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Tag: workers

  • No plan to sack workers, says Wogu

    No plan to sack workers, says Wogu

    No civil servant will be sacked, Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, has said.

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has suggested a 50 per cent cut in the civil service workforce to save the economy – a suggestion that has been greeted with bitter criticisms.

    He spoke at the Eighth National Labour Relations Summit and Award Ceremony, with the theme: “Social Policy, Labour Relations & the Transformation Agenda: Extending Social Protection in Nigeria”, held at the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin, Kwara State.

    Wogu said: “In the area of employment; the ministry is following up closely on the recommendations from the past National Job Summit and fresh insights from its independent work. We are working to enhance capacity at our skill development and job centres.

    “Earlier this year, the ministry initiated a process for mass recruitment of graduates through the Sure-P programme. We are seeking ways of collaborating with captains of industries and corporate bodies to address youth unemployment.”

    He said the Federal Government has demonstrated its commitment to social protection through the review of labour laws to ensure emergence of the appropriate legal environment, which supports social protection reforms as evident in the Employees Compensation Act of 2010.

    “We are encouraging the review of our labour laws to ensure emergence of the appropriate legal environment, which supports social protection reforms. This is precisely what we have done with the Employees Compensation Act of 2010. There are several initiatives we are undertaking on the basis of the provisions of this statute. These include current efforts in the areas of compensations for injuries, support for medical care and housing loan schemes for workers,” Wogu stressed.

    Earlier in their goodwill messages, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Comrade Abdulwahhed Omar, represented by Comrade Isa Aremu and his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Comrade Peter Esele, said Nigeria could move forward, if government revives the real sectors of the economy- manufacturing, transportation, textile, food, drinks and beverages and others – adding that government should enhance the labour force to achieve more for the country with intervention fund.

    The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Tunji Olaopa, in his lead paper entitled: “From Policy to Practice: Linking Social Protection to National Development”, said government has a sacred duty to protect its citizens, particularly the poor.

    According to him, financing social protection should be the responsibility of government at all levels and other stakeholders who are in positions to mobilise resources both internal and external.

  • Amaechi stops salaries of striking varsity workers

    Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has stopped the payment of salaries to striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), Port Harcourt, who are protesting the reappointment of Prof. Barineme Fakae as Vice-Chancellor.

    Amaechi spoke yesterday during a Town Hall meeting at the Secretariat of the Port Harcourt City Local Government.

    He said: “RSUST is not on strike. Some lecturers refused to teach. I have directed the Ministry of Finance not to pay them. No work, no pay.

    “The university’s law states that the governor should appoint the VC. ASUU members should not tell me how to govern. I have appointed a VC, whether they like it or not. Lecturers are to teach and not to appoint the VC. “RSUST ASUU members earn the highest salary in the country. Before I leave in 2015, we will upgrade RSUST to a standard university.”

    RSUST ASUU members have been on strike for over six months

    The Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) said most of his critics were complaining because he did not allow them to steal the state’s funds as they used to do before he assumed office.

    He said the government was paying N488 million monthly to refuse clearing contractors, who were mostly politicians, until he terminated their contracts because they were not performing.

    Amaechi said: “My government is fair in the development of the 23 councils. The problem in Rivers State is that of sharing money. They have started forming groups again and are lying to you. God will not allow them. We will stop them. All the thieves stealing our money will be stopped.

    “I started living in Diobu, Port Harcourt, when I was five years old. Shortly after my inauguration as governor, I was saying Rivers money for Rivers people, but most of the indigenes who were awarded contracts did not do well.

    “It is no longer Rivers money for Rivers people. It is now Rivers money for anybody in the world, who can deliver the services. My administration is determined to transform the state.”

    The governor said N6 billion was paid as compensation to land owners at Igwuruta, Ikwerre Local Government, for the Greater Port Harcourt City project.

    He said the project would cover Ikwerre, Port Harcourt, Obio/Akpor, Etche, Eleme, Oyigbo, and Okrika councils.

    Amaechi debunked rumours that plots of land at the Greater Port Harcourt City would be shared by the elites. He said they would be sold to interested persons without sentiments.

    He said over 300 indigenes had been benefiting annually from the administration’s overseas scholarship.

    The governor said there would be no going back on the ongoing demolition of over 40 waterfront communities.

    He said anybody who dumps refuse on roads in the state capital would be jailed for three months and anyone whose house is near the illegal refuse dumps would be prosecuted and, if found guilty, imprisoned.

  • NLC condemns governors move to scuttle LGAs autonomy

    NLC condemns governors move to scuttle LGAs autonomy

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday flayed states governors for their alleged attempts to influence the National and State Houses of Assembly to  scuttle the calls for Local Government Areas (LGAs) autonomy at the ongoing  public hearings on the 1999 constitution review.
    Speaking  at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Harmattan School in Abuja, the congress’ President, Comrade Abduwahed Omar, said the governors want the status-quo to be maintained in spite of the unanimous call for autonomy local councils autonomy.
    He urged the National Assembly to ignore the governors and review allocation formula to provide more fund for the Local Government Areas to meet their obligations.
    According to Omar, if the Local Government Areas get their autonomy, the state governors will no longer complain that they augment the Local Government allocation for them to pay teachers’ and workers’ s salaries.
    His words: “It is very clear they are making efforts to ensure that to influence the National Assembly to maintain the status-quo as far as the issue of Local Government autonomy is concerned. But everybody knows that it is not a good thing and trend throughout this country is the same. Everybody is saying no to this joint account that there must be Local Government autonomy.
    “I think the National Assembly should listen to what the people are saying not what few people are saying because the stand to benefit.
    “Our position is clear and it is not different from that of the generality of Nigerians. As a tier of government, let Local Government be autonomous. In fact, they should even get more money so that even the issue of what the governors always say-they have to augment money for the Local Government to pay salaries of teachers and Local Government workers.
    ” The thing is simple, make Local  Government autonomous as a tier of government just as the state is autonomous so that that money they claim they augment, now readjust the allocation formula so that there will be enough money for Local Governments to carter for their own obligations.” Omar stated.

  • ‘Shell workers were not among oil thieves’

    The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has denied that two suspected oil thieves arrested by security forces in the Niger Delta, on November 19, are its staff.

    The oil giant said the two suspects are staff of some community based contractors who work on Shell’s behalf. Shell said it has community contractors who on their own employ about 9,000 community members.

    “Without prejudice to the ongoing investigation, we can confirm that the arrested persons are not employees of SPDC.

    “There are indications from the investigation that the arrested persons are employees of one of the several community based contractors who undertake pipeline surveillance work on SPDC’s behalf in the Niger Delta,” Shell’s spokesperson, Precious Okolobo, said in a statement.

    The Joint Task Force, in a statement to reporters, said it arrested the suspects while they were tapping crude from a Shell pipeline in Rivers State. The Force said the two arrested men “working for SPDC as surveillance officers were arrested at the scene.”

    However, Okolobo said Shell is “deeply concerned by recent reports in the media which wrongly stated that two of its staff were arrested by government security forces for alleged involvement in crude theft.”

    “We are equally concerned about allegations credited to the government security agencies that SPDC’s failure to repair identified bunkering points is frustrating their bid to combat oil theft,” the spokesperson said.

    Speaking on the allegation that the company has failed to recognise and carry out repairs on various bunkering points, Okolobo said: “By October 2012, SPDC had already removed 135 illegal connections for oil theft, of which 96 were causing spills and 39 were removed as a precaution against both spills and further oil theft.”

     

     

     

     

  • Lawmakers flee as Plateau workers protest unpaid salaries

    Members of the Plateau State House of Assembly and commissioners yesterday abandoned their offices to avoid the wrath of protesting local government workers.

    Workers from Jos North and Jos South Local Governments besieged the Assembly complex and the state secretariat, protesting their unpaid five months’ salaries.

    The Jonah Jang administration is insisting on “no work, no pay” to compel the workers to return to their duty posts.

    It was learnt that some lawmakers, including Speaker John Clark Dabwan, reportedly locked themselves in their conveniences to escape the angry workers.

    The commissioners and political appointees reportedly abandoned their offices when they got wind of the workers’ protest.

    However, the Press Secretary to Speaker, Nandak Shinle, said the lawmakers did not scale the fence.

    She also said the Assembly was not in session when the workers entered the complex.

    Five labour unions, including the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), are protesting five months of unpaid salaries and the “no work, no pay” policy of the Jang administration.

    The workers wore black dresses when they stormed the Assembly noon.

     

  • Edo recovers N34m from ghost workers

    Edo State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Lucky James yesterday said N3.4 million was expended on ghost workers under the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

    He spoke yesterday on the floor of the House of Assembly while accounting for the ministry’s allocation from January to September, 2012.

    James said: “We have recovered almost N34 million through SUBEB from ghost workers.

    “Many local governments in the past went on a spending spree by breaching the Joint Allocation Committee (JAC) Law and failing to remit federal government taxes.

    “Besides, the 10 per cent of the statutory allocation for the development of local government councils may have been converted to service such debts.”

    The commissioner pledged 100 per cent compliance with the House’s resolution on the dissolution of caretaker committees.

     

  • Workers decry order to attend LP rally

    •ACN slams forceful attendance

    Civil servants in Ondo State yesterday criticised the manner the government forced them to attend the Labour Party (LP) rally held in Akure.

    One of the workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, accused the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) of compromising the professionalism of labour unions.

    He said: “It is forbidden for civil servants to be publicly partisan. We can belong to any party we want. We should not be coerced to support a particular party.”

    The civil servant said the government “through our union leaders mandated us not to go to office today (yesterday) to partake in the LP rally held at the Democracy Park, Akure.”

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has condemned the deceptive plan of the Mimiko administration to hoodwink the people of the state, especially public servants.

    A statement signed by the party’s publicity secretary, Mr. Rotimi Agbede, said the latest act of the LP would not yield any dividend as the people are determined to effect a change on Saturday and install a focused and purposeful government.

    ACN said: “The decision of the people cannot be induced by material gains or subdued by threats by the government and its satanic agents.

    “The people, having seen the ongoing transformation in the Southwest states and Edo, are eager to join their kith and kin in the regional integration agenda of the ACN.”

    The party flayed the despicable act perpetrated by the LP government to force civil servants to attend its rally.

    It said: “Information reaching us from the state secretariat has it that a special task force stationed at the secretariat has been moving from one office to another, forcing the workers to abandon their offices for onward mobilisation to the venue of the rally.

    “The task force members make this illegal act more effective. Civil servants were asked to write their names as they boarded vehicles parked in front of the secretariat.

    “ACN views this as the height of desperation by the LP government and willful breach of the constitutional rights of the workers to exercise their discretion in supporting a candidate of their choice.”

    The party said it is ironic that a government which claims to enjoy the support and confidence of the people has to resort to forceful mobilisation of workers to its rally to present to the public a semblance of popular support.

    ACN stressed that the government has to resort to the crude act, having failed this time round to persuade the workers with the N2, 000 it offered during the last rally.

    “It is not surprising that the LP administration has to go this far because it cannot comprehend the unprecedented massive support being enjoyed by the ACN as manifested by the large turnout at the various redemption rallies and show of open support by the people of the state,” the party said.

     

     

     

     

  • Kwara council workers protest non-payment of salaries

    Scores of Ilorin South Local Government Area workers of Kwara State yesterday marched on the streets of Ilorin, the state capital.

    They were protesting the non-payment of their three months’ salary arrears.

    The protestors marched from the council secretariat at Pake, passing through Pata Market via the popular Muritala Mohammed Road and berthed at the Kwara State Government House.

    They passed a vote of no confidence on the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) executive for its alleged inactivity.

    Some of the placards they carried read: We no go gree; No salary no screening; No retreat, no surrender and A hungry man is an angry man.

    The spokesperson of the protesters, Habib Bolaji said: “We condemn the council’s NULGE for being passive. In fact, we have passed a vote of no confidence on the executive members. That is why we protesting. Our three months’ salaries have not been paid; that is August, September and this month. We are not even talking about the leave bonus and other entitlements in arrears.

    “To add insult on injury, they slated a screening for today. Without payment, none of us will participate in the screening. We expect them to pay us our salary arrears so that the screening will be for October salary…”

    But in a statement Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed’s Chief Press Secretary, Abdulwahab Oba, attributed the delay in the payment of workers’ salaries to efforts to block loopholes in the wage bills of some councils.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Ajimobi reinstates 1,499 sacked workers

    Ajimobi reinstates 1,499 sacked workers

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi yesterday reinstated 1,499 of the 3,000 workers that were sacked for falsification of academic certificates and personal data.

    The decision to reinstate the workers, which was reached at the State Executive Council meeting in Ibadan, the state capital, was sequel to the recommendations of the panel constituted by the governor to review the workers’ sack.

    Those reinstated would be paid salary arrears.

    The immediate-past administration in the state had engaged the services of a firm, Captain Consulting, to audit workers in the state, with the latter using certain criteria to determine those who falsified their ages.

    One of the criteria was the assumption that every pupil would have been admitted to primary school in the 1960s and 1970s at the minimum age of six years and would sit for the Primary School Leaving Certificate at age 12 years, among other considerations.

    But the 13-member panel, headed by the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Justice Adebayo Ojo, said some children got double promotion in their schools.

    It also noted that some pupils in the 1960s and 1970s started school at ages four or five, either because of the influences of their elite parents or the absence of children of enrolment age in their localities.

    The panel said as much as the government wanted to reform the public service and removing bad eggs from the system, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to prove the charges of age falsification.

    It said some of the workers were not mature enough to discover the discrepancies between their real ages and what was written in their testimonials, when they left school.

    The 357 officers, who were not cleared by the panel, would be retired.

     

  • Workers lament closure of 850 firms

    Workers in the chemical and non-metallic products industry have blamed the poor state of the economy for the closure of 850 companies in the sector.

    National President of the workers under the aegis of the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Products Employees (NUCFRLANMPE), Comrade Boniface Isok, said more than 850 manufacturing companies closed shop, while some are now operating below production capacity.

    “The few factories that are in operation find it difficult to sustain production as the Federal Government allowed importation of all kinds of goods, thereby turning the country into a dumping ground. The adverse effect of this action is rendering the masses jobless and at the same time, boosting the economy of other countries by creating employment opportunities in those countries.”

    Isok, who spoke in Uyo at the unions delegates conference, last week, said government’s inconsistent policies have continued to hurt the economy, adding that the manufacturing sector contributes less than four per cent to the GDP compared to other countries, such as China that contributes over 15 per cent.

    He said the government should drive employment in the country, as the unemployment rate is high. He called for the abolition of contract labour and casualisation because it is modern day slavery.

    Isok appealed to the Boundary Commission to resolve all boundary disputes, saying hundreds of lives wasted on such issues were uncalled for.

    According to him, it has become necessary to draw the attention of the Federal Government to call on the commission to live up to its responsibility.

    Isok thanked the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Dr. Godswill Akpabio on his effort at ensuring that normalcy returned to Ariam in Abia State and Esa Ikwen, Ikot Okim and Abama in Akwa Ibom State.