period, with no immediate expectation of amelioration or relief, is a staggering and grave injustice to them. These “casualties” of the strike bear no responsibility for the state of affairs that triggered the strike by JUSUN.

    “In fact, many of them will include those who support the cause of a free and independent Judiciary – the mantra of the struggle now waged by JUSUN – and they will wonder how they should bear responsibility, on this kind of debilitating scale, for the failure of governments to guarantee the implementation of the high court’s judgment.

  • Aba lawyers, court workers relish end of strike

    Aba lawyers, court workers relish end of strike

    “The strike did more damage than good. It is not that JUSUN members should not fight for what is their right or what belongs to them, but the inability of both the group and government to resolve their differences early enough, my brother, did a lot of damage to the system”

    The four-month-long strike has ended and lawyers and court workers are the happier for it.

    Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Abia State chapter had embarked on an industrial action alongside their federal counterparts after the judgment of an Abuja Court approved the financial autonomy, and other emoluments, of the judiciary.

    While their federal court workers called off the strike following an agreement between their union and the Federal Government, their counterparts in some states continued the action as no such agreement had been reached.

    The situation in Abia State lingered until last week when stakeholders in the judiciary and a delegation from the state government led by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Chief Umeh Kalu among others entered into an agreement with representatives of the workers union. Thereafter, the strike was suspended.

    The suspension of the industrial action brought a smile on the faces of members of the workers’ union, lawyers practicing in the state, inmates awaiting bail and trial including members of the general public seeking justice.

    Our correspondent who went round Aba to monitor the resumption of courts on Monday reports that members of JUSUN in the state urged its members to report to duty.

    The workers complied with the directive.

    In some of the courts visited, including Aba South Magistrate court, workers were seen clearing grass, while court clerks were issuing new dates to lawyers whose cases were adjourned.

    Though the reporter was not able to speak with the Aba South Court I magistrate, His Lordship Chijioke Nwogu his car was spotted at its parking lot even as a staff of the court confirmed that he was in office for duties.

    Some of JUSUN members who preferred anonymity said that though they were yet to see the content of the MOU however expressed their happiness on the decisions of the state government and the judiciary workers’ body in the state to come together on a round table and agreed on certain conditions before the strike was suspended.

    At Aba High, the situation was not different from what was witnessed at the Magistrate Courts as the place was packed full with many lawyers on hand as early as 8am waiting for Judges of respective courts to come to court.

    Some of them that spoke to our correspondent said that they were happy that the court judiciary workers have decided to call of the strike and court expected to resume sitting.

    They expressed concern over the growing number of inmates languishing in prison and police custodies especially people with criminal matters who would have either been granted bail or hearing on their matters to have commenced.

    “Do you know what it means for somebody to be on awaiting trial for nearly four months? Do you know what it means for someone who having met his or her bail application to spend extra months in detention? Do you know what it means for an inmate who was supposed to have served out his sentence in the last three months or so to be delayed again because some judicial processes could not be completed because of the strike? The truth is that the impact of the strike did more damage than good. It is not that JUSUN members should not fight for what is their right or what belongs to them, but the inability of both the group and government to resolve their differences early enough, my brother it (the strike) did a lot of damage to the system,” a lawyer stated.

    Emeka Nnaji, an Aba-based lawyer, in an interview, said,

    “The suspension of the strike is a welcome development. At least the courts are lively now. Some courts sat this morning (Monday), others are busy issuing dates and most lawyers in court taking date for their matters even though it’s a very difficult task for lawyers now, but we are thanking God that the courts are lively now. Some Magistrates were in court but for one reason they didn’t sit because you have to issue dates to the lawyers and even to litigants; they have to know the date their cases before the court can start sitting. So, I thank the JUSUN for calling of the strike, at least people that have problem will like to come to the court for their matters.

    ”The strike made police stations congested; some of the criminal matters that were supposed to charge to court were there (police station) lying pending but as the court have started sitting, I am optimistic that within some couple of days some of those matters that are waiting to go to court will be pushed to court so that people that want justice will go to court and get justice. Then there are some people that are also at the ATM (awaiting trial inmates) now, some of them had already processed their bail papers waiting for an order to be issued for their release, but for the JUSUN strike, they were still in the prison yard.

    ”So what we want now is to tidy up our own side (lawyers’ side) because the magistrates and judges are ready as some started sitting today but for one thing or the order some are doing matters in the chambers and they couldn’t come out today to preside, but we just thank God and every other person that is involved in resolving the industrial dispute between JUSUN and the state government.

    … “Everybody is still learning; both the senior and junior lawyers. Each time you are in court, there is something new you must learn even if you don’t learn the law, you may even learn the psychology of the court and from there you will know how to approach the court when next you are coming to the court… in the area of knowledge, we all lost a very huge thing in the strike.

    “My advice is that both parties should come to a round table. In every crisis, there must be a solution, so I want both JUSUN and the government to have pity on the masses. In every of their grievance let them look at the people that are suffering. I am not saying that JUSUN at not supposed to have that which they are entitled to but I am also asking them to look at the masses that are suffering. There are people that are at ATM in the prisons, there are people that their rights are being trampled upon that wants to come to court to seek redress, but unfortunately, because of the strike, they couldn’t come to the court. So what I am saying is for government and JUSUN officials to come to a round table and solve the problem by sitting in a roundtable so that everything will be well….”

    Chidozie Ogunji the Aba branch chairman of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) is a chat said it was a good development and “it could have been also destructive if the time that we are entering into with the incidences of election and post-election issues which includes election petitions and also time to charge electoral offenders and other things. It will also keep the whole ambit of the profession running again after 4months of dormant engagement. It is now ideal that people should go on and explore the content of the law for the less-privilege and of course it becomes an end to the anomaly of having three arms of government with two working and the one that should play the role of an arbiter between persons and persons, government and persons and government agencies and government. It is a good development and something that we are happy about.

    Ogunji advising government and JUSUN said “To me it is two ways, when government entered into an agreement they should be able to comply with it. However it goes, people should understand that government is a continuum because in a month’s time there will change of leadership, so how I am looking at it is basically that it is a function of the party as much as possible having a meeting of mind. Let government be more open with the JUSUN, JUSUN should also be more understanding. All we want in the state is a harmonious working relationship between the Judiciary and the Executive where the Judiciary will be independent and the Executive is not interfering.

    ”I will suggest that the two parties should be open to each other, when there is that openness in terms of what is generated and what you do to the people, there won’t be much acrimony. So, I believe that the parties will be very much more interested in having the court than any of them either the government or JUSUN throwing up issues that will in any manner forestall or impede the administration of justice in the state.

    Information at The Nation disposal has it that the judiciary workers union after series of meetings and consultations with officials of the Abia State Government signed a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) last week in Umuahia the state capital at the Office of Head of Service to suspend the industrial action.

    A source who was at the meeting named Chief Umeh Kalu,Hon. Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, C.E Anyim,chief Registrar High Court of Abia State, Benson Anya,chief Registrar, Customary Court of Appeal,Abia State, National Vice-President, JUSUN, southeast, Mark Ifezue, Emmanuel Onyemeribeya, Chairman, JUSUN, Abia State Branch, Umuahia NBA Chairman Chief A.C.R Onubuogu among other stakeholders were the people.

    The group said that they wouldn’t hesitate to go back to strike by the end of this month if government fails to implement the content of the MOU.

    In the MOU made available to The Nation the Abia State Government said that they would implement the provisions of section 81(3) and 121(3) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended with regard to seeing that all monies-personnel, overhead and capital costs, due to the State Judiciary as appropriated in the Judiciary Budget are released to Heads of Courts concerned through the accounting officers of the Judiciary on monthly basis on budget performance.

    According to the MOU, the state Government shall issue all necessary circular and instruments to give effect to ensure that the content of the agreement would be implemented in accordance with the Abuja Federal High Court Order.

    ……”that the personnel emolument of the Judiciary staff based on CONJUSS as contained in the 2015 budget estimate be implemented. That this Memorandum of Understanding shall take effect from January, 2015. That all arrears in Overhead, Personnel and Capital Costs in respect of the months of January, February and March, 2015 for the Abia State Judiciary (High Court, Customary Court of Appeal and  Judicial Service Commission) shall be paid along with the April, 2015 release of fund. That the right of JUSUN to resume the industrial action in case of any breach if this memorandum is reserved,” part of the MOU read.

    “To me it is two ways, when government entered into an agreement they should be able to comply with it. People should understand that government is a continuum because in a month’s time there will change of leadership”

     

  • Students bemoan strike in KSU, CRUTECH

    Students bemoan strike in KSU, CRUTECH

    The National Association of Universities Students (NAUS) has condemned the closure of the Cross Rivers State University of Science and Technology (CRUTECH) and the Kogi State University (KSU) in Anyigba, over workers’ unpaid salaries.

    The association’s national president, Jonathan Adekunle, said it was illegal for the schools to be shut against students’ wishes, calling on the CRUTECH’s and KSU’s managements to re-open the campuses in students’ interest.

    His words: “Let it be known that NAUS strongly condemns the closure of the schools. We see the action as ungodly and embarrassing because the closures are against students’ wishes. We also condemn treatmented out to students of the affected schools. We believe the welfare of workers remains the obligation of the government and ask the governors to pay their workers immediately.”

    Through the statement, Adekunle said NAUS had passed a vote of no confidence on Governor Liyel Imoke for his lackadaisical attitude and failure to adhere to the letter the association submitted to him last month to meet with the aggrieved lecturers for resolution.

    He also appealed to Governor Idris Wada to immediately resolve the crises rocking the KSU, stressing that NAUS was worried over the failure of government to pay workers their entitlement.

    The association gave Imoke a week ultimatum to re-open CRUTECH, failure of which would lead to a protest.

  • Plateau NLC gives Jang seven-day strike notice

    Plateau NLC gives Jang seven-day strike notice

    The Plateau State chapters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Joint Negotiating Council have given Governor Jonah Jang a seven-day strike notice.

    They vowed to go on an indefinite strike from Monday, May 4, if the governor failed to meet their demands.

    The NLC, in January, issued a 21-day strike notice and later a 14-day notice to Jang for unpaid salaries.

    The union said the proposed strike could only be prevented if the government cleared the arrears it owed workers since last year.

    A statement yesterday in Jos, the state capital, by the union’s Acting Secretary Izang Francis Atsen, said: “The workers will down tools at the expiration of the ultimatum, from May 4, having exhausted all avenues for an amicable settlement.

    “I am directed to inform you that the council, having reviewed the 14-day notice of Jan. 15, for which government has been pleading for understanding; yet, till now, workers have not received any salaries.”

     

  • Strike over poor funding needless

    Strike over poor funding needless

    A public analyst, Patrick Tolani, has criticised the incessant strikes by teachers in tertiary institutions.

    In an interview, he said strikes are needless if institutions get their acts right, especially on how to commercialise to boost their internal revenue.

    Tertiary institutions should have innovative ideas that could translate into cash for universities, Tolani stressed.

    Tolani, who is Chief Executive Officer Charity Aid and Development for Africa, continued: “We need to motivate them to think out of the box and focus on research innovation and commercialisation as it is in developed countries. Professors in developed countries don’t sell handouts; they access grants for research and innovation and commercialisation through which they even sponsor younger students to embark on research that would translate to societal benefit.”

    Tolani, a lawyer, said universities  should be a fertile land for innovations that will address varying aspects of the society – security, health, education, economy among others.

    Against this background, he said lecturers need to gird their loins, jettison indolence and make themselves globally relevant like their overseas colleagues

    “For instance, we have security, energy, unemployment and solutions to these problems should have been expected from professors in universities, but because of their (lecturers) limited relevance, we don’t find solutions from them. This is also the reason their students also have limited relevance towards solving societal problems, and making these same youths problems to the society by forming a critical mass of the unemployed,” he added.

    Teachers, he advised, should also spread their intellectual tentacles to their contemporaries in developed societies for collaborative research, saying the latter are also interested in embarking on projects that focus on improving developing countries, and also boost their own profile.

    Tolani also called on the government to,  aside the normal funding for running universities, set up a ‘special fund’ for different areas which both public and private institutions can access.

    Special funds, he said, should be created for different areas of innovation for social benefit which any institution private, or public can have access to as incentives for lecturers to launch into innovative solutions.

    “To increase lecturers’ capacity to meet crucial roles, they can partner with their colleagues in foreign universities. There are professors like them who are willing to partner on issues that focus on developing countries. Such professors can even bring more funding for such superpose,” he added.