16112017 - FG revokes Intels' expatriate permits

30 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017
No sign Nigeria is
out of recession,
Labour laments
Stories by Victor Ahiuma-
Young
FIVE months after the
Federal Government
announced Nigeria' s exit
from the crushing economic
recession, umbrella body for
senior civil servants in the
country, at its National Executive
Council, NEC, meeting in Enugu,
Enugu State, declared that there
are no signs that Nigeria is out of
recession.
Under the aegis of Association
of Senior Civil Servants of
Nigeria, ASCSN, the group
insisted that despite the claim that
Nigeria has exited economic
recession, all calibrated critical
indices are pointing to the
contrary.
Addressing members and other
guests, President-General of the
Association, Bobboi Kaigama,
represented by the Vice-President
of ASCSN, Bola-Audu Innocent
said: "Nothing appears to be
moving in the right direction as
all sectors of the economy are
bleeding profusely. The country
is witnessing a deteriorating
standard of living, lack of public
goods and services, high level of
corruption and rent seeking. As
things stand today, many people
cannot eat let alone being in a
position to afford ordinary things
that make life comfortable and
worthy of living. Little wonder,
Nigeria that had once been
ranked as one of the happiest
nations in the world now occupies
the near bottom position in terms
of Happiness Index. The
deterioration is best exemplified
by the surge in vices now
recorded in the land.
"Many Nigerians, especially
the youth want to get out of the
country at all cost in search of the
proverbial "greener pastures." In
the process, many have lost their
lives in the high sea in an attempt
to cross to Europe. Recently, 23
dead bodies of Nigerian women
were found in a refrigerated
section of a Spanish warship.
They were on a rubber boat along
with some other migrants trying
to escape from the hardship that
we are forced to live with here in
Nigeria. We now live in a country
where everybody is for himself
and God for all. Life is no doubt
getting tougher by the day. In
view of this sorry state of affairs,
we urge all our respective
governments to rise up to the
occasion by taking urgent steps
to ameliorate the sufferings being
experienced by the masses of this
great country of ours and put
smiles on the faces of Nigerians
once again. Anything to the
contrary will continue to push the
country to the precipice with very
dire consequences."
Diversion of bailout
Meanwhile, Kaigama declared
that "it is quite shameful to note
that all efforts by this Union in
particular and the labour
movement in general to remedy
the dire state faced by workers in
terms of prompt payment of
salaries and pensions have
proved abortive despite the
release of bailout funds and the
Paris Club refunds to states by the
Federal Government. As we
speak, many states still owe their
workers between five (5) and ten
(10) months' salaries and
pensions arrears. Some of the
worst hit states include Benue,
Bayelsa, Nasarawa, Kogi, Ondo,
Oyo and Ekiti. Osun State
workers on their part have been
on half salaries since July 2015.
"As a trade union and a major
stakeholder, the Association
decries this most unfortunate
situation of non-utilisation of
bailout funds released by the
Federal Government to pay
workers salaries by some states
and thus calls for the immediate
probe of states that are known to
have diverted the funds while
culprits should be made to face
the full weight of the law. What
the erring states have done is
nothing but act of terrorism
•Frome left: Commissioner for Labour and Productivity, Enugu State, Emeka Okeke, Secretary
General of ASCSN, Bashir Lawal, Vice President of ASCSN, Bola-Audu Innocent and Permanent
Secretary Establishments, Mrs Ella Nuel Ugomsi, at the NEC meeting
against Nigerian workers.
"It is nothing but share
wickedness for Governors to be
enjoying with members of their
families, leaving innocent
workers to go home hungry on
empty stomach. Moreover, states
ought to get their priorities right.
They have to embark on
governance models that can
stand the test of time. Before the
What makes us tick, says ASCSN
PRESIDENT-GENERAL of
Association of Senior Civil
Servants of Nigeria,
ASCSN, Comrade Bobboi Bala
Kaigama, has said that
addressing the welfare needs of
members; key investment
initiatives and massive training
and retraining of members, have
been responsible for enviable
state of the association today
Kaigama told members that the
Union has set an enviable
standard through the methodical
configuration of its objects in
which all the organs of the
platform are made to function
efficiently and effectively.
According to him: "This, of
course, has translated into the
successes which the Association
has recorded in the recent past
as regards its position as Council
I of the Joint National Public
As we speak, many
states still owe their
workers between
five (5) and ten (10)
months' salaries
and pensions
arrears
Service Negotiating Council
(JNPSNC) and a frontline affiliate
member of the Trade Union
Congress of Nigeria (TUC). The
need to sustain the competitive
edge of the Union in a volatile
operating environment and the
drive to reposition the body for
the future has all along been the
cornerstone of all of our efforts.
You will note that the
Association's direction, in this
current dispensation, is tailored
along three different perspectives
namely: Addressing the welfare
needs of our teeming members;
Key investment initiatives; and
Massive training and retraining
of members. There is no doubting
the fact that we have made
tremendous and remarkable
progress in these key areas. As
we move along in the coming
years, we are equally desirous of
building on what we have
achieved so that the union can
be rock solid to withstand
whatever shock that may come its
way either now or in the nearest
future.
The PG noted that "it is
saddening to note, however, that
in spite of the giant strides made
by the Association in the past
couple of years, these
accomplishments have been
viewed negatively by a myopic
few. They have forgotten the fact
that change is the only thing that
is constant in life. We as a trade
Union body cannot continue to do
things the same way and expect
different result(s). On our part, we
have elected to forget the past,
endeavour to look forward so that
in the final analysis, we can be
seen to have done better than
anyone might have envisaged.
There are still 152 million victims of child labour, ILO warns
INTERNATIONAL Labour
Organisation, ILO's
Director-General, Guy Ryder
has warned that there are still 152
million victims of child labour
worldwide, and called on the
international community to work
together to achieve the total
eradication of child labour by
2025.
In his opening address to the
IV Global Conference on the
Sustained Eradication of Child
Labour, Ryder acknowledged the
progress made in this area in the
past 20 years, but warned that
there is still a long way to go to
eradicate child labour in all its
forms.
“There are still 152 million
children victims of child labour,
that is, almost one in 10 in the
world. Of those, almost half are
in hazardous work. We need to
recognise that progress has been
very uneven,” Ryder added.
Target 8.7 of the United Nations
2030 Agenda calls for the
elimination of child labour in all its
forms by 2025, and of forced labour
by 2030.
According to the latest ILO
estimates, there are 25 million
victims of forced labour worldwide.
“The goals cannot be clearer, nor
can the uncomfortable reality that
if we do not do more and better, we
will not achieve them,” Ryder
warned.
According to the Director -General
of the ILO, the sustained
eradication of child labour requires
an integrated approach that tackles
the deep and systemic causes of
child labour and does not focus
only on treating the symptoms.
This integrated approach
includes the application of
international standards related to
child labour, labour market policies
focused on the areas where most
child labour is found – namely the
rural economy and informality –
social protection against poverty
and insecurity, and quality
universal education accessible to all.
next set of bailout, we urge the
Federal Government to enact
rigorous clauses for benefiting
states. Every bailout handed over
to states without rigorous
conditions is simply money
flushed down into some corrupt
pockets. Future bailouts should
attach stringent conditions to
them including settlement of all
salary arrears and pensions."
For us, refusing to prepare for the
future is a blind way to face life, a
stance that lets the world pass you
by, as you think you are coming
to grips with it.
"It may interest you to note that
since the commencement of our
massive capacity-building
programme, we have discovered
that the natural authority in
speech, body language and
disposition of our members is now
more pronounced, a quality that
the training programme has
instilled in them. More
importantly, it has been
commendations galore by many
from far and wide. It is against
this backdrop that I call for your
hand of fellowship to sustain the
milestone attained so far by the
Union. With our current level of
attainment, we should avoid
being complacent. All we need to
do now is to work harder, always
put our eyes on the ball and
remain focused. We should
distance ourselves from those
retrogressive ideas and negative
acts that had destroyed sister
organisations that were the envy
of all in the years gone by but
which have now become
carcasses and shadows of
themselves. We should
strengthen the structure by
continuing to build on our current
level of attainment. Success
should at no time be taken for
granted. We should therefore
continue to be on top of our game
so that we can always excel and
at the same time remain relevant
in the scheme of things no matter
the scenario that plays itself out."