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APC Governors’ Forum DG Faults Labour Protest Over Minimum Wage

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Ethnic and Religious Hatred and the Deceitful Campaigns in Nigeria By Salihu Moh. Lukman

The Director General of the Progressive Governors’ Forum ( PGF), Dr. Salihu Moh. Lukman, has condemned the organised labour’s protest against the removal of the minimum wage from the exclusive list to the recurrent list.

At a news conference on Wednesday in Abuja, Lukman who was once a top official of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said labour’s usual resort to protest and strikes had become outdated, urging them to perfect their negotiation skills.

According to him, the protest will not stop the National Assembly from considering bills that have to do with decentralizing the minimum wage structure.

A member of the House of Representatives, representing Sabon Gari Federal Constituency of Kaduna State, Mohammed Garba Datti had recently sponsored a bill to move the minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list in the 1999 Constitution in line with recommendations of the report of the All Progressives Congress APC Committee on True Federalism.

However, the organised labour had on Wednesday taken a protest to the National Assembly, armed with placards carrying various inscriptions like ‘On national minimum wage we stand’ , ‘No to relocation of minimum Wage to Concurrent List’, ‘Yes to minimum wage on exclusive list’.

READ ALSO: Protesting Labour Advised To Lobby Lawmakers Over Minimum Wage

Lukman who said he was speaking in his personal capacity and not on behalf of the APC governors said : “We are not saying they should not protest but this protest is needless. I can guarantee that it is not going to stop the process in the National Assembly. It is not also going to take away the issue.

We need to work with them to develop this democracy and we can only do that if every constituent unit and citizen in those units can negotiate with the constituent governments and get results. As it is, we are all frustrated and that is what we should be addressing.

This ‘we against them’ that labour is creating does not exist. We should be applying ourselves to resolving the problems of this democracy. There are fundamental problems bigger than we can imagine.”

According to him, a structure that imposes the same minimum wage on a state as buoyant as Lagos and a state that is less buoyant like Zamfara or Yobe would impact negatively on productivity as workers in Lagos would feel short-changed and therefore not give their total commitment to their job.

According to him, even if all states commence paying the N30, 000 minimum wage, the problems of Nigeria’s workforce would still remain unresolved.

He said: “I want to be able to engage labour even though some of them continue to accuse me of being sponsored by a governor. But it is not just a governor. I have 20 governors sponsoring me. I am happy to have the knowledge that would attract all the consideration of being sponsored.

“I believe the future of this country is about negotiating these issues. I have respect for the NLC and TUC leadership but my advice to them is that they have better capacity in getting things done. In fact, this country is where it is because they are not really applying themselves in the right direction.

“The total number of membership of NLC, and I am being generous, is not more than 20, 000 for the whole country. I left NLC in 2006 and at that time, the total membership was about 4,000, but I am giving it to them because they have organised new sectors. There are new areas and so it is possible they have risen to 20,000. That is a very critical mass but they need to be guided and led properly.

“Assuming every government pays N30,000, will that solve the problem of workers? So, nobody should deceive anybody. We all have a lot to do in this country. It is not about dancing on the streets, but they should develop their capacity. I am saying they have lied by saying that people proposing that minimum wage and labour issues should be moved to the concurrent list, that they do not want the national minimum wage. I heard the NLC president, which is a disappointment, arguing that when it is not negotiated at the national level, it means it is not a ‘national’ minimum wage. I am saying you can still negotiate it at the national level but the methodology is important because you are looking for a benchmark which everybody should be able to pay. It is not about coming to the federal government.

“I am worried at the situation where anything that appears contrary to what labour wants, the next thing is to go on strike. My belief is that the main business of labour is negotiation and negotiation is about applying knowledge and information that you have.”

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Robbers Loot N30m Goods At Ikota Shopping Complex

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. Owners Report Security Firm To Police

For about two decades, Dr. Helen O. Eto, CEO, Superior Mobile Investment Ltd and iClick Gadgets, has been doing business peacefully at Ikota Shopping Complex which borders Victoria Garden City (VGC), Lekki Peninsula, Lagos. The shopping facility is run by HFP Engineering Ltd.

However, robbers struck at the complex that has about 1,850 shops in the early hours of March 7th, 2023. Finesse Security Ltd guards claimed that they forgot to lock the gate of the facility, allowing the hoodlums to cart away about N30 million phones and other goods from Mrs. Eto’s freshly restocked shop.

Lamentingher ordeal to the police in Ajah and Panti, Yaba, Mrs. Eto said : “We took bank loans for the business plus our life savings all of which are gone. This is a wicked plan against us in our old age with children still in school, other dependants and various bills.

“We plead that the police should help us to get to the bottom of the looting to save us from early deaths as our BPs have shot up sharply because this is our main source of livelihood. A list of the goods looted from the shop was/is attached to my statements at Ajah Police Station and SIB, Yaba.”

Omokioja Julius Eto, Chairman, Editorial Board of The Daily Times and a media consultant, corroborated his wife’s account. Eto, a former Associate Editor of The Guardian and Editor-in-Chief of The Trumpet, said: “The robbery is shocking because the security gate is inaccessible even to shop owners at night, our shop is just a stone’s throw from the gate and it would have taken about at least two hours to cut through the shop’s security system.

“This makes us to strongly see the guards as the main suspects. We were not immediately notified by the security firm or the facility managers (HFP) of the robbery which we only got to be aware of at about 8.20am through one of our employees.”

A former Editor of The Daily Times, Eto who has also worked as a senior editor at the Punch and Thisday, added: “Since the break-in on March 7 till today March 30, Finesse Security Ltd has not called to sympathize with us but has been evading our calls and texts to its MD whom we learnt travelled abroad after the robbery.

“We have been doing everything to support the police investigation despite our predicament and hope they will bring the culprits to justice.”

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Arrest Interim Govt Plotters Now – Governors

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Tambuwal Emerges Chairman Of Governors' Forum
Governor Tambuwal

Governors of the 36 states have asked the Department of State Services (DSS) to arrest and prosecute those involved in a plot to put in place an interim government as part of moves to truncate the nation’s democracy.

Condemning the move, the governors under the auspices of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum assured of their commitment to continue in the defence of Nigeria’s democracy as elected leaders.

In a statement on Friday by NGF Chairman and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal at the end of the 4th meeting of the Governors, he warned the DSS against issuing statements without arrest as that amounts to heating the polity.

Tambuwal said, “The Forum deliberated extensively on the alleged plot by some unscrupulous elements to install an interim government, as contained in the recent statement issued by the Department for State Services (DSS). Governors condemned in the strongest terms, any unconstitutional means of regime change and pledged its commitment to continue to defend Nigeria’s democracy as elected leaders.

“In addition, the Forum believes that issuing statements without arrests is akin to heating up the polity and causing unwarranted tension in the country. It called on the DSS to do its job by immediately arresting and prosecuting all those involved in the plot as a matter of urgency.”

Recall that the DSS had on Wednesday confirmed rumours that a section of the political class was planning for an interim government in order to truncate the result of the recently-concluded general elections.

The Spokesman for the DSS, Dr. Peter Afunanya in a statement said that the agency had identified some key players in the plot for an Interim Government in Nigeria but did not give the names of the masterminds.

The agency had said that the planners of the interim government had already held several meetings, during which they weighed many options to actualize their plot including sponsoring endless mass protests across Nigerian cities, securing a warrant to declare a state of emergency or a court injunction to stop the inauguration of the executive and the legislature at the federal and state levels.

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BREAKING:Lagos Govt Arraigns Chrisland School, Principal, Others Over Death Of Pupil Whitney Adeniran

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Chrisland pupil Whitney

The Lagos State government has arraigned Chrisland School, Opebi, its principal, vice principal and two other employees over the death of one of the school’s pupils, 12-year-old Whitney Adeniran.

On Wednesday, the government of Lagos State had filed charges against Chrisland School and four others over the death of the 12-year-old pupil, Whitney Adeniran.

The school and its workers were accused of involuntary manslaughter and reckless and negligent acts.

The workers who were arraigned before Justice Oyindamola Ogala of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja include Ademoye Adewale, Kuku Fatai, Mrs Belinda Amao, Nwatu Ugochi Victoria and Chrisland School Limited.

The school principal, Mrs Belinda Amao, broke down in tears while in the dock as the court and counsel tried to agree on a date for the commencement of the trial.

Whitney died during the school’s inter-house sports competition at Agege Stadium in Lagos on February 9.

Blessing Adeniran, her mother, had accused Chrisland of negligence over her daughter’s death.

The school’s management, however, dismissed insinuations that there was foul play in the death, saying she slumped in public.

Chrisland also argued that Whitney complained about “not-too-buoyant health” a few days before she died.

However, an autopsy conducted at the Lagos State University Hospital (LASUTH) confirmed that the deceased died from “asphyxia and electrocution”.

In the charges filed on behalf of the state government by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Babajide Martins, who disclosed that their negligence killed Whitney because they failed to ensure her safety.

The charge also disclosed that they all acted in a reckless and negligent manner that endangered human life.

The offences are contrary to Sections 224 & 251 of the Criminal Law, C17, Vol.3, Laws of Lagos State, 2015

If found guilty, the offences carry a penalty of life imprisonment and two-year jail terms respectively.

On Tuesday, the state government granted access to Chrisland High School, Opebi branch, to open for physical learning ahead of the school’s forthcoming examination after parents’ appeal.

The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu had ordered that the school be shut down on March 3, 2023, following the investigation into Whitney’s death.

Sanwo-Olu through the state Ministry of Education said the closure of the school would pave the way for unhindered investigation and afford all stakeholders, including parents, students, staff and friends of the deceased, time to grieve.

The reopening followed an appeal by the Parents of all Chrisland School Units who visited the Ministry of Education on Monday to seek the government’s understanding for “the sake of 500 plus students some of whom also have terminal examinations.”

The management of the school had tendered an apology over Whitney’s death.

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