Stories by Bimbola Oyesola, 08033246177
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) may be offering solutions that would turn the economy around, provided the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is ready to key into the plan.
The TUC, in a statement jointly signed by the President, Bobboi Bala Kaigama, and the Secretary-General, Musa-Lawal Ozigi, among others, charged government to stop paying lip service to economic diversification.
“On diversification of the economy, successive governments have paid lip service to alternative sources of revenue to the country. No nation survives on the vagaries of a mono-cultural economy”, the congress said.
It added that even individuals believe that multiple streams of income is the way to go but leaders in the country have a different opinion.
The TUC added, “The labour movement at sundry times had over the years urged government to diversify the economy by developing other sectors of the economy, but all pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
“They forget that the oil well in Oloibiri, Bayelsa State, where oil was first found, is now dry. Our leaders forget that nothing lasts forever. We urge the government to remember that Nigerians voted for this administration because of its promise to provide positive change. Stop the blame game and give us good leadership. Integrity is at stake here.”
The Labour centre also suggested that government should “see to the demands of Niger Delta militants, pass the Petroleum Industry Bill into law, diversify the economy, reduce cost of running government, jail looters of our treasury and there would be money to do much more than Nigerians are yearning for. We hope government at all levels listens to the voice of reason.”
The TUC maintained that it would no longer keep quiet over the ineptitude of government, noting that it expected those in government to put their acts together to avoid industrial crisis this year.
“Truth is, we are not going to close our eyes to job losses, non-payment of salaries and allowance, and so on. Our position is, any governor who cannot pay salaries as and when due should not earn his, let alone pay his aides. We are going to work tirelessly in conjunction with our state councils to actualise that,” the statement said.
Stressing that the problem of Nigeria was leadership, the TUC insisted that the way out of crisis, be it Niger Delta militancy, Boko Haram, Biafra or election violence as it occurred in Rivers Staye recently, was for government to spend money used to provure arms for job creation and infrastructural development.
Court adjourns NUJ’s suit against Customs to Feb 23
Justice Abdulaziz Anka of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, has adjourned till February 23, 2017, further hearing and ruling on motions before the court in a N500 million special and exemplary damages suit filed on behalf of a Badagry-based journalist, Yomi Olomofe.
Olomofe was allegedly assaulted in the premises of the Nigerian Customs Service, Seme Border Area Command, on June 25, 2015.
At the resumed hearing of the Lagos council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) suit, the court held that “February 23rd 2016 is fixed for all further hearing on the motion permitting oral evidence to clarify the conflicts in the counter-affidavits and motion for extension of time, pending before the court and a ruling on same.”
The Lagos State Council of the NUJ had in January 2016 instituted a fundamental human rights infringement suit against the Comptroller-General of Customs, Seme Customs Area Controller, Mohammed Garba Ndalati, Deputy Comptroller, Emmanuel Nkemdirim, and Assistant Comptroller, Nuru Ibrahim Turaki.
Also joined in the suit were leaders of a notorious smuggling cabal led by one Sam Madubuike, Suleimon Momoh, Shehu, and one Elijah.
The Lagos NUJ is also praying the court to grant orders affirming the brutal assault on Olomofe at the behest and in the presence of the aforementioned customs officials and their alleged collaborators as an infringement on Olomofe’s right to life, freedom of expression and the press.
It will be recalled that following the brutal attempt on the life of Olomofe in full public glare by members of the Seme Border smuggling cabal led by one Momoh (aka Basket) and Madubuike, the leadership of the NUJ in a January 2016 press briefing addressed by its national president, Waheed Odusile, had warned that “the NUJ will no longer take lightly, any act of lawless impunity against any of its members across the country.
“We will, in this particular instance of this criminal attempt on the life of Olomofe by people that have been identified, prosecute this criminal infringement to a logical conclusion to serve as a deterrent to others who are in the habit of taking laws into their own hands. We will not allow this case to be swept under the carpet.
“The union’s lawyers have, in this regard, therefore, been directed to institute stringent legal processes against Olomofe’s assailants and their state actors sponsors.”
Group moves to end unemployment among youths
As part of the efforts to reduce unemployment in the country, a non-governmental organisation, Distinguished Child Lifestyle Initiative, has advocated for an entrepreneurship programme for children after school.
Convener of the group, Mrs. Abiola Jimoh, speaking at the maiden edition of the convention, with the theme “My Faith, My Community and I,” held in Lagos, where no fewer than 100 children were in attendance, said it would be a good thing for children to learn a trade after secondary school, because it would help them to become self-reliant in life.
According to Jimoh, the objective of the convention was to encourage children to live right, restore lost values and morals, and also project the community.
“We will get people to talk to the children to enhance their academic performance. Many children who live in the Railway Compound in Lagos, do not associate.
“We want them to aspire to impact on their environment and community,” the convener said.
Jimoh also called on parents to supervise their children in the use of modern technology to enable them to grow in the right way.
“If we want our children to follow the trend in the use of computers, we must be able to monitor, control and supervise them,” she said.
The convener said that though the use of laptops and other modern devices was reducing reading culture among youths, education programmes in computers would boost reading.
Jimoh urged Nigerians to contribute toward ensuring that less-privileged children were educated.
“Educate a child, you educate a nation. You educate a child, you close the prison doors,” she said.
One of the children in the initiative, Miss Ndube Chilota, described the programme as interesting, saying that it would not only educate but also improve and enhance her skills.
Mr. Daniel Obekpa, another participant, said that experience and training gained in the programme would help him become a good youth ambassador.