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ASUU: Ngige Blasts House Chairman On Tertiary Education

Published

4 months ago

June 7, 2023

Editor

Abuja: Former Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has blasted the House Committee on Tertiary Education, Aminu Goro, for alleged fabrications, outright lies and unwarranted attacks on the floor of the House, towards political gains, saying there was no plan to proscribe the Academic staff union of Universities, ASUU.

Ngige who expressed shock by the lawmaker’s outburst, urged the outgoing House of Representative member to go back and read the Trade Union Act, (2004) and not to rubbish other persons for political survival.

The former minister in a statement from his Media Office, among others, said “The Minister of Labour does not need Presidential approval to withdraw certificates of registration of Trade Unions. The Trade Union Act 2004 permits the Registrar of Trade Unions to cancel a certificate suo moto in Section 7 especially as ASUU had breached Section 3 on the annual rendition of Audited Accounts. ASUU was in default for five years.

“Another Section of Trade Dispute Act; The Essential Services Act Cap T9 permits the President to proscribe any erring Union involved in an illegal strike but all through the 2022 ASUU strike neither the President nor any of his Ministers in Education or Labour mooted such an idea because the Minister of Labour and Employment has done the right thing by the transmission of an Instrument on the issue to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria for adjudication in accordance with Section 17 of TDA. 2004. So former President Buhari and his officials chose the path of the rule of Law in dealing with the unending strike when conciliation failed instead of an arm-twisting proscription as alleged by Aminu Goro.

“Aminu’s cock and bull narrative aimed at sweetening the ears of the audience including fellow outgoing members at the expense of other patriotic Nigerians including the former President should be discouraged by all including the outgoing Speaker. No such incident ever happened on the Executive side and hence the painted scenario never took place at all. This is by no means to say that the Outgoing Speaker and Chief of Staff designates to the President did not contribute to the resolution of the issue with ASUU. He did and passionately too like many others on the government side and the Traditional and Religious leaders. But the ultimate solution and relief came from the Judiciary. Judges of both the NICN and the Court of Appeal who interpreted the relevant sections of the Trade Dispute Act 2004 without fear or favour and ordered ASUU back to the classroom.”

He added that ASUU violated section 37 of the Trade Unions Acts CAP T14 that required the registered trade unions to submit their annual audited accounts and financial returns to the Registrar of Trade Unions on or before 1st June every year. Section 7 of the Acts gives the Registrar the power to cancel the certificate of registration of any trade union that deliberately contravened or continue to contravene any provision of the Act after receipt of a warning in writing from the Registrar.

“Warning in writing was duly issued to ASUU in 2019 and 2021 but deliberately and in order to leave them with a window for peaceful resolution this right was not exercise.”

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Edo: Coral City To Accommodate 50,000 Residents — Commissioner

Published

7 hours ago

September 21, 2023

Editor

The Edo State government on Wednesday said it expected its proposed Coral City would accommodate not less than 50,000 residents when completed.

Edo State Commissioner for Physical Planning, Housing, Urban and Regional Development, Isoken Omo, who addressed a joint press conference with her counterpart in the Ministry of Communication and Orientation, Chris Osa Nehikhare, said that the reason for the new city, which she said started September 2022, was to reduce the pressure on the Benin City Centre.

“We have done the design, and we have 1,300 plots available for different land uses: residential, commercial, multi-purpose, religious, leisure, schools, markets, health centres, everything you need for a city to thrive, and it is coming with full infrastructure like roads, drainages, power, telecommunication, and others.

“We intend to house 50,000 people when it is fully completed. We have broken the project into four phases so that within the tenure of the current administration, we will do the first phase with the expectation that the subsequent governments will continue the project. We opened for subscription with 467 plots to jump-start the project,” Omo disclosed.

To achieve that, she added that a New Town Development Authority had been set up to oversee the comprehensive development of the project and appealed to Edo residents to begin to apply for plot allocation in the new city, assuring that the land acquired would come with title documents.

She said that the project would be in four phases, adding that after the initial subscription, subscribers would also be allowed to do staggered and instalment basis.

Also speaking at the press conference, Nehikhare reiterated the state government’s commitment to prioritising the people’s welfare.

Nehikhare disclosed that since the state government flagged off its free bus rides penultimate week, the feedback from the people had been most encouraging as commuters who had been using the free buses had been able to save their daily transportation fares.

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Seplat JVC Trains 350 Teachers In Edo, Delta

Published

7 hours ago

September 21, 2023

Editor

No fewer than 350 teachers drawn from Edo and Delta states respectively were, Wednesday, trained under the Seplat/Teachers Empowerment Programme (STEP).

The 4th edition of the Seplat/Teachers Empowerment Programme (STEP) which held in Benin was in partnership with Seplat/NNPC E&P.

Speaking, Seplat Director, External Affairs and Sustainability, Chioma Afe, said training is geared towards deepening teachers skills to deliver knowledge to students in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.

Afe also explained that STEAM scheme is to improve self awareness and knowledge of teachers.

According to her, “beyond that, we want to re-orient our teachers. STEAM helps creativity. We can teach Science to students creatively,” adding: “Teacher’s leadership is the process where our teachers collaborate with others to improve teaching to impact teachers.”

Also, the Adviser Community Relations of NNPC E&P, Mr. Owunari Levi, lauded Seplat for its support for the sustained growth and progress of the company’s oil and gas exploration pursuits.

Levi said: “This programme is one of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives designed to provide and build the capacity of Teachers residing within the NNPC E&P Limited/SEPLAT operational communities.”

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Tribunal Judgement: Police In Kano Impose 24-hour Curfew

Published

20 hours ago

September 20, 2023

Editor

The Kano state police command has imposed a 24-hour curfew, to guard against the breakdown of law given the recent judgement passed by the governorship election tribunal on Wednesday.

According to a statement signed by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Muhammad Gumel and made available to pressmen, the curfew takes immediate effect.

He said that given the Constitutional mandate of the Nigeria Police Force alongside the relevant Internal Security and Law Enforcement Agencies to preserve law and order in the State, the Kano State Police Command has mapped out strategies in that direction and called on the good people of the State to give the necessary confidence and supports.

He then added that “Kano State residents are called upon to note that combined Security forces have already been dispatched to the nooks and crannies including the entry and exits of the State to ensure enforcement and strict compliance of the Twenty-Four Hours (24hrs) Curfew order as communicated by the State Government via letter with Reference No: K/SEC/H/435/T.1/153 dated 20th September 2023 taking effect from 6 pm of Wednesday, 20th September to 6 pm of Thursday, 21st September 2023. Violators will be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.

”Finally, I wish to appreciate all the peace-loving People of the State and urge them to remain law-abiding as it’s in the best interest of all that we come together to maintain law and order in the State.