The Nation Newspaper

Tag: workers

  • Kogi varsity workers begin indefinite strike

    Kogi State University chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), last Friday, began an indefinite strike.

    The striking workers called for the reconstitution of the university’s Governing Council and payment of arrears owed members. They alleged that about 200 of them have not received salaries in eight months.

    The Chairman, Dr. Daniel Aina, who addressed a news conference at the weekend in Lokoja, maintained that the absence of the governing council in the last one year affected the school negatively.

    He said: “In the last one year, we have struggled with the government on issues relating to the smooth running of the university. We will, however, not fail to appreciate the government for responding in part, by the paying in instalments, arrears of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA). This shows that the government has the capacity to meet its obligations to the university.

    “ASUU-KSU has sought to have audience with the Visitor but we have been denied the opportunity. Our demands have been forwarded to government but there has been no formal response. We have cried out to the world about the deteriorating situation in Kogi State University, the climax of which is the mass exodus of choice lecturers.

    “The hardships meted to the perceived “ghosts” or “improper” workers are needless because even the law deems everyone innocent until proven guilty.

    “The conduct of the screening exercise is alien to the university system and ASUU-KSU has resolved never to be subjected to such unethical practice again.

    “We had wanted the ‘No pay, No Work’ action but we were cajoled. No more shall this happen again.

    “In the last five years, funds committed for infrastructural development is not up to a quarter of what came through the TETFund intervention, which in itself is a product of ASUU struggle.

    “We are tired of working without salary; we are tired of seeing our legacy progressively destroyed through the systematic erosion of the university’s autonomy. We are standing up to oppose oppression and impunity. We are not politicians. We are the vanguard of academic integrity.”

  • Centre advises health workers against lassa fever

    Centre advises health workers against lassa fever

    The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has warned  healthcare providers against contracting lassa fever.

    In a statement, it said to prevent lassa fever transmission in healthcare settings, professionals should adhere to universal precautions. Doctors and nurses, the centre said,  should insist on these precautions.

    NCDC said the warning was important to ensure infection prevention and control practices at points of care. ‘’This is because all febrile illnesses must be tested for malaria before treatment; tests that return negative for malaria may be lassa fever and must flag suspicion. It encouraged frontline health workers to report all suspected cases of lassa to their local government disease surveillance and notification officers and/or state epidemiologists.

    The statement signed by the Technical Assistant Communication, Dr Lawal Bakare, said it was encouraging to see that where patients present early and where healthcare workers have a high index of suspicion for Lassa fever, Lassa fever patients were walking out of the treatment centres in good health.

    “When diagnosis and treatment are late, they reduce the likelihood of recovery. Lassa fever is curable when there is rapid laboratory testing to confirm the disease, leading to early commencement of treatment,” he said.

    The centre urged Nigerians to cooperate with their state governments. ‘’Lassa is endemic in Nigeria, and a lassa fever working group has been set-up at NCDC to ensure no state is left behind. Reports from states show prepositioned materials have been critical for states to respond immediately to cases,’’ he said.

    Bakare said the prevention of lassa fever began with awareness, adding that the disease is not only preventable, but also  treatable.

    “Improving food and personal hygiene is key to prevention at the household level. A high index of suspicion and observing Universal safety precautions is important to prevention at the health facility level. For further information on how to protect yourself and family from Lassa Fever contact the NCDC through the toll-free call centre on 080097000010. We also receive feedback through our Facebook and Twitter accounts @NCDCgov.

    ‘’Nigerians can also visit www.ncdc.gov.ng for more information on how the NCDC is protecting the health of Nigerians from Lassa fever and other disease threats,”  Bakare added.

  • Workers to Buhari: don’t approve N309b bond to power firms

    Workers to Buhari: don’t approve N309b bond to power firms

    Workers, acting under the aegis of Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to shelve his administration’s plans to issue a N309 billion bond to finance the power sector.
    Its President, Chris Okonkwo, advised the government to first assess the performance of the power firms in the past three years vis-a-vis the conditions spelt out in the privatisation deal the firms reached with the government.
    He warned that the power generation in the country might not be viable in the future if government continued to spoon feed the power firms.
    According to Okonkwo, the anticipated efficiency in service delivery from the private power firms has not been met with deceptions and failed promises.
    One of such failed promises, according to SSAEAC president, is the provision of prepaid meters to electricity consumers within 18 months which the firms failed to supply. The power firms have consistently blamed high exchange rate for their failure to do this.
    Okonkwo added that the power DisCos have displayed inefficiency in revenue collection with 30 per cent collection rate as against 60 per cent the sector recorded pre-privatisation.
    Heargued that the financial and technical inefficiencies of the power firms were evident in the shortfall of funds they report despite enjoying series of intervention from government.
    The General Secretary of the union, Umar Dubagari, in a letter to the House of Representatives on the N309 billion bond, called for the formulation for a proper policy to achieve quality and functional electricity generation in the country.
    He said: “The issuance of bonds in this circumstance would amount to not only spoon-feeding the operators in their inefficiency, but also at a great cost to Nigerians as the risk of default would lead to national energy crisis in the future.
    “DisCos which collected revenue failed to remit in full to other market participants without any disciplinary measure by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to block the leakage. However, the NERC is not dong much. It sought for bailout from the Federal Government, year-in year-out in favour of GenCos and DisCos and more or less acted as their advocate.”

  • Kogi workers screening, a sham

    SIR: To many who had questioned the modus operandi of the marathon and unending Kogi State screening exercise, the widespread rejection and protests that greeted the final release of the much awaited and publicised report of the exercise by the state government few days ago wasn’t unexpected; neither was the many contradictions and lacuna therein of any surprise. The screening exercise which would have offered an opportunity for the much needed cleanup and re-organization of the state civil service was turned into a tool for political witch hunting, revenge and vendetta.

    The crisis which led to the removal of the leadership of the former screening committee and his subsequent replacement futher exposed the fact that the Yahaya Bello administration lacks what it takes to conduct a free and fair staff verification exercise. It is perplexing that the same verification/screening exercise which was done in states like Sokoto, Benue, Plateau, Kwara with much bigger staff strength within weeks and few months is taking forever to conclude in Kogi State. It doesn’t require rocket science to know that the bank verification number (BVN) of workers holds the key to a genuine and successful staff audit and that was what all the states used in cleaning up their civil service. Rather than take advantage of ICT and BVN, the state government opted to go the primitive old way which has raised more questions than required of this administration’s hidden agenda to systematically retrench workers under the guise of screening, and the quality of men and women around the governor.

    The screening report as released to the public is not only an embarrassment, it is also shameful. The “new direction” government of a “digital governor” could not even edit and screen its own report before releasing it. How will a serious government declare majority of its workforce who are presently on study leave within and outside the country as “ghosts” in an era where sane governments are waging a war on brain drain? Previous government complied with the commitment to sponsor workers and accademics to study and come back to impact their knowledge to benefit the state in line with international best practice, only for those to be removed from the state’s workforce.

    Amongst the several contradictions and controversies in the screening report, heads of key state owned institutions like the state polytechnics, the state university and many others were either declared “ghosts” or contract staffs.  For me, the most embarrassing point of the screeing report is the fact that some names apeared both in the “cleared” and “uncleared” list of state workers.  Some of the workers who were cleared before were lucky to be in the few that received their salaries up till December 2016 are now tagged as “ghosts”

    Although in their usual manner, the state government has reiterated its commitment to pay all “genuine” workers, stressing that the screeing was an ongoing exercise as aggrieved persons with “genuine” complaints should bring such forward for a redress, the questions on the lips of majority of Kogites are; how long would this screeing exercise go on? Will we even see the end of these perpetual embarrassment, harassment and hardship being meted to the workers under the guise of staff verification in the life span of this administration? What sins have the workers committed against this government to warrant maltreatments and torture?

    It’s good news that the state House of Assembly has finally awaken from its deep “sleep” and rising up to be counted on this matter. An opportunity for them to prove their true representation and loyalty to the people who elected them into office is now.

     

    • Hussain Obaro,

    oseniobaro@yahoo.com

  • Oil workers reject planned sale of refineries

    As the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) plans to rehabilitate refineries to optimise capacity utilisation in the year, oil workers in the country have warned the Federal Government against the sale of national refineries as scraps.

    The Group Executive Councils of National Union of Petroleum and Natural gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) said the step was a drift from the initial position which the union had rejected.

    It noted that the proposal to adopt a new model that would bring investors to increase productivity without necessarily having to lose jobs was commendable.

    Secretaries of the two groups, Comrade Sulaiman Sulaiman of PENGASSAN and Comrade Uche Amara of UNPENG GEC, said they had been following the Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC, Maikanti Baru’s 12 Focus Area drive towards revamping the corporation with interest.

    It noted that the administration of the GMD has been workers’friendly in the evaluation of its programmes and listed promotions, redeployment, rehabilitation of refineries as well as other welfare programmes, including wage and retirement benefits.

    “We believe that this practice if sustained will continue to boost staff morale and increase productivity”, the unions said, and promised to be committed in partnering with him to increase productivity and enhance welfare of workers.’’

  • Electricity workers seek review of PHCN sale

    Electricity workers have called for a review of the power sector’s privatisation because of what they called the poor performance of the distribution and generation  companies.

    Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Company (SSAEAC) President, Chris Okonkwo decried the dwindling fortunes of the sector after its  November 1, 2013 sale.

    The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on January 9 told the distribution companies (Discos) to improve on their service delivery or quit.

    ”We are working as hard as we can to make the environment more responsive to you and as I have said and will repeat that as pioneers, you will carry some burdens. You either improve your services or quit,” Fashola told the firms at the opening of the 11th Monthly Stakeholders meeting in Lagos.

    According to Okonkwo, three years after the Discos and Gencos took over the electricity sector, they are yet to meet people’s expectations.

    “We think it is time to reappraise the content of the agreement that handed over the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to the private sector and its implementation.

    “It is time to hold those who bought the power sector down for what they had signed that they will do. We want to know if they are doing well or not,’’ he said.

    Referring to Fashola’s warning, he said the government should not ask electricity investors to shape up, but to also ensure that they implement what was stipulated in the contract for the sale of the power sector.

    Okonkwo criticised the government’s plans to get N309 billion fund from the bond market to “finance shortfall” in the electricity market since it had sold it to private investors.

    He said: “Issuance of bond will amount to spoon-feeding the operators for their inefficiency. The bond will be at a cost to Nigerians as the risk of default will affect the Government Sovereign Guarantee and lead to energy crisis in future.’’

    The union leader said among the challenges that had affected the growth of power supply was DISCOs’ inability to collect revenue for the energy generated and transmitted by the generation companies.

    “Critical to the survival of this sector is revenue collection. There is deficiency in revenue collection. These companies collect revenue of 30 per cent as against 60 to 70 per cent before privatisation and this is the money the sector needs to operate with.

    “Where you produce something and the money for it is not recovered through the market, that product will go extinct. That is what may happen,’’ he said.

    Okonkwo said another challenge was because the country operated a grid system which remained the best option for cheap power.

    “The grid system is where generators very big volume are integrated and connected into cadre and energy is exchanged throughout the interconnected grid.

    “Where the money for the energy is generated and put on the grid cannot come back for the Gencos to plough back into production of electricity for the transmission to recover cost of transmitting and delivering electrify to the Disco’s, then we run the risk for the whole system collapsing.

    “That is why we need to raise alarm again that the Discos have no time to be asked to perform again. What should be done is access them and act on what they have attained so far, positive or negative,’’ he said.

    On metering of houses, Okonkwo said it was sad that consumers were not metered without noticeable improvement in the area of generation or distribution of electricity while tariffs had been increased twice since 2013.

    “The government should come in, apply the terms and conditions of the sale and see if we can correct the mistake,” he said.

    Okonkwo said if the private investors could not manage the sector, the government should take it over, adding that: “Electricity is a socio-economic sector that other sectors, such as health and the economy depend.”

  • Varsity, workers on warpath

    Varsity, workers on warpath

    The five-day nationwide warning strike by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Associated institutions (NASU) ends tomorrow. But both union’s chapters at the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), may not resume because of a misunderstanding with management over outstanding allowances, promotion and other matters, report ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA and ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA. 

    Long before the one week national warning strike by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and (SSANU) the Non-Academic Staff Union Universities and Associated Institution, (NASU), which ends tomorrow, their counterparts at Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), had been on strike. FUOYE Vice-Chancellor Prof Kayode Soremekun, has called on the unions to end their strike as some of their demand, have been bet.

    The workers staged a two-day protest last week demanding payment of outstanding salaries and hazard allowance and clearance of promotions.

    Soremekun said the settled demand, included payment of salary arrears, and the non-remittance of cooperatives deductions, which the unions alleged had accumulated to N19million since December 2015.

    “They have all been paid. We do not owe any unit from 2015 to date except the PAYE of Ekiti state for two months”, he said.

    Management, he said, was working on modalities for promotion, since the workers had earlier kicked against the “examination before promotion” policy introduced by the Governing Council.

    The VC noted that the workers’ demand for hazard allowance did not seem legitimate, adding that the 2009 agreement signed by the Federal Government with tertiary institutions, only singled out technologists under the aegis of the National Association of  Academic Technologists (NAAT) as being entitled to the allowance.

    He urged the unions to go the Wale Babalakin-led Committee set up by the Federal Government to re-negotiate its 2009 agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to clarify the issue of hazard allowance.

    Soremekun said even if the workers’ agitations were addressed, the  documents might come up again in future because of the university’s huge staff strength compared to 11 others established by the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

    He said: “We have paid the November salary but since then, we knew there would be problems because there was a shortfall. Management decided to pay workers between L1 and L14, leaving the very senior ones including the professors.

    “Unfortunately, I was in Abuja at the time and I was not carried along by my subordinates. When I returned, I insisted the action was wrong and we had to source for funds from our IGR to pay these people, which we did.

    “I was then informed that we were not going to have December salary, I then started contacting some key people in Abuja. Within that same week, they sent some bodies here to come and see our financial records and found us not wanting.

    “Of the 12 new universities, FUOYE has the largest staff strength on our payroll. We have about 701 senior non-teaching staff,  junior non-teaching staff stand at 72, technologists six. Academic staff members, are 394. This is the figure as at October. Though this has been slightly altered, the ratio remains the same.

    “This is what I met on ground. The unions alleged that I also employed workers. It is true, but those this management employed were very few key officers necessary in certain key departments and not the large figures being bandied in the media.

    “It is only in FUOYE that we have 250 administrative officers. We are just five years old and I do not think even UNILAG after 50 years (of existence) has up to that figure.

    “From the document at my disposal (referring to the 2009 Agreement), only the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) is entitled to this allowance and we have been paying them. Both NASU and SSANU seemed to have lost out probably because they were not able to convince government, thus the document simply directed universities to pay hazard allowance ‘only if they could’ to NASU and SSANU and not that universities are under obligation to pay.”

    Soremekun said police were deployed on campus to present breakdown of law and order.

    He said: “The police took over the gate and other strategic portions of the school because of the behaviour of some protesting workers. Why should I deploy police to gag union leaders or arrest them?

    “I have my background in human rights activism. I believe in legitimate protest, but not the one that would cause a breach of others’ rights.

    “The police learnt the Chairman of ASUU was beaten by the protesting workers and the man escaped the scene and lodged a complaint with the police, which prompted security beef up to prevent loss of lives.”

    But, NASU chairman Malomo Oladimeji and his SSANU counterpart Adewole Mutiu said they would not end the strike because management is being economical with the truth.

    Oladimeji claimed that management has the resources to pay hazard allowance.  He warned that failure to do so would result to the invitation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to investigate and other Related Offences alleged financial abuses in the school.

    He said other universities were paying the hazard allowance to SSANU and NASU members.

    “We all negotiated earned allowances, which included the hazard allowance. There is something fishy.  Some of these universities are paying the hazard allowance.  They squander the money anyhow,” he said.

    Adewole said management should be held responsible for the over-bloated workforce.  He added that it should not constitute a reason for its refusal to pay the allowance.

    Denying plans to sack workers.

    “We are neither considering victimising protesters nor laying off staff. Thankfully enough, the NUC recently approved 19 new programmes for us. I am also glad to inform you that plans are in place to establish two new faculties, Pharmacy and Medical Sciences. In fact, the Senate will formally consider and approve the Doctor of Pharmacy programme this week. Federal Government has already made available funds for the new faculties.”

     

  • NAF jet kills aid workers, civilians in Borno

    NAF jet kills aid workers, civilians in Borno

    A fighter jet belonging to the Nigeria Airforce has misfired against humanitarian aid workers in northern part of  Borno State.
    The Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole Major Gen. Lucky Irabor at a brief press briefing said some of the humanitarian workers
    affected are from International Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC) and Medicine San Frontier( MSF).
    He also disclosed that several Boko Haram terrorists were killed in the air raid which took place around KalaBage area.
    “We got reports of a gathering of Boko Haram Terrorists at Kala/Balge this morning; and a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jet conducted an
    aerial strike on the gatherings of insurgents. This resulted into killings of several terrorists and civilians, including some staff of MSF and ICRC.
    He said  “So far, it is a little bit disturbing; death has occurred. There are casualties; there were deaths and injuries.
    “But on the actual number of casualties, we would get back to you later. I am yet to get the number of casualties of civilians killed,
    but two soldiers were also affected,’’ the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole said on Tuesday in Maiduguri.
    The shots hit the Medicines Sans Frontiers and some civilians in Kala Balge in Borno state in northeast during an operation.
    “This morning, we received a report about the gathering of Boko Haram terrorists around Kala Balge area of Maiduguri.
    “I coordinated and I directed that the air component of the operation should go and address the problem.
    “Unfortunately, the strike was conducted but it turned out that other civilians were somewhere around the area and they were affected, ’’ Maj. Irabor said.
    He also informed that the Theatre has dispatch some helicopters for an immediate rescue of the victims
    “We are sending helicopters to evacuate those that were critically wounded, including our wounded soldiers,” Irabor said.

    “Today’s military air strikes are a little bit disturbing. It is disturbing enough for me. I cannot give you the exact levels or number
    of casualties right now, as I address you on this unfortunate development at Kala/Balge.”

    He continued: “We have sent helicopters to immediately evacuate the wounded soldiers and civilians to Maiduguri for treatment.

    “It is unfortunate and that is the reason why the war must come to an end; because the cost is certainly not good enough for everyone.
    The Theatre Commander however noted that  it will be too premature to describe the incident as tactical error, stressing that “as far as the
    issue of local casualties are concerned, the military could not have deliberately target a civilian population. But  the issue would be investigated to ascertain what went wrong,” he said.

  • Workers praise NNPC over welfare

    Workers praise NNPC over welfare

    Oil workers have described the administration and programmes of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Director (GMD), Dr. Maikanti Kacalla Baru, as workers-friendly.

    The workers under the Group Executive Councils (GECs) of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) rated the Baru-led administration after a careful evaluation of its programmes.

    In a statement by the Secretaries of the two  unions, Comrade Sulaiman Sulaiman of PENGASSAN and Comrade Uche Amara of NUPENG, the workers said they had been following the GMD’s 12 Focus Area drive towards bringing back NNPC to the path of success with keen interest.

    The unions commended the plans and pronouncements toward a comprehensive rehabilitation of the three nation’s refineries to achieve optimal capacity utilisation by 2017.

    They noted that it was a clear drift from the initial position, which the unions always rejected, where important national assets were posited for sales as scrap, adding that the proposal to adopt a new model that will bring investors to increase productivity without having to lose jobs is commendable.

    “The recent familiarisation tour of all NNPC facilities by the GMD and the pronouncements made during the visits are clear demonstrations of Management resolve to carry along all stakeholders, especially the unions at all levels,” the workers stated in the statement.

    The workers listed areas such as promotions/redeployment, rehabilitation of refineries, and other welfare programmes,  inccluding wages and retirement benefits.

  • Ngige urges workers to brace for performance

    Ngige urges workers to brace for performance

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has warned that the Federal Government will not tolerate incompetence from the parastatals and agencies of government as it moves to push the nation out of recession in the year. He said the changing times demanded dynamic leadership.

    The minister said this during a working visit to the headquarters of three parastatals in the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

    Addressing the management and members of staff of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Ngige insisted that  in this recession, the NDE, which has a mandate for job creation, ought to distinguish itself in moving the country forward  through massive job creation in agriculture and mining.

    He said: “We must battle recession from all fronts. We must take Nigeria out of recession in 2017 and the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) shall lead the way. This agency must lead domestic production in agriculture and mining.

    “Nigeria must stop the importation of rice and other items we can produce here. Therefore, the NDE must redesign its programmes for the 2017 to align with massive job creation in agriculture, to sufficiently feed the nation and create jobs en mass.”

    At the headquarters of the Nigeria Social Industrial Trust Fund (NSITF), the minister urged its management to expand the Fund’s activities to the private sector to enable it benefit from the scheme, noting that it is a scheme aimed at providing insurance cover and compensation for injuries and accidents at work places.

    He regretted that some challenges had hampered NSITF’s mandate.

    “The bitter truth is that NSITF has not lived up to expectations. It is high time we changed our old ways so that the fund can fulfill its mandate. We must show more seriousness and face the work more squarely,” he said.

    During the visit to the National Productivity Centre (NPC), Ngige observed that one of the major problems facing the nation is its inability to measure her productivity, adding that no nation has ever made progress without proper attention to productivity measurement.

    The Minister added: “The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has productivity as a priority, but a lot of Nigerians do not know and appreciate what you are doing; there is a need, therefore, for a lot of sensitisation.’’