29092020 - Anger as labour leaders abort strike, mass protest

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 — 13 :Vanguard News :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058 MEETING: From left—Former Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu; Governor of Bauchi State, Sen. Bala Mohammed; former Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu; former Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Turaki, SAN, and former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, when Governor Mohammed led members of the PDP 2019 Post-election Review Panel to a closed door meeting with Ekweremadu at his Abuja residence, yesterday. Lets go back to regional, parliamentary system —Mbazulike, Nwodo, ADF • Say current system is not working By Anayo Okoli, Chimaobi Nwaiwu & Ikechukwu Odu ENUGU—THE First Republic Minister of Aviation and elder statesman, Chief Mbazulike Amechi, former national chairman of the People's Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, have called for the return to regional system of government in Nigeria as a panacea for the economic and political insecurities in the country. Also, Igbo elite group, Alaigbo Development Foundation, ADF, has recommended regional system of administration as the best way forward, saying that it will give regions comparative advantage and propel faster development. Mbazulike Amechi urged Nigeria to drop the unitary system of government which he said was a creation of the army because it was convinient for them. "Let the country go back to the original design whereby the states managed their own affairs. It's easier to control. Let us go back to the parliamentary system of government because this Presidential system is not working. The unitary system of government was the brain child of the military because it was convinient for them.` “In the parliamentary system, with a mistake of a majority vote of one in the House of Representatives, the Prime Minister goes.But this time, it is almost impossible to remove a non performing President, it will be almost impossible to remove a non performing governor from office”, Amechi said. He also contended that there is so much corruption in Nigeria which is the reason Presidential system of government is not working, adding that the people expected to steer the affairs of the country are very corrupt, and also making it impossible for the fight against corruption to succeed. "The fight against corruption has to start from the top. No doubt, the job of fighting corruption will not be easy because the people who are in power or in control of things are the corrupt people. There are the former governors who stole their states dry finding themselves in the Senate and wielding power and control in the Senate and in the country. "So, very soon, you will have a Senate that is almost 65% former corrupt governors and so, it is not going to be easy for the man in charge of the country. They will circumvent any effort he is making to fight corruption. "Look at what they are doing with the former Chairman of Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Magu. That was a man the Senate rejected two or three times based on the reports against him, yet the President imposed him on the country. He ended "Maguing" the country. "Yes, everybody has seen the way he was exposed, that was a lesson for Nigerian leaders. The Senate had the boldness to say we reject this man, no we do not want him; DSS wrote a report against him and exposed the man to the Senate, that they were going not to allow him to head EFCC. The government insisted on having him and his name was sent to the Senate again and they said that he should not be made EFCC chairman but the government insisted on him. So, he did what he did and do you blame him? It is the government that you should blame. "This is the only country where rats and other animals swallow millions of Naira and Dollars and it is swept under the carpet. How can you run a country like that? “There is injustice and marginalization against some sections of the country particularly the Igbos, while some sections of the country behave and are treated as if only they own Nigeria. "So, if there will be peace in this country, there must be equity, because what the government is doing now is very unfair. There is a very powerful section of Nigeria, the Igbo side of Nigeria, you cannot say they do not exist but you don't care about them. You will never have peace because their brothers know what they are going through now. "If there will be peace in this country, there must be an assurance to Ndigbo that they belong to this country and by this, there must be an Igbo President of Nigeria, a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction. "The Igbos on the other hand must accept the reality that the North has the majority population and that broken bridges between the Igbos and the North must be repaired if we will have anything in this country”, Amechi declared. Current system of governance not working —Nwodo Nwodo, in his view, said the crude oil which is the mainstay of Nigeria's economy was no longer sustainable and therefore, the need to return to the system of government which enables each region of the country to exploit their divergent natural resources to develop at their own pace. Nwodo who was a former governor of Enugu State also said that parliamentary system of government would save Nigeria from collosal wastage of funds during elections. "In the first republic, even though there was a Nigerian constitution, the federating units had their constitutions as well. So, the states were semi-autonomous and independent. Therefore, they raised their internally generated revenue from the resources in their regions. They were able to meet their regional budgets and at the same time, contribute a quota to the central purse of the federal government. "They had opportunities to partner with foreign investors and to exploit the natural resources within their regions and there was no exclusive list as such that debarred them from venturing into any aspect of governance and economic activity which they wanted to do. "Today, the reverse is completely the situation. Here, all funds accruing from our natural resources are gathered in a central purse and now, we have one feeding bottle, feeding the 36 states and the the federal capital territory, Abuja. The main source of the revenue happens to be a single economy: oil and gas and as the market value of the commodities are dwindling in the international market and with coronavirus shutting down the world economy, that feeding bottle cannot go round again. "Since the federating units have no power to utilize the natural resources in their states or engage in the development of key infrastructure which can help them to develop because of the exclusive list of the federal government, they are all tending towards malnutrition. Only six of them now are self-sustaining without federal allocations. "So, you can see the magnitude of the difference between the regional government which we had in the first republic and the states as we have them today. The current situation is neither providing economic nor political stability as we had it in the first republic.That's why a lot of people are clamouring for the restructuring of the country. “We need to restructure Nigeria into a proper federation. We can't be having a unitary government and call it a federation; it is an abnormality. In a federation, the units agree to survive and having survived, come together for common interest and provide for that common interest. I think, it is a better arrangement," said. While talking about different milestone achievements recorded during the first republic, Nwodo said: "Let me start with the North. They had large farmlands and because of that, they farmed cotton which they added value to by producing cotton materials and exporting the cotton raw as well. The Northern Region also farmed groundnuts and because of that, they had groundnut pyramids. They also exported hides and skin from their cattle business. They made a lot of revenue from agriculture from which they built the Ahmadu Bello University and constructed many roads across the region. "Their revenue was largely agrarian. They provided healthcare and other basic amenities to the people of the region. They didn't lack anything. “Western Nigeria exported cocoa and rubber and they were the mainstay of their economy. Because of the rubber, some tyre factories such as Michelin were set up in Lagos and Port Harcourt for the production of vehicle tyres and other components. The region made their money from that. "The first television station in Africa was built in Ibadan from that revenue. They built the University of Ibadan and good road network from the revenue. They provided basic amenities and gave free education to their people, from primary up to university level from the revenue. There is no state in Nigeria that is doing that now. "If you come to Eastern Nigeria, we depended mainly on palm produce. From the revenue, we built the first university in Nigeria, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The East had the biggest network of roads in the whole of West Africa; we had electricity generated from coal in the region; coal was equally mined and exported for foreign exchange. Indeed, Eastern Region was the fastest growing economy in the world under Michael Okpara. We built the first iron and steel industry in Nigeria at Emene and we had our television. In fact, when I was growing up, I didn't know anything like blackout because of the quality of electricity we enjoyed in those days "These regions survived very well on their own and were favourably competing to outperform one another. We have really lost it with the system we are operating." On the need for parliamentary system of government, he said: "I am one of those who want us to go back to the parliamentary system of government. The amount of money we are spending to elect our political office holders is colossal. "In parliamentary system, you become the premier of your region or the prime minister of the country by winning election in your region; not in the whole federation. You become prime minister because you are the leader of your party and you appoint ministers from those who had won elections in their constituencies. "You can imagine the amount of money it costs a member of the House of Assembly to contest election in his constituency and then he becomes the governor of a state, compare to what somebody spends under the system we operate now to be governor." Also yesterday, ADF through its spokesman, Abi Onyike said that in the regional system of administration, regions would cash on what they have and develop at their place. He cited the First Republic when the Eastern Region leveraged on comparative advantage in palm oil and agriculture to develop.
14 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 :Vanguard News :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058 Creation of chiefdoms: Channel your grievances appropriately, Ishaku tells antagonists By Femi Bolaji J A L I N G O — GOVERNOR Darius Ishaku of Taraba State has advised those unhappy with the creation of new chiefdoms in the state to channel their grievances through the appropriate channels. Ishaku, who spoke when he received a delegation of Ndola People Worldwide yesterday that he embarked on the creation of new chiefdoms to fast track development across the state. The governor spoke against the backdrop of complaints in some quarters over the exercise. He, however, urged those aggrieved with the development to channel their complaints appropriately which, according to him, will be addressed if found to be genuine. Ishaku further promised the Ndola people that he would continue to assist Ngada Special Development Area with infrastructure and other amenities. Earlier, the Coordinator of the Special Development Area, Joseph Nagombe, who led the delegation to the governor thanked Ishaku for giving them a sense of belonging. Vanguard reports that the Ndola People, who are domiciled in Ngada Special Development Area, were discovered by the wife of the governor, Anna Ishaku, and was created in September 2016. Buratai present new Innoson Hilux vans to 16 Army Warrant Officers By Kingsley Omonobi ABUJA—THE Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, yesterday presented keys of brand new Innoson Motor Hilux vans to 16 recently promoted Army Warrant Officers drawn from the Defence headquarters, Army headquarters, Division and Corps headquarters. Speaking during the presentation of the vehicles, the COAS, who was represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans, Army, Lt. Gen Lamidi Adeosun, noted that the vehicles were meant to provide enablement for the Army Warrant Officers to do their work While stating that the presentation of the vehicles was in compliance with the harmonized terms and conditions of service of the armed forces, the Army chief said: “If he, COAS, didn’t provide these vehicles, he would have had valid reasons. We are at war. ‘’We need more equipment, more logistics requirements yet he deemed it important to abide by provision of these vehicles.” 17,000 communities submerged by flood in Niger — SSG M O K W A — SECRETARY to the State Government in Niger State, Ahmed Matane, has said about 17,000 communities have been affected by flood in the state. Matane spoke during an onthe-spot assessment of the flood situation in Mokwa Local Government Area of the state. Local government areas, including Mokwa, Lapai, Edati, Lavun, Shiroro, Munya and Wushishi, were also submerged in floods. Matane also said about 60,000 people in the council have been affected by the floods which led to the collapse of houses and destruction of farmlands. He said the state government has begun the distribution of 2,400 bags of assorted grains to communities affected in Mokwa to cushion the effect of the flood. The SSG assured the people of Muregi, worst hit by floods, that government would expedite action towards relocating them to a new area before the end of the Abubakar Bello-led administration. He was accompanied on the visit by Abdullahi Gbara and Salihu Tama, members of the state house of assembly representing Lavun and Edati constituencies, and other government officials. In Bauchi, Bala Mohammed, the governor, had said at least 25 people have been killed and 22 others injured in flooding incidents across the state. The governor added that over 5,000 houses and farmlands were also destroyed, saying the flooding may pose a threat to food production in the state. LAUNCH: From left; MD/CEO, Cognitio Communications, Sam Osunsoko; former SA to Lagos State Governor on Revenue and Taxation, Bola Shodipo; Winner of N1million, Emmanuel Umoga; Deputy Director/Coordinator, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Priscilla Onuzulu; and Managing Director, Humber International, Andrew Humber-Osofisan, at the grand launch and cheque presentation of TYLGAMES in Lagos. FG sympathises with flood victims, to build walls round River Kaduna By Ibrahim Hassan A Federal BUJA—THE Government has said help was on the way for flood victims in Kaduna, following plans to build flood walls around River Kaduna to protect the people and their properties. The Acting Director, National Water Resources Institute, Kaduna, Dr. Martin Edufie, who disclosed this yesterday, regretted that Kaduna had in recent years suffered spates of floods, leading to loss of lives and properties, including houses, crops and even farmlands. While addressing the ‘2020 World Rivers Day’ yesterday in Kaduna, with the theme: ‘’Waterways in our Communities’’, Edufie said the Federal Government’s plan was based on yearly study on flood in Kaduna State. He said: “Very soon, we are going to have a flood control project in Kaduna. We are going to have flood walls on both banks of River Kaduna to protect the people. “This is as a result of our yearly study on flood in Kaduna State. Every year, we study the flood in Kaduna and submit our report to our Minister. The Minister has taken steps to address the challenge. ‘’People are encroaching on flood lane, we need to respect the waterways and ensure quality of water. Water serves several purposes. World River Day started in 2005, every fourth Sunday of September to highlight the importance of rivers.’’ In his remarks, Kaduna State Commissioner for Public Works and Infrastructure, Hajiya Balaraba Aliyu Inuwa, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Bashir Umar Lere, on the occasion, said river pollution and climate change were the challenges facing river development. “The other major challenge is climate change and its pursuant effects. Climate change is having a multitude of immediate and long term impacts on water resources across the world. “These include flooding, drought, sea level rise in estuaries, drying up of rivers, poor water quality in surface and groundwater system. Even here in Kaduna, we are experiencing excessive rainfall which leads to flooding and damage to life and Labour issues Kwara govt 14-day strike notice over 30,000 minimum wage, others By Demola Akinyemi I L O R I N — ORGANISED labour unions in Kwara State under the aegis of Joint Kwara State Labour Congress (JKLC), yesterday issued Kwara state government 14 days ultimatum to sign the N30,000 new minimum wage into law or risk industrial action. The state government in a swift response said in a statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary Rafiu Ajakaye that negotiation is ongoing based on the existing mutual relationship between the government and the organized labour unions in the state . The organised labour gave the ultimatum in a resolution at the end of its congress signed by the state chairmen of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and State Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), Aliyu Issa Ore,Ezekiel Adegoke and Saliu Suleiman respectively. Labour also accused the state property across the city. ‘’The solution pivots on taking urgent action to utilise science technology and innovation policies relevant to water audit and management,” she said. In his remarks,the Managing government of not remitting union dues and third party deductions and other sundry allegations. The resolution reads: “We observe that the state government after the negotiation of the new minimum wage has refused to sign the agreement for immediate implementation to all workers in the state despite our several letters to this effect.'' Vets seek end to rabies by 2030 THE President, Commonwealth Veterinary Association (CVA), Dr Olatunji Nasir has called on the policy makers to work towards ending rabies by 2030. He said: "It is indeed shameful that humanity is still talking about rabies in the year 2020 when it is obvious that rabies kills faster than AIDS. A press statement released to commemorate 2020 World Rabies Day, disclosed that the occasion began 14 years ago to bring Peter Arotiba, AFSS bag Gamaliel Onosode award for academic excellence MR. Seunara Peter Arotiba, a graduate of Air-force Secondary School (AFSS), Ikeja has been awarded the Gamaliel Onosode Award for Academic Excellence. Air-force Secondary School (AFSS), Ikeja was also awarded the Gamaliel Onosode Award for Academic Excellence at a ceremony held ín Lagos recently. Peter is currently a 200-level medicine and surgery student at the University of Ibadan and was the best student in West Africa in the 2018 West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), recording nine distinctions (As) in the examination. According to the spokesperson for the Gamaliel & Susan Onosode Foundation, Mrs. Toyin Olanrewaju, ''the Gamaliel Onosode Award for Academic Excellence has rewarded exceptional academic performance in WASSCE since 2015 and in remembrance of our founder, Mr. Gamaliel Onosode.'' The award includes a monetary prize for the best student and an equipment donation to the school. Director, Kaduna State Water Corporation, Malam Sanusi Maikudi, said mankind should respect river because it is source of employment, food, economic activities and recreation. “It is time to start dredging river to make them navigable and improve water transportation,” he said. “The congress having critically analysed the economic implication of the present situation on the agreed minimum wage, therefore demands for immediate signing and implementation of the already agreed minimum wage for all categories of workers of the state and as review of the negotiated minimum wage by 50% for the state workers. together everyone who has been involved in the objective of the control and eradication of the vaccine preventable scourge. He said: "Yearly, it has provided opportunities to once again remind us of the responsibilities to our various communities in the area of collaboration to eliminate rabies." The CVA President said this year's theme, "End Rabies: collaborate, vaccinate," further reemphasised the need for the different players in the community to collaborate and vaccinate to end rabies. Nasir, who is the first Nigerian to lead the association expressed optimism that the Office International des Epizooties (OIE/WHO) proposition to end rabies by 2030 is achievable, "if we all subscribe to diligently pursue the goal and I urge everyone concerned to walk and work towards this lofty goal in order to save humanity from the preventable disease." He said the CVA is committed to the elimination of rabies and through OIE reference laboratory in Bangalore, India, "we are able to support researchers from the Commonwealth countries and beyond that they are ready to contribute their didactic inputs into measures that will aid the eradication of the disease.''
Page 1 and 2: N2.67bn school feeding funds found
Page 3 and 4: 4 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER
Page 5 and 6: 6— Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
Page 11: 12—Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
Page 29 and 30: Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 20
Page 33 and 34: Niger Delta Voice, TUESDAY, SEPTEMB
Page 35 and 36: vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguar

29092020 - Anger as labour leaders abort strike, mass protest

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?