Headline
Strike: How Labour Veterans Got NLC, TUC To Close Ranks
Published
8 months agoon
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EditorLeaders of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and their Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, counterparts, Tuesday, September 26, 2023, announced to Nigerians, especially workers, that the two labour centres would jointly prosecute the planned nationwide indefinite strike starting on October 3, 2023.
Until then, the two centres had been in a cold war and worked at cross purposes to the detriment of the suffering masses especially workers, who are bearing the brunt of the removal of subsidy on petrol.
Recall that after the initial joint meeting the NLC and TUC held with the representatives of the Federal Government in June led by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, other meetings with the government were held separately.
Although, the NLC and TUC held a joint nationwide protest on Wednesday August 2, 2023, to protest perceived government insensitivityto the plights of poor Nigerians, the frosty relationship between them came to a boiling point ahead of the two-day warning strike declared by NLC for August 5 and 6, 2023.
Why TUC backed off
Leaders of the TUC after a meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, were quoted by a section of the media to have said they had backed out of the planned strike.
As expected, leaders of NLC hit back at TUC, dismissing the claims that they were backing out of the planned strike as untrue because TUC did not declare a strike in the first place. In other words, leaders of TUC could not withdraw from a strike they did not call.
The leaders of the TUC also went ahead to give the government two weeks to address their demands, claiming the government still needs more time to address those demands.
On Monday, September 18, after a meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, TUC told Nigerians and workers that the government would announce wage awards for workers the following week.
READ ALSO: NLC, TUC To Ground Activities Nationwide From Oct 3
NLC 21-day strike notice
On the other hand, at its meeting with the government, leaders of NLC told the Labour minister and his team that the government had up till Friday when the 21-day ultimatum given to the government by NLC would expire.
Recall that on September 1, while declaring the two-day warning strike, NLC had also given the government 14 days and 21 days notice within which to address its demands or face an indefinite nationwide strike.
Consequently, the September 18 meeting ended in deadlock as the meeting that commenced around 2 pm, ended around 4.23 p.m. without agreement.
On Friday, September 22, NLC summoned an emergency meeting of its National Executive Council, NEC, for Tuesday, September 22, to invariably fix the date to commence an indefinite strike.
Intervention by veterans
While all these were happening between NLC and TUC, Vanguard gathered that concerned elders in the Labour movement and civil society allies became worried that the movement was slipping into the divide-and-rule agenda of the government and that urgent intervention was needed to rescue the movement from the antics of the government.
According to sources, the elders and civil society allies reached out to the presidents and executives of both labour centres on the need to work together as one if they hoped to achieve anything for the masses of the country, especially workers who they are leading.
Following the intervention, the president of NLC and his TUC counterpart reached out to each other and stated talking, it was gathered.
Vanguard learned that following the success of the interface between the presidents of both labour centres, a broader meeting of leaders of NLC and TUC was held on Monday, September 21 at night.
The marathon meeting, it was gathered, lasted for over five hours and leaders of both centres told themselves the truth.
They were told to forget ego, pride and frivolities and face the onerous task of making life and living conditions better for the suffering masses of Nigeria most especially workers.
READ ALSO: Strike: Again, FG Invites NLC For Meeting Monday
TUC’s grouse
In fact, before the intervention, one of the leaders of TUC had confided in Vanguard that the leaders of NLC do not see TUC as partners but a labour centre they could always lord things over.
He complained that the NLC took a decision to embark on the August 2 protest alone without bothering to carry the TUC along.
According to the source, the TUC decided to join the protest at the last minute in the interest of the masses and workers.
The TUC source said what broke the camel’s back was NLC’s decision to declare the two-day warning strike without consulting or carrying TUC along.
The source said: “To the chagrin of TUC leaders, we read about the two-day warning strike notice on the pages of the newspapers like other Nigerians. The right thing to have been done was for the two Labour centres to either hold a joint NEC and decide on the warning strike or for NLC to reach out to TUC on its decision before making it public. Both NLC and us (TUC) would then meet and decide on the warning strike and jointly announce it. Alternatively, we could announce the warning strike separately but on same day. This was not done.
“When we looked at the content of the NLC’s communique announcing the warning strike, it appeared to be personal to NLC. The communique talked about the government interference in the leadership and occupation of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, headquarters in Abuja, without talking about Lagos State Government takeover of our affiliate, the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN office and seizure of two TUC buses parked at RTEAN secretariat in Lagos.
“The NLC communique also talked about some state governments’ interference in its state councils. So, essentially, we saw it as NLC’s affairs since we were not carried along and the things that concerned us were not included.”
NLC’s response
However, some leaders of NLC while dismissing the TUC’s claims, alleged that leaders of the TUC breached NLC’s trust and confidence from the onset.
One of the NLC leaders told Vanguard: “One of the TUC’s betrayals of trust was on September 4, a day to the two-day warning strike. On that day, the Minister of Labour and Employment invited us and TUC to a meeting. The meeting was supposed to hold around 3 p.m. But before the meeting, the minister held a press conference addressing the issues we were supposed to discuss and so on. We saw no reason to attend the meeting again. But our sister Labour centre attended.
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“That was not the first time. There was another example before the ministers were appointed by the President. We had a scheduled meeting with the government team at the Villa. We were not only held back at the gate for quite some time but when we got to the venue, the Chief of Staff to the President, who was supposed to preside over the meeting was nowhere to be found.
“About three low-ranking officials were left to hold the meeting with us. We left after waiting in vain for senior officials of government to turn up including the Chief of Staff to the President. But our sister labour centre stayed. Their utterances and body language before these examples were not convincing to us.”
NLC, TUC leaders meeting
Notwithstanding, sources at the reconciliation meeting informed Vanguard that leaders of NLC and TUC were made to understand that they needed to work together since both NLC and TUC were working for the masses and workers of Nigeria.
One of the sources said: “The leaders of both NLC and TUC were told and in fact, they agreed that both centres are working for the Nigerian masses, especially workers but with different approaches and methods. They were made to see reasons why a united force is a panacea to fighting a formidable enemy.
“They were also made to realize that the more they continue to work at cross purposes, the more the gap between them continues to widen and the more government will take advantage of it to unleash more anti-poor policies. They have also realized that the government will not address any of their demands if they continue to fight independently of each other.”
At the end of the meeting held at a hotel in Utako area of Abuja, Vanguard gathered that both NLC and TUC with over five representatives from each centre resolved to work as one to challenge the anti-poor policies of the government that have worsened poverty, unemployment, insecurity and other situations across Nigeria.
A source at the meeting said “They agreed that government has failed, that both NLC and TUC are the same family with common interests and must not allow the government to divide them.
“There was also the understanding that the NLC and TUC are the only hopes of Nigerian people and that they must do everything possible not to betray the Nigerian masses.
“There was equally an understanding that issues affecting them (NLC and TUC) should be discussed and addressed within them without allowing such issues to degenerate into wrangling or disputes, and so on.”
The product of the September 21 night meeting was the joint communique of Tuesday, September 22, by leaders of NLC and TUC declaration of an indefinite nationwide strike starting from October 3, 2023.
VANGUARD
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Headline
How Australian Doctor Treated Own Brain Cancer With Personal Research Studies
Published
4 hours agoon
May 14, 2024By
EditorAn Australian medical doctor, Professor Richard Scolyer, said he has remained brain cancer-free for a year after undergoing a world-first treatment based on his own research.
The 57-year-old used his own pioneering studies on melanoma to treat his incurable stage 4 glioblastoma following his diagnosis in June 2023.
Scolyer disclosed this on Monday, via his X page, with an update about the experimental treatment alongside two images from a recent MRI scan.
“I had brain #MRI scan last Thursday looking for recurrent #glioblastoma (&/or treatment complications). I found out yesterday that there is still no sign of recurrence. I couldn’t be happier!!!!!,” wrote Scolyer.
“Thank you to the fabulous team looking after me so well especially my wife Katie & wonderful family!” he added.
Scolyer’s diagnosis was revealed in June 2023 after he was taken ill while traveling for work in Poland. He then became the first brain cancer patient to undergo pre-surgery combination immunotherapy.
Speaking about the feat in an interview with BBC, Scolyer said, “To be honest, I was more nervous than I have been for any previous scan. I’m just thrilled and delighted… couldn’t be happier.”
Professor Scolyer is one of the country’s most respected medical minds, and was this year named Australian of the Year alongside his colleague and friend, Professor Georgina Long, in recognition of their life-changing work on melanoma.
READ ALSO: Miss USA Teen 2023 Runner-up Declines Title After Winner Stepped Down
As co-directors of the Melanoma Institute Australia, over the past decade the pair’s research on immunotherapy, which uses the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells, has dramatically improved outcomes for advanced melanoma patients globally.
He is also the first to be administered a vaccine personalised to his tumour’s characteristics, which boosts the cancer-detecting powers of the drugs.
After a tough couple of months of treatment at the start of the year – spent dealing with epileptic seizures, liver issues and pneumonia – Prof Scolyer said he is feeling healthier.
“I’m the best I have felt for yonks,” he said, adding that he’s back to exercising every day – which for him often means a casual 15km (9.3 mile) jog.
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“It certainly doesn’t mean that my brain cancer is cured… but it’s just nice to know that it hasn’t come back yet, so I’ve still got some more time to enjoy my life with my wife Katie and my three wonderful kids.”
The results so far have generated huge excitement that the duo may be on the cusp of a discovery which could one day help the roughly 300,000 people diagnosed with brain cancer globally each year.
Prof Scolyer and Prof Long have previously said the odds of a cure are “minuscule”, but they hope the experimental treatment will prolong Prof Scolyer’s life and will soon translate into clinical trials for glioblastoma patients.
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They currently have a scientific paper under review, which details results from the first weeks of Prof Scolyer’s treatment, but Prof Long stresses that they are still a long way off developing an approved and regulated course of treatment.
“We’ve generated a whole heap of data, to then make a foundation for that next step, so that we can help more people,” she said.
“We’re not there yet. What we have to really focus on is showing that this pre-surgery, combination immunotherapy type of approach works in a large number of people.”
Headline
32-year-old Nigerian Doctor Killed In US, Father Mourns
Published
11 hours agoon
May 14, 2024By
EditorA 32-year-old Nigerian doctor, Uzochukwu Davis Igboanugo, has been killed by a drunk driver in the United States of America.
Uzochukwu, the son of prominent Igbo businessman, Chief I.K.B. Igboanugo, the founder of I.K.B Industries Limited, was killed while driving home after work three weeks ago.
The grieving father who confirmed the tragic incident in a Facebook post on Monday, May 13, 2024, said the drunk driver fell asleep at the wheel while speeding on the highway and rammed into his son’s car.
He described his son as a very happy, intelligent, friendly, caring, nice and loving boy.
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“I lost my son 3 weeks ago, I have been crying like a baby. A medical doctor ( Ophthalmologist) in America,” Chief Igboanugo wrote.
His post reads further: “An accident victim of a drunkard who fell asleep while speeding on the highway, jumped his lane in the opposite direction and hit with speed force on the driver’s side door where my son was as he was driving home after work.
“We can’t question God as He has the final decision.
“Always pray as a parent not to loose any of your child irrespective of his behaviour because loss of a child can kill any parent.
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“Uzochukwu my son was a very nice boy, always happy, intelligent, friendly, caring, loving, sociable etc.
“He was 32yrs old, not yet married despite my nagging, he sacrificed all his time and achieved Ophthalmology which is a very difficult medical course in the history of reading medicine to become a medical doctor.
“Since his death I have been going through mental and psychological trauma as my doctor has been warning me.
“My wife also has not been her self. Pls don’t wish your worst enemy this type of tragedy, now I pray for anybody who has not lost his child never to experience it. It is hellish and a disaster.
“Uzochukwu my son you are now in God’s bosom and working for Him that was why he took you this early. As your soul will rest in God’s bosom in Jesus name.”
Headline
Miss USA Teen 2023 Runner-up Declines Title After Winner Stepped Down
Published
11 hours agoon
May 14, 2024By
EditorThe news comes after a shocking beauty pageant scandal, which saw both Miss USA 2023 and Miss Teen USA 2023 announcing that they were resigning within days of each other amid reports of bullying and harassment.
Miss USA Noelia Voigt, 24, first shared her surprise resignation via Instagram, explaining that she wanted to focus on her “physical and mental well-being.”
It was then followed by 17-year-old Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava announcing she too was stepping down because her personal values “no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.”
Now, Miss New York Teen USA Stephanie, 19, who was the first runner-up of the Miss Teen USA pageant, has revealed that she was offered the crown but ultimately refused it because she can’t “give up [her] character.”
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Stephanie, 19, told People in an interview published May 13: “I worked so hard and sacrificed so much for this goal to become Miss Teen USA and although this title was a dream of mine, I believe one thing I will never give up is my character.”
While the Miss New York Teen USA admitted that it was an “extremely difficult” choice to make, she said she was confident that it was “the right decision.”
Stephanie’s rejection of the title arrives less than a week after UmaSofia, 17, shared that she was leaving behind her Miss Teen USA role in the wake of Miss USA 2023 winner Noelia Voigt’s resignation.
“After careful consideration,” UmaSofia wrote in a May 8 Instagram post, “I’ve decided to resign as I find that my personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.”
Her statement further adds to the speculation about the dark underbelly surrounding the pageant.
“Hi everyone. As many of you know, on August 6, 2023, I was crowned Miss New York Teen USA 2023,” Stephanie wrote on Instagram on Sunday, May 12.
She went on to note that she had put “every ounce of [her] being” into achieving her dream of winning and “sacrificed” many things in her life.
The 19-year-old explained that her life changed when she was awarded Miss Teen USA runner-up and was given the opportunity to take up the crown when UmaSofia stepped down.
She added: “In light of recent events, I have decided to decline the title of Miss Teen USA 2023. This was not an easy decision. I hope for respect of my choice as this was a decision I never asked to make. My word is my everything.”
In her announcement, Stephanie made her opinions on the previous winners extremely clear as she noted that she stood with them.
“In addition, although I don’t know what Uma and Noelia went through to lead them to resign, I am sending them immense love and support. What I do know is that my core values are integrity, honor, kindness, and most importantly, I will always stand for female empowerment,” she said.
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