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Oshiomhole Disagrees With Labour Over Strike

Published

6 months ago

November 14, 2023

Senator representing Edo North District, Adams Oshiomhole, on Tuesday, said the striking Labour Unions are not prioritizing the interests of Nigerian workers.

This was as he said the rationale for the commencement of Tuesday’s nationwide strike is misplaced, arguing that the Organised Labour is better off mobilising states to monitor the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding it signed with the Federal Government on October 2, 2023.

“I will publicly support an action against any government that thinks that we should lament away our hunger…unfortunately, this strike is not about those issues…we have to be careful not to mix our political opinion with our responsibilities because the issues confronting workers are so many that they should become the priority,”

Oshiomhole told the State House Correspondents when he emerged from closed-door talks with Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

The PUNCH reports that the Federal Government, on the night of October 2, agreed to fulfill several demands by the Organised Labour, amongst which was the payment of N35,000 to all federal workers as Wage Awards for the next six months.

The agreement also included the provision of Compressed Natural Gas-enabled vehicles and conversion kits to ease commuting nationwide.

But on Monday night, the Labour Centres announced the commencement of a nationwide strike to protest the battering of the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, and some other executives of the congress in Owerri, Imo State, on November 1, as well of the pending labour issues in Imo State.

The Union wrote their affiliates, such as the Academic Staff Union of Universities, National Union of Electricity Employees, Nigeria Union of Teachers, the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, among others, ahead of the planned nationwide strike scheduled to begin midnight, November 14, 2023.

But Oshiomhole, a former Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (1999 – 2007), argued that Labour’s priorities were misplaced.

“The federal government had granted N35,000 Wage Award. And those discussions were supposed to be for and on behalf of not only the federal government but of all workers in Nigeria, including those employed by local governments and state governments.

“Now, I would have wished that somebody in the NLC recognise that the hunger in the stomach of federal employees is not any worse than that of state or local government employees.

“If these are the issues on the table, even as a senator, I will publicly support action against any government that thinks that we should lament away our hunger…You have to be careful not to be seen as doing the bidding of a particular candidate or a political party,” he remarked.

While kicking against violence against any individual, the former Edo State Governor called on Labour to mobilse its members in all 36 states to ensure that the FG fulfils its promises to ease the living conditions of Nigerians.

He advised, “Let me be clear. I do not support the brutalisation of any Nigerian…including the Labour Leader.

“But I’m saying, in terms of what you might call the hierarchy of needs and challenges that we face, I think that NLC should robustly engage all the state governors or governments who are not implementing the agreement that was midwife, courtesy of a national strike, not a federal government’s employees strike.

“So if you mobilise private sector workers, state employees, local government workers, and now there is an agreement on N35,000 across the board, I want to see NLC saying there will be no sleep in any state where this is not being implemented.”

Oshiomhole appeared at the State House in the company of two former members of the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress, a former National Vice Chairman (North Central), Ahmed Wambai, and National Treasurer, Adamu Fanda.

He said they were at the Villa to congratulate President Bola Tinubu, who is away in Saudi Arabia, through the VP over the APC’s success in the Imo and Kogi elections on November 11.

“So first, we have to congratulate him, and since the President is not here, through him to the president, for the victory we recorded in the elections in Imo and Kogi,” he explained.

The Senator reasoned that the off-cycle elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi states show how much power the people wield over those he described as vocal elements who sit in the country’s capital and opine over the politics of regions they have never visited.

He opined, “What has happened in Imo shows that urban elites cannot arrest this democracy. This forgotten majority of voiceless people…have the power of the ballot.

“That it is not what sponsored commentators say on television or sponsored writers write in papers that will inform their judgment. Their judgments will be formed by what they have seen the governor doing and what the governor is doing that touches them.

“The worst mistake you can make is to rely on sampling people in Abuja whom we call ward 17. They don’t exist in the States, but they are very vocal. They are the ones you will find being hosted by TV hosts. But those voiceless people are potent. They are the ones that vote.”

News

JUST IN: Crisis In UniAbuja As ASUU Faction Declares Indefinite Strike

Published

55 mins ago

May 2, 2024

Editor

The University of Abuja branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has declared an indefinite strike.

The union announced its decision on Thursday during a congress held at the permanent site of the institution.

Sylvanus Ugoh, the chairman of UniAbuja ASUU, did not immediately respond to TheCable’s inquiries on the development.

But Abubakar Kari, the UniAbuja student affairs dean and ex-convener of ASUU’s national political committee, said the varsity’s branch of the union issued a communique declaring “total and indefinite strike” over a lingering disagreement with the UniAbuja management.

The dispute, he said, borders on four issues including ASUU’s interest in a multi-stakeholder microfinance banking venture, promotion procedures in the absence of a governing council, election for faculty deanship, and alleged illegal appointments.

More to follow…

News

Why Abia Policeman Dropped His Rifle, Uniform, Walked Away From His Job – Report

Published

6 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Editor

An investigative journalist known as 99% Oppressed on X.com has raised concerns about the situation of a police officer, Ugochukwu Nwaso, attached to the Abia State Police Command.

According to the journalist who also claims to be a private investigator hated by all security agencies in Nigeria, Nwaso, a corporal in the force, resigned for yet-to-be-confirmed reasons.

In a tweet directed at the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on Wednesday, the journalist who tweeted as @PIDOMNIGERIA, highlighted concerns about mental health issues and toxic work environments within the police force, emphasizing the need for those challenges to be urgently addressed to prevent further incidents.

The journalist noted that all efforts by his fellow policemen to convince Nwaso against his action proved abortive as he was resolute in his decision.

The journalist wrote, “Hello @Princemoye1, are you aware that a corporal in the Nigerian police @PoliceNG force, Ugochukwu Nwaso, attached to Abia State Police Command, went to his station in Umuahia, dropped his rifle, dropped his uniform, and all the things the Nigerian Police gave to him. He packed all his personal belongings in the station and left.

“He said that he is no more interested in being in the force. All efforts made to persuade him to change his mind proved abortive. What is the Nigerian police force doing as regards depression, mental health issues and toxic work environment?

“So many police officers are battling one mental health issue or the other without the authorities knowing. Some are battling depression, that triggers them to commit murder. While some are being frustrated by their superiors at their place of work. They make life unbearable for them. The work is so toxic to them, that they easily transfer their aggression to innocent citizens whom they are paid to protect. Corporal Ugochukwu Nwaso a trained young man, who knows how to use firearms, will now be an ordinary civilian on the street.”

In response, the State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Maureen Chinaka, refuted the claim.

She stated that the information was untrue, asserting that the officer in question was currently on active duty and had not tendered his resignation from the Force.

She wrote, “This information is false. I want to clarify that Copral Ugochukwu Nwaso, serving at Eziama Division, Abia State Police Command, is currently on duty at his division and has not resigned from the force. He is still very much in service and stationed at his Division.”

Affirming the claim, the journalist went ahead to present a police wireless message by one Supol Eziama, confirming Nwaso’s resignation.

The police wireless message revealed that Nwaso resigned following a misunderstanding with a fellow police officer, ASP Onyinyechi Nwuju.

He wrote, “ASP Maureen Chinaka, @MaureenChinaka before @PIDOMNIGERIA posts anything on X, there must be evidential receipt at hand. You can ask about me if you want. But because you said my information is false, attached here is a Police @PoliceNG wireless message, confirming my claim about Corporal Ugochukwu Nwaso. Deny this if you can, I will post more evidence. @Princemoye1.”

The police wireless message read, “Be informed that today, at about 1530 hours, one F/NO. 520044 CPL Ugochukwu Nwaso dropped his rifle, uniform and packed his belongings and left the station that he was no more interested in the force following a misunderstanding with W/ASP Onyinyechi Nwuju. All efforts made to bring him back proved abortive. Above for your information please.”

In May 2023, a police officer, Corporal Fauzziyah Isiak, lamented how the Nigeria Police Force detained her after she put in her resignation.

Isiak, who narrated her ordeal on X.com, said after she submitted her resignation letter she was called into the office and was detained even as she disclosed that she was on her menses.

The officer, who was also an entrepreneur at the time, lamented the treatment she received for wanting to resign. She said she never saw her plight coming as she never thought she’d be put in detention without interrogation.

News

Police Probe Assault On Two Delta Varsity Students

Published

6 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Editor

The Nigeria Police has condemned the assault on two yet-to-be-identified students of the Delta State University of Science and Technology, Ozoro, by some unidentified men suspected to be police officers.

This follows a viral video on X (formerly Twitter) which generated several reactions from police operatives.

The video, posted by an X user with the handle, ‘Ughellivibes’, on Monday, showed two scenes where some young men were being beaten with batons by police officers as onlookers gathered.

Reacting to the incident, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, condemned the act, stressing that the Force did not support any indecent and unprofessional conduct.

He, however, urged the Delta State Police Command to look into the incident and bring the perpetrators to book.

He said, “Look into this. We should be able to justify our actions always. The beating is condemned, not professional. Like I always say, the police have powers to arrest, search, enforce the law, and apply minimum force to carry out their operations, but such must be done with decorum, professionalism and proportionality. We don’t support any indecent and unprofessional conduct. No way.”

Reacting to the incident, the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, demanded that members of the public provide the command with details of the victims.

Edafe wrote: “Please, whoever knows the victim should send him this number 09155570008 or any of our CRU lines.”

Efforts to contact Edafe to know more about the progress the police had made proved abortive, as several calls and texts sent to him were unanswered as of the time of filing this report.