Economy

Minister Urges Consistent Focus on Workers’ Welfare, Economic Growth

By Web News 137

By Oluwatoyin Adegoke

Employers, stakeholders, and the government should create a conducive work environment that promotes economic growth, social justice, human rights, and prioritises workers’ welfare.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Muhammadu Dingyadi stated this at this year’s Workers day celebration, with the theme, “Reclaiming the Civil Space in the midst of economic hardship” held at the June 12 Cultural Center, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Mr Dingyadi, who was represented by the Ogun State Controller of Labour, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mr Andy Egboh, encouraged workers to continue to organise, mobilise and advocate for their rights and policies that would be of benefit to the entire workforce, the state, and the nation in general.

In a remark, Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, urged the state’s workforce to remain patient, committed, steadfast and continue to be reliable partners despite the country’s economic challenges.

Governor Abiodun assured the gathering that his administration would consider the demands presented by the unions, while reaffirming commitment to improving the lives of the workers.

Earlier, the Ogun State Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Mr Hameed Benco-Ademola had called for regular review of the minimum wage to alleviate the impact of economic hardship on workers, and also demanded the suspension of the Contributory Pension Scheme to safeguard retirees’ interests.

Also, the Chairman of the Trade Union Congress in Ogun State, Mr. Akeem Lasisi, applauded the state government for timely payment of wages and allowances, conduct of promotions exercises as and when due, urged the government to extend the new 77,000 naira minimum wage to all state government workers, across all grade levels.

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Education

Strike: FG Faults ASUU’s Stance

By Web News 538

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige has blamed the Academic Staff Union of Universities for prolonging the strike in the country.

The Minister who disclosed this in a statement issued by Acting Head of Press and Public Relations, Patience Onuobia, in the ministry said the union had made negotiation difficult for both parties

While reacting to the insinuations that he was responsible for the ongoing action by the union, The Minister Emphasized he had done what many could not do to forestall strikes by ASUU.

According to him, negotiation now is being made impossible by ASUU.

“For example, ASUU insists that the National Information and Technology Development Agency, NITDA, should take the payment platform, University Transparency Accountability Solution that it developed.

“That they should deploy it for payment in the university whether it is good or bad, whether it failed integrity and vulnerability test or not.

“ASUU members know that fraud committed on payment platforms can run into billions. If a hacker adds zeros to hundreds, it becomes billions,’’ he said.

Ngige noted that NITDA brought out the report of its test on UTAS, noting that it passed the user acceptability but failed vulnerability and integrity tests which were the two critical tests that prevented fraud.

“As a conciliator, I spoke to ASUU and NITDA to continue the test and see whether they could make up the lapses and arrive at 100 per cent because that is what NITDA insists on,” he said.

“NITDA said they cannot even take the platform at 99.9 per cent of vulnerability and integrity. That they can’t take that risk on a payment system, that it can be hacked into.

“These are the issues. So if you hear someone saying Ngige is responsible, it is wrong. I’m not the one that implements it. I’m the conciliator.

“I conciliate so that there will be no more warfare and even in conciliation, once I apprehend, the parties go back to status quo ante- which means, you call off the strike.

“ASUU should have by now called off the strike because that’s what the law says.

He also revealed that Prof. Nimi Briggs Committee on Renegotiation of 2009 Agreement which ASUU shunned despite several appeals to them had rounded off its assignment and submitted it to the Ministry of Education.

He added that “we will follow it from there. There is a bright light at the end of the tunnel”.

The minister, however, noted that he had successfully conciliated 1,683 industrial disputes since his assumption of office in 2015.

He said the role of the Minister of Labour was to conciliate disputes and did not include the implementation of agreements reached with parties.

“However, when conciliation fails, the Minister is under obligation by sections 9 and 14 of Trade Disputes Act, Cap T8, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria to transmit the results of the negotiation to the Industrial Arbitration Panel or to National Industrial Court of Nigeria.

“In the ongoing ASUU imbroglio, I’m the conciliator. I bring them to negotiate with their employers.

“That is the Ministry of Education and the National University Commission as well as IPPIS, the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, all under the Ministry of Finance.

“At the end of every negotiation, we put down what everybody has agreed on in writing and add timelines for implementation,” he said.

The Minister also noted that ASUU strike had been a recurrent decimal in the last 20 years, adding “that they had gone on strike, 16 times. So, there is nothing new as such”.

Punch/Adebukola Aluko

Education

Strike: FG/ASUU Meeting Adjourned

By Web News 522

The conciliatory meeting between the Federal Government and Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU summoned to end the ongoing strike by the union has adjourned to reconvened next week Monday.

Addressing newsmen at the end of the eight hours meeting in Abuja, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige said the meeting had reached some level of understanding in four areas of ASUU’s demands.

He, however, explained that the only area that the meeting was yet to have an understanding was the university revitalization fund which necessarily needed the input of the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning before a concrete decision would be taken.

Dr Ngige also stated that a technical Committee was also set up to test run the University Transparency and Accountability System, UTAS, a payment platform developed by ASUU to replace IPPIS, describing UTAS as a home-grown innovative system that the present administration encourages.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige expressed confidence that all the grey areas in contention would be addressed for the resumption of academic activities in the nation’s universities after the next meeting.

Meanwhile, members of ASUU executive led by its President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke declined comments on the outcome of the meeting.

Earlier at the opening session of the meeting, Prof. Osodeke had told the meeting that ASUU only wanted the Federal Government to urgently match actions with the terms of understanding it already had and not just to go through another process of renegotiations of the lingering issues.

Joseph Agi

Judiciary

FG Reaches Agreement with JUSUN, PASAN Over Financial Autonomy

By Web News 673

The Federal Government says the implementation of financial autonomy for the state legislature and judiciary will commence next week.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige stated this during conciliatory meeting to resolve the strike embarked upon by Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN and Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN). 

The Minister noted that the Federal Government took into consideration the Executive Order 10, where proposals from all sides and distilled them with the resolve to implement.

He said that implementation would commence with the distribution of the April allocation from the Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, noting that striking legislative and judiciary workers would call off their prolonged strike as soon as implementation begins.

The Special Assistant to the President on Niger-Delta Affairs, Senator Ita Enang commended the Minister of Labour and Employment Dr Ngige for the matured handling of the labour crisis in Kaduna and the resolution of the complex issues involved in the autonomy for the legislature and Judiciary.

He said the Federal Government took into consideration the Executive Order 10, the proposals from all sides and distilled them with the resolve to implement it.

Senator Enang blamed the past administrations for turning blind eye to the autonomy of the legislature and the judiciary for 21 years, adding that the Governors had studied the document and were in agreement with it.

He clarified that the implementation would commence with the distribution of the April allocation from the Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC.

FRCN Abuja

News Analysis

The Need to Reduce the Cost of Governance

By Web News 919

Recently, Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, said government is planning to review the wages of all political office holders in the country.

Senator Ngige explained that there was a need to review and streamline the wages and allowances given to political office holders, and the high wages earned by workers in certain government organizations.

For some time now, the issue of reducing the cost of governance had continued to generate reactions among Nigerians and government.

It is however sad to note that on the part of the government, it has been more talk, less action.

In order to overcome the challenges which this issue has generated, successive administrations since the return of the country to democratic rule, have always emphasized on the need to generate more money for national development. 

Rather than reducing the cost, government expenditure keeps increasing, which does not add any benefit to the country’s development.

A major known source of huge expenditure is the retinue of aides appointed by the president, governors and lawmakers at all levels and the high cost of maintaining the National and State Assembly members, States’ Assemblies, as well as local government authorities.

In a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, governors in each state of the federation have an average of one hundred political appointees, including commissioners.

Recently, Ebonyi State governor, David Umahi appointed one hundred and eighty additional aides to serve as executive assistants, technical assistants and senior technical assistants.

Each budget year, so much money is allocated for recurrent expenditure, while little percentage is set aside for capital projects in critical areas of infrastructure like health, education and other key sectors that will enhance the quality of life of the people. 

What is worrisome is that these huge expenditure have no significant effect on the economy and the overall development of the country.

The unaccounted-for security votes by the president and governors and the humongous allowances of political office holders, point to the fact that the presidential system which Nigeria operates is the most expensive and unsustainable system of government for any developing nation.

It is in the light of this that there should be an amendment of the 1999 constitution, to reduce the size of government through a reduction in the members of the federal and state cabinets, including the number of advisers and assistants, as well as membership of the National and State Assemblies.

Government owes it a duty to merge ministries, departments and agencies to pave way for the development of the country.

It is commendable, the effort of the government at reviewing the salaries of public office holders, as this will help to cut down expenditures.

As part of the reduction, the country should adopt a system which will make legislators serve on a part-time basis and be paid only sitting allowances.

It is pertinent to emphasize that a lean government will reduce waste, inefficiency, corruption and duplication of government functions, as well as make capital spending more effective.

There is also the need for the government to intensify the war against corruption by strengthening the constitutional powers of anti-corruption agencies in the area of arrest, investigation and prosecution of offenders.

Fawzeeyah Kasheem