Category: News

Mr Joe Ajaero, NLC President, said this at the ongoing 19th edition of the NLC 2023 Harmattan School, organised by the Congress on Tuesday in Abuja.

The theme of the event is “Building Workers’ Skills for Policy Engagement”.

The Harmattan School is part of the NLC National Schools where it trains and empowers members of its affiliated unions through skills development.

Ajaero, represented by Mr Benjamin Anthony, Vice-President of NLC, said it was necessary for government at all levels to recognise that life and living conditions were exceedingly difficult.

“The removal of subsidies on petroleum products has further worsened the challenges faced by working people.

“That is unleashing severe pain and contributing to galloping inflation and increasing inequality and poverty.

“We must reckon that a well-motivated and well-remunerated workforce has a positive impact on productivity and national development.

“As we anticipate the commencement of negotiations for the National Minimum Wage in 2024.

“We seek the understanding of all stakeholders to ensure that we use this opportunity to arrive at a minimum wage commensurate with the prevailing cost of living,” he said.

He said that the ultimate goal would be to establish a living wage that would cover the cost of living and make allowance for some savings by the workers.

Ajaero said that the recent assault on workers and their leaders in Imo poses a grave threat to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

“This is as enshrined in Section 40 of the 1999 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended and the ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining.

“This should unequivocally be condemned by all people of goodwill. The only thing that can assuage our pains is for the Imo Government to address all labour issues.

“They are also to return the so-called ‘ghost workers’ to their jobs, pay all outstanding salaries and pensions and call back all victimised workers to their jobs,” he said.

On the theme of the event, he said it was apt given the importance of skill and knowledge in policy processes and engagements.

“In the ever changing world of work, as trade unions, we should prepare ourselves to engage with the employers in the workplace and government in the interest of the workers and the masses.

“In order to efficiently engage in any policy, the trade unions must equip their members to understand policy making processes, its implementation, monitoring and evaluation,” he said.

Speaking, Dr Vanessa Phala, International Labour Organisation (ILO) Country Director to Nigeria, said the world of work was undergoing rapid changes, driven by technological advances, climate change, among others.

She said that these changes were affecting workers and trade unions, thereby posing new challenges and opportunities for collective action and advocacy.

According to her, trade unions remain critical stakeholders in promoting workers’ rights, improving working conditions, and advancing social and economic justice.

“Against this context, there is no better time than now for a serious and strategic reflection on the role that organised labour executes in policy engagement and dialogue.

“This 19th edition is dedicated to reflecting on the pertinent question “how can trade unions build power and transform their organisations in the context of rapidly changing economic and labour market policies”.

“The need for strong, democratic, independent, and representative workers’ organisations, effective and adequately resourced labour administrations.

“Also the robust and inclusive social dialogue institutions and processes remain fundamental, especially in times of crisis and recovery,” she said.

She added that these institutions are the bedrock of labour market governance, a prerequisite for social justice and the building blocks for the delivery of policy engagement driven decent work solutions.

Phala said policy engagement was a facet of social dialogue and that for the ILO, social dialogue in all its forms was crucial for policy coherence and effective crisis and resilience management.

“It is also a key governance instrument in managing and responding to transformations in the world of work.

“In this regard, the exigency of the theme of the 19th Harmattan School becomes even more pertinent, especially in elaborating the role trade unions play in policy engagement.

“This is particularly as it relates to advancing policy options for improved governance and conditions of the working people in Nigeria,” she added. (NAN)

About 85 persons were reported to have been killed and sixty-six injured in the accidental bombing in Nigeria’s North-West, a region battling banditry and kidnapping.

Days after the incident, Atiku says the air strike was an “unfortunate incident” while calling for what he described as a “thorough investigation” into the incident.

“I am grieved by the news of the drone airstrike that killed dozens of people and left scores of others with various degrees of injury in the Tudun Biri community in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Ironically, the victims of this unfortunate incident were celebrating the Maulud anniversary,” Atiku, a former vice president, wrote on his X account Tuesday.

“The incidence of miscalculated air strikes is assuming a worrisome dimension in the country. We need to develop counterinsurgency strategies that will insulate the civilian population from tragic incidents of this nature. I call on the authorities to launch a thorough investigation into this tragedy to avert future occurrences.”

While condoling with the families of the victims, he said “no resource should be spared in medical attention to the injured and assistance to the families of the dead.

“I pray that the Almighty Allah comforts the bereaved families and grants the dead eternal peace.”

Kaduna bombing regrettable, embarrassment for Army, Nigeria – Peter Obi

On his part, Peter Obi has described the bombing of Tudun Biri Villagers in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State by the Nigerian Army as regrettable.

The state’s governor, a religious leader and witnesses told Reuters on Monday that dozens of civilians were killed following the military drone attack that was targeting insurgents and bandits on Sunday night.

The Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency said on Tuesday at least 85 people had died during the attack, giving the first official confirmation of the toll from the weekend incident.

“The Northwest Zonal Office has received details from the local authorities that 85 dead bodies have so far been buried while search is still ongoing,” the agency said.

Tinubu, who is attending the Cop28 Climate Summit in Dubai, said the “the bombing mishap” in a village at Tundun Biri, was “very unfortunate, disturbing, and painful,” his spokesman Ajuri Ngelale said in a statement.

“The President directs a thorough and full-fledged investigation into the incident and calls for calm while the authorities look diligently into the mishap,” said Ngelale.

The Nigerian Army is yet to comment on the incident but the Air Force has denied being involved in the mission that led to Sunday’s attack.

Nigeria’s military, which is backed by the United States, Britain and other non-Western allies in a long war against Islamist insurgents in the northeast, has also been unleashing deadly aerial assaults for years in other parts of the country.

Kaduna is 163 km (101 miles) from the capital Abuja.

Beyond the war zone in the northeast, the army and air force has been called on to tackle the growing threat in Nigeria’s northwest and central region, including in Kaduna state, posed by armed criminal gangs that spray villages with bullets and carry out mass kidnappings.

Reuters

A statement released by the Director of Defense Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, said that the attack was executed following the observation of group movements through aerial surveillance that were indicative of prior terrorist tactics and methods.

According to Buba, the threat was removed to stop the terrorists from terrorising defenceless bystanders.

“On 3 Dec 2023, at about 2200hrs and based on untoward activities by terrorists, the NA UAV detachment observed movement of terrorists at Ligarma, a terrorist-infested area of Kaduna State. Aerial surveillance captured movement of groups of persons synonymous with the terrorist tactics and modus operandi.

“The observed advance of the terrorists that were gathered posted a threat to key infrastructure within reach of the untoward activities. Accordingly, the threat was eliminated to prevent the terrorist from unleashing terror on innocent civilians.

“It should be noted that terrorists often deliberately embed themselves within civilian population centres in order for civilian population to bear the consequences of their atrocities. Nevertheless, the Nigerian military does its best at all times to distinguish between civilians and terrorists,” Buba said.

While the DHQ acknowledges that the military views every civilian death in the cause of operations as a tragedy, it claims that instructions for communities to always alert troops of their activities particularly when such a community is known to be infested with terrorists and their sympathisers were not carried out.

The statement read, “One such measure taken by the military is to continually give precise instructions to communities. For instance, communities are to always alert troops of their activities particularly when such a community is known to be infested with terrorists and their sympathisers. These instructions are intended at enabling the military distinguish between friendly and untoward activities.”

The DHQ then said that the military forces will carry out their usual operations in accordance with international law, as well as keep moving cautiously and resolutely toward driving out terrorists from the country.

Arise News

A Federal High Court sitting in Sokoto has dismissed a suit filed by a former Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, over ownership of official vehicles he took away on leaving office last May.

In June, the police raided Matawalle’s residences and seized the vehicles as ordered by the court.

A statement on Monday by Governor Dauda Lawal’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, said that the Federal High Court rejected Bello Matawalle’s claims over the ownership of the official vehicles.

According to him, the former governor and his cabinet members had taken away all official vehicles belonging to the state government, leaving the present administration with nothing to use.

The statement said, “Recall that in June, the Zamfara State government gave the former Governor and his deputy five working days to return all official vehicles taken away.

“All demands for the return of the said vehicles proved abortive, and as a result, the Zamfara State government resorted to obtaining a court order to retrieve them.

“In pursuit of that order, a total of over 50 vehicles were recovered by the police.

“After the vehicles were recovered, Bello Matawalle quickly rushed to the Federal High Court in Gusau.

“The court granted an order for the cars to be returned to him.

“Additionally, he filed a separate suit at the same court seeking to enforce his fundamental right to own property, including the vehicles in question.

“The Zamfara State Government requested the transfer of the case to another jurisdiction of the Federal High Court.

“The Federal High Court of Nigeria, Sokoto Judicial Division, dismissed the matter on Friday.

“The court refused the reliefs sought by Bello Matawalle and rejected his claim to the ownership of the official vehicles.

“As a result, the vehicles are still considered the property of the Zamfara State government.

“Our government is committed to recovering all that rightfully belongs to the people through an all-encompassing rescue mission that will leave no stone unturned.

“The judgment by the Federal High Court will encourage us to ensure that justice prevails and all perpetrators of financial banditry in Zamfara are brought to book.”

Vanguard

Obi who just chastised the regime for the large size of over 1400 delegates it took to COP28 as wasteful again lampooned the administration for proposing over N20b in renovation and building of a new office space for the Vice President.

The LP standard bearer said he is still studying the N27.5 trillion budget presented to the National Assembly last week, but could not wait to wonder at the level of waste on nonessential things when the people are suffering and dropping into multi-dimensional poverty in droves.

Reacting in his X handle on Monday Obi said “Even as I am still studying the 2024 fiscal budget as presented to the National Assembly last week, I cannot wait as am compelled to ask what is exactly wrong with us as a country.

‘I ask this question because it is hard for me to understand some of the recent happenings in our nation, in these critical times.

‘The recent news about a budget provision of N15 billion for the construction of a new residence for the Vice President is both shocking and disheartening, considering the many important challenges facing our nation.

Obi recalled that “Just recently in the Supplementary Budget, the sum of N2.5 billion was included for the renovation of the Vice President’s residence in Abuja, which means that he already has a residence. Again, during the budget presentation, I heard the sum of N3 billion was allocated for the renovation of the Vice President’s residence in Lagos. If we total all these sums, we would have budgeted the sum of N20.5 billion for the housing of the Vice President at this critical time when we are not just the world’s poverty capital, but more people falling into poverty, with so many Nigerians not knowing where their next meal will come from”

“Our health facilities have collapsed, and unemployment is skyrocketing. I am convinced that 99.9% of Nigerians can only dream of living in the current residence of the Vice President.

The LP standard bearer also noted that ‘ Several people employed in the universities are not being paid. Just to give an example, the salary of a professor in a Nigerian university is about N400,000, which without removing tax is about N5 million a year. What we have budgeted for the housing of the Vice President who is already luxuriously housed is, therefore, the annual salary of about 3000 professors!

“This is the finance needed to develop the much-needed human capital.

“The budget of N5 billion for student loans, which is yet to be disbursed is only a tiny percentage of the cost of the Vice President’s new home.

According to the former Anambra state Governor, “We are projecting to use four times the amount for educating ALL Nigerian indigent students to house the Vice President, and we are being told there is nothing wrong with us”

“I am sure the major teaching hospitals in Nsukka, Lagos, Ibadan, and Zaria did not receive this much capital vote in the budget this year.

“We have had leaders that were exemplary in the past. Most Nigerians may not know that the popular 1004 flats in Lagos, was land allocated for the building of a Presidential Mansion for the then Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed but he “sternly turned down the offer and instructed that the land should be used to build blocks of flats for civil servants. That is the kind of sacrificial leadership worth emulating.

“Our leaders must therefore stop the recklessness and insensitivity to the plight of the masses. We need leaders who show compassion and are willing to sacrifice for common progress and development. Such compassionate and frugal leaders are critical in our journey to the New Nigeria” PO.

SERAP also urged him to assert the Senate’s authority and constitutional oversight roles to reject the N2.8 billion on publicity for the FCTA and other proposed wasteful and unnecessary spending that may be contained in the 2023 supplementary budget and the 2024 budget proposed by President Bola Tinubu.

In a letter at the weekend, signed by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said the plan to spend N15 billion on ‘a befitting residence’ for the vice president is a fundamental breach of the Nigerian Constitution and the country’s anti-corruption and human rights obligations.

SERAP said: “The Senate has the constitutional duties to ensure that Wike’s proposed spending is entirely consistent and compatible with constitutional provisions, including his oath of office. All public officials remain subject to the rule of law.”

It added that the National Assembly, including the Senate, has a constitutional responsibility to address the country’s debt crisis, by rejecting wasteful and unnecessary spending to satisfy the personal comfort and lifestyles of public officials.

SERAP lamented that the Federal Government also plans to borrow N7.8 trillion to fund the 2024 budget, noting that Nigeria’s public debt stood at 87.4 trillion naira as of June with 38 per cent owed to external creditors including multilateral and commercial lenders.

SERAP further urged the Senate President to refer to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) the allegations of corruption in the spending of the previously approved N7 billion for the construction of a new residence for the vice president.

Guardian

The Rivers State Police Command has arrested two notorious kidnappers who allegedly abducted and buried alive a former Community Development Committee Chairman in Kereken-Boue, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, Praise Daakian.

The police disclosed that the suspects collected N200,000 as part of payment for the ransom from the victim’s wife before burying him alive.

The state Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, disclosed this during his maiden news briefing in Port Harcourt, the state capital on Monday.

While noting that the suspects confessed to the murder, Disu said two armed robbery suspects were also arrested during a raid in the community.

He stated, “On the day of resumption, I had before me a security deficit in many areas of Rivers State. One of those areas was Khana Local Government, and we immediately deployed tactical units to quell the situation.

“After concluding intense surveillance on November 15, in separate crack operations, men of the Anti-Cultism Unit arrested Baridapdo Igia, 33, and Elvis Gordon, 26, two suspected armed robbers and kidnappers in Kereken-Boue community of Khana Local Government Area.

“After a series of interrogations, the duo confessed to being leaders of Iceland and Degbam cult groups in Khana Local Government Area, respectively and have been terrorising Khana Local Government Area for the past three years.

“These cult groups have been known to have endless clashes in the community. During interrogations, they also admitted to kidnapping and burying alive one Praise Daakian, a former CDC Chairman in Khana Local Government Area.

”They murdered the victim after collecting the sum of NGN200,000 as part of payment for his ransom from the victim’s wife.”

He added, “The duo also confessed to murdering nine other victims from 2021 to 2023 and were the main reason for the partial evacuation of the community within this same period.

“Investigations are still ongoing to uncover the full scale of the suspects’ operations.”

In a similar development, the CP said three suspected armed robbers were arrested by operatives on routine patrol in the Trans-Amadi axis of Port Harcourt.

He said, “Operatives of the Command attached to Mini-Okoro Area Command, Port Harcourt, on 19th November 2023, at about 2200hrs while on patrol along Danjuma Drive, Trans Amadi, Port Harcourt, intercepted a Tricycle (popularly called Keke) with three occupants named Elsharawy Joseph, 27, Okujagu town, Trans Amadi, Port Harcourt.

“The others are Thankgod Achese, 23yrs of Orumu street, Abuloma town, Port Harcourt and Ibrahim Ishaq aged 25, of Okwujagu, Port Harcourt, suspected to be cultists and armed robbers.

“Upon a thorough search, one locally made Pistol and a dagger were recovered, alongside the tricycle which is suspected to be stolen. The suspects confessed to the crime of robbery using the ‘one chance’ model and have successfully robbed and stolen phones and valuables from unsuspecting victims.

“They use their tricycle (Keke) along Odili Road and Abuloma areas to search for passengers to rob and push the passengers out after forcibly taking their valuables. They owned up to using a dagger and a locally made pistol to scare their victims. They obtained the pistol from one Nkpogeto, who is still at large.”

CP Disu stated that combating crime and criminality in our society is a collective responsibility and called residents of the State to support the police by providing credible and timely information to enable the command to do more exploits.

Punch