Headline

Subsidy removal: NLC expresses worry over wage award

Published

2 months ago

August 1, 2023

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has expressed worry over Federal Government’s promises to dispense wage award to workers since the removal of petrol subsidy in the country.

Mr Joe Ajaero, the NLC President said this in a statement while reacting to the President Bola Tinubu’s speech on Tuesday in Abuja.

The statement was titled, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Speech not the Silver Bullet that Nigerians expected”.

Ajaero said that the president’s statement on working with Organised Labour to review the national minimum wage was out of sync with what had played out since the removal of petrol subsidy.

“In all the meetings scheduled by the government, Organised Labour has been forced to negotiate with empty chairs on the Federal Government’s side.

” As Federal Government has not matched its public promises with firm commitment to negotiate in good faith with labour.

“As a matter of fact, the sub-committee on wage award has not been inaugurated and has not met.

“Furthermore, organised labour is disturbed that while President Tinubu in his speech lavishly praised the Private Sector for quickly dispensing wage award to their employees, the Federal Government has failed to do the same for public workers in its employment.

“This is a clear case of failing woefully to live up to the standards it has set for others to meet,” he said.

He said that it was an open knowledge that the review of the national minimum wage was a matter of the law that was expected to happen in 2024.

“How would Nigerian workers cope with the current reality of hyper inflation and suffering unleashed by the hasty removal of the so-called petrol subsidy till 2024 when the national minimum wage would be reviewed? This is incredible.”

According to Ajaero, the claims of interventions by the Federal Government through palliatives, loans and conditional grants to poor Nigerians, big manufacturing concems and small businesses and provision of CNG buses remain what they are – promises!

According to the NLC president, Nigerians are used to such promises which have never produced any verifiable and meaningful changes in the lives of citizens.

He also noted that the entire speech by Mr President was completely silent on the issue of the repair of the national refineries.

He called on the Federal Government to unmask those behind the looting of Nigeria’s commonwealth under the guise of petrol subsidy.

“What Nigerians expected from Mr President is a firm commitment to bring these economic saboteurs to justice and recover what they have stolen,”he said.

He, therefore, assured Nigerians that NLC remained committed to matching discussions with government with the current realities of sufferings that Nigerians were going through.

“We remain committed to continue with our struggle,” he said.

Headline

LUTH denies late doctor worked 72-hour call duty

Published

2 hours ago

September 21, 2023

Alero Danjuma

The management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, has denied allegations that one of its house officers, Dr Michael Umoh, died after a 72-hour call.

This is contained in a statement issued by LUTH management team in Lagos on Thursday.

“LUTH management understands the fact that the family of Dr Umoh is presently mourning the death of their beloved son and requested the foreclosure of any media engagement regarding the death of their son. It is important for us as a management to make clarifications regarding the circumstances surrounding his death.

“Dr Umoh died on Sept 17 while in church with his parents. The management was informed, and the death was later confirmed by one of the Consultants in his unit (Neurosurgery).

“The death of Dr Umoh is unfortunate but the narrative of a 72 hours non-stop shift is false.

“The record from Neurosurgery unit shows that the last time he was on call was 13th and 14th September, 2023.

“He was not on call on the 15th, 16th and 17th (the day he died), contrary to the insinuations on social media. He was at home with his parents on Sept. 16 and Sept. 17,” the management said.

Prior to this time, the management said, he was on call on the Sept. 7 and Sept. 8.

”This shows that Dr Umoh was on call for a total number of four days in September, 2023.

“A delegation from LUTH visited the family on Wednesday to commiserate with the family and to get more details of the circumstances surrounding his death.

“The parents gave the details of what they thought must have contributed to his death but pleaded that the wish of the family be respected and that the narrative is not for public consumption,” it said.

The management described Dr Umoh as a hardworking and diligent house-officer, and a very promising young man.

It said he will be sorely missed by his friends and colleagues.

“May his soul rest in peace, and may the Almighty give the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss” LUTH said.

Headline

Gov Sule charges real sector conference to proffer practical solutions to economy

Published

2 hours ago

September 21, 2023

Olakunle Adeniyi

Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has charged participants at the Nasarawa State University Keffi (NSUK) 1st International Real Sector Conference to proffer practical solutions to rejuvenate the economy.

He gave the charge on the first day of the two days conference on real sector productivity held at the University in Keffi Local Government Area of the state.

The theme of the conference is “Rejuvenating the sector productivity in Nigeria”.

Sule challenged participants to get real and proffer workable and practical solutions that would rejuvenate the real sector in Nigeria for optimal productivity which in turn would impact on the economy of the country positively.

“The question we should be asking ourselves here is that why are we not getting it right in the real sector in Nigeria?

“So let us proffer practical solutions so that we don’t just end up having an event and having all the communique and all that and then they end up in our offices. Let us ask ourselves what is that is possible and how do we contribute,” he said.

He said their recommendations should also be useful in shaping a better future for the real sector in Nigeria so that future Nigerians could build on that.

“So we must sit down and deliberate on what exactly is our problems in this sector. Are we ready to make sacrifices? And we must make sacrifices because that is the only way we can move forward.

“I want to assure you that in Nigeria we can change the narratives but it will take all of you here to convince the rest,” he said.

Prof. Suleiman Bala-Mohammed, Vice Chancellor, NSUK, commended the university’s Department of Business Administration for organizing the conference and urged the department to sustain it as it would be a platform for cross fertilisation of ideas and wider conversations on local and international issues.

He also urged participants to brainstorm and come up with policy recommendations on how to rejuvenate the real sector in Nigeria.

Mr John Mamman, Nasarawa State Commissioner for Education, however, told NAN that he expected the outcome of the conference would change the narratives because the real sector, according to him, is the driver of the economy.

“The manufacturing, construction, engineering and others are the real movers of the economy. Once we get it right from the drivers of the economy, other sectors will also be impacted positively,” he said.