24092020 - BLACK WEDNESDAY: 30 killed in Kogi petrol tanker explosion

Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 — 27
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Fuel, electricity tariff hike: All eyes on Labour as
nationwide strike, mass protest loom
Stories by Victor
Ahiuma-Young
SINCE the hikes in the pump
price of petrol and electricity
tariff, there have been pockets
of protest by aggrieved groups
in parts of the country to
denounce the hikes and call for
reversal. Many groups
especially members of the civil
society allies, have called on
organized labour to provide the
leadership for protest to force the
federal government to have a
rethink.
Today, all eyes are on the
leaders of Nigeria Labour
Congress, NLC, and its Trade
Union Congress of Nigeria,
TUC's counterparts, to
organised a succesful protest
against the hikes.
Recall that in 2016 when the
present government raised the
pump price price of petrol from
N86.50 to N145 per lite, the
attempt by organised labour to
protest the hike ended in a
fiasco in wake of TUC and the
then Joe Ajaero-led faction of
NLC withdrawal from the
planned strike.
However, today not only is
NLC united, the TUC is fully in
support of NLC's position on the
hikes.
The body languages of leaders
of NLC and TUC indicate
prepardness to provide the
leadership against the hikes.
The first sign was on
September 14, strike notice by
the TUC to the government to
reverse to old prices within
seven days or face industrial
action.
Similarly, the meeting
between the federal government
and organized labour to find a
common ground to the hikes
ended in a deadlock with no
fixed date for reconvening.
Also, NLC at its meeting on
Spetember 16, fixed Monday
September 28, as possible date
to begin a nationwide strike
and mass protest against the
hikes.
As part of the build-up, on
September 22, NLC's
National Executive Council,
NEC, met and endorsed and
ratified the September 28,
date to commence an
indefinite nationwide strike
and mass protest should
government fail to reverse the
hikes before the deadline.
TUC has also on same day
(September 22), extended its
strike notice to tally with
NLC's position.
If the September 28, stands, it
is expected that leaders of NLC
, TUC and their civil society
allies, under the umbrella of
Joint Action Front, JAF, will meet
in the coming days to
harmonise strategies and
modalities for the action.
Going by the words of labour
leaders during September 7
meeting with the federal
government representatives, the
die appears is cast and
confrontation inevitable, unless
government reverse the hikes.
The Government team led
A cross section of Nigerians protesting against the recent Federal Government's increase in
prices of petrol and electricity tariff
by the Minister of Labour and
Employment, Chris Ngige, had
Minister of State for Employment,
Festus Keyamo SAN; Minister of
Power, Mamman; Minister of
Works and Housing, Babatunde
Fashola SAN; Minister of State
for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva and
others in attendance.
Crisis: Food union leaders dismiss allegation of tenure
elongation
THE National Union of
Food Beverage and
Tobacco Employees,
NUFBTE, has dismissed
alleged tenure elongation
against the Lateef Oyelekan
led National Administrative
Council, NAC, by aggrieved
members, insisting there is
no crisis in the union as such
the union remains intact.
But the aggrieved members
led by Peter Onoja,
contended that the root cause
of the crisis in the union is
illegal tenure elongation by
Oyelekan and others, after
allegedly being in the saddle
for over 12 years.
He claimed that Oyelekan
and others had disobeyed a
court order to appropriate
another two years to remain
in office.
According to him, among
others, “Oyelekan’s tenure
has expired, since January
11, 2020, he was voted into
power on January 11th, 2008,
and has uninterruptedly been
in office for more than 12
years. During this time no
payment of statutory rebate to
organs of the union’s state
councils and branches.
However, at a briefing,
Oyelekan said the National
Administrative Committee,
NAC, elected on December
19, 2016, for a four year
tenure was still united apart
from the national Signing
Trustee, Onoja Peter who is
currently on suspension due
to alleged gross anti-union
conducts, and the General
Secretary, Bamidele
Busari,also on suspension
over alleged gross infraction
against the constitution of the
union.
Speaking at the meeting, the
NLC President, Ayuba Wabba,
faulted the federal government
for unilaterally fixing of prices of
electricity and petrol without
consultations with Nigerians,
majority of whom he said were
struggling to survive because of
the high cost of living occasioned
According to him, “out of 11
elected members of NAC, 10
are very united in performing
their duties. In the same vein,
out of six appointed members,
five are performing their
respective duties with absolute
commitment.
On alleged tenure
elongation, he contended that
the two years election
deferment, referred to as
‘Tenure Elongation’ was
specifically targeted at
achieving the building of
another befitting hotel project
in Ibadan to be completed and
commissioned latest by
December 2022.
Oyelekan, while insisting
that no court injunction was
served the union up till today,
he said “we are a law abiding
union. If we were served, we
should have obeyed. As we
by government’s recent policies
which included increase in the
Value Added Tax, VAT.
According to him, “The
question now is what you have
on the table to actually cushion
the effect on workers and their
families because they have been
pushed to the wall. They are
speak, we have not been served
any court order."
Reading the press statement,
acting General Secretary, Mike
Olanrewaju, said among
others; “contrary to the
impression being portrayed in
media, the truth is that the
president was never involved
in the initiative of the
progressive idea of two years
tenure extension. Rather, it
was a collective decision of the
union members across the
country to the mutual benefit
of all members.
“The deferment of elections
across board of all organs of
the union by two years, in
other words, two years
extension of the current
tenure of elected officers of
our union was a progressive
decision and overwhelming
already enraged. Do you have
anything for us so that we can
say yes despite this challenges
this is what I have for Nigerian
workers that they will be able to
have something that can cushion
this effect for them? Already, the
value of the minimum wage has
been eroded. The purchasing
power parity when you compare
with all West African countries we
are already on the ground. That
is the reality. If Ghana compares
their minimum wage with our
own you will see their minimum
wage.”
Wabba, who accused the
federal government of
transferring the “inefficiency in
the subsidy regime” to the
consumers which they have to
pay through hike in price, urged
the government to fix the nation’s
refineries and stop lining the
pockets of fuel through a
fraudulent subsidy regime.
“The question our members are
asking is, does it really mean that
the politicians represent the rich
people in this country? Does it
mean it is only labour that
represents the poor people?"
adoption by the National
Executive Council, NEC, at
its annual meeting held in
Abuja in February 4, 2019.
“The decision was arrived
as a fall-out of the transparent
financial report presented by
the leadership of our union to
the NEC in session. The
motive of the deferment of
elections by two years was
predicated on the necessity to
avoid the unhealthy of
animosity, bickering and
unnecessary distractions
usually associated with the
process and conduct of
elections. The motion was
also moved by the same set
of members now clamouring
for the discontinuation of the
tenure extension
implementation.”
Jurisdiction: Union tasks senior staff in paper
industry on court ruling
PULP Paper and Paper
Products, Printing and
Publishing Senior Staff
Association of Nigeria,
PPAPPPAPSSAN, has called on
all workers from the supervisory
level in the sector, to honour the
jurisdictional scope for a robust
collective bargaining approach.
In a statement by
PPAPPPAPSSAN President and
General Secretary, Dada Joseph,
and Benedict Ikegbulam, the
uniobn said among others, "No
junior workers trade union can
negotiate, represent or defend
the course of senior employees
anywhere in Nigerian for lack of
locus stand! This is the hard
reality and the position of the law
in trade unionism in Nigeria. It
may be pertinent here to inform
the workers and the employers
in the industry that Nigeria
National Industrial Court is the
final arbiter in all trade union
disputes in Nigeria.
"The jurisdictional scope of the
two unions generated a lot of
controversies between them for
over two decades and every effort
of PPAPPPAPSSAN to settle the
matter out of Court proved
abortive. This confusion was
capitalized on, by the employers
in the industry to choose which
of the two unions to operate in
the Company rather than having
the two simultaneously as
provided in labour laws. This is
inspite of Federal Ministry of
labour's several clarifications on
the matter.
"It was on the consistent refusal
of NUPPPPROW to limit its
membership to its jurisdictional
scope (junior workers) in the
industry that forced
PPAPPPAPSSAN to approach
the National Industrial Court to
interpret the jurisdictional scope
of the two unions in May 2019.
"The Court presided over by
Justice I. J. ESSIEN in the Suit
no NJIC/LA/243/2019 in its
judgment delivered May 11,
2020 granted PPAPPPAPSSAN
all its prayers as follows:
"The jurisdictional scope of
the defendant shall be limited
to junior staff while that of
the claimant to senior staff
from supervisory or
equivalent level upward
within the pulp paper and
paper products, printing, and
publishing companies and
industries wherever it exists
in Nigeria as approved and
registered by the registrar of
trade unions."