Tinubu to organised Labour: I’m one of you in fight for good governance - ITREALMS

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The All Progressives Congress Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has urged Organised Labour to pitch its tent with him in the 2023 presidential election, saying he has the track record for good governance.

Tinubu stated this during a Townhall meeting with Organised Labour at Chida Hotel Conference Centre in Abuja on Monday where he also said he is the most qualified to lead Nigeria among the presidential candidates.

Why Labour Party must redesign its logo now - ITREALMS

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The Nigeria’s much talked about third force, the Labour Party (LP) may mess up the chances its opportunity in the forthcoming general elections if it fails to redesign its official logo.

EDITORIAL

A section of political watchers, informed ITREALMS that inability to redesign Labour Party logo formally for the 2023 general elections may cause the party to loose the elections and therefore cause the current ‘OBIdient and be Yusuful’ movement to the presidency and untold setback.

Sanwo-Olu assures workers of labour friendly govt - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has assured labour in the state that they will be on priority list of his government if elected, reports ITREALMS.

Sanwo-Olu said no worker in the state would be denied his lawful benefits, promising that the proposed minimum wage of N30,000 would be fully implemented by his administration.

The APC candidate spoke at an interactive session held by the organised labour union, including Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and United Labour Congress (ULC), National Union of Teachers (NUT), and Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), among others.

Sanwo-Olu, who was accompanied to the meeting by his running mate, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, said his government would not be harsh on workers. He said his ambition to govern the state was anchored on the objective to deliver a Lagos that would be greater than the current level of development.

While answering questions posed to him by the workers, Sanwo-Olu spoke on how his government would solve the notorious Apapa gridlock, which the workers said had contributed to low productivity and ill-health. The APC candidate explained that work had been ongoing on the construction of a parking lot by the Federal Government for the heavy trucks that ply the route, pointing out that his government would re-visit the plan to create state-controlled parking lot for the trucks.

He said: “My running mate and I have met with the Minister for Power, Works and Housing, who assured that the ministry is meeting with Dangote Group that took up the construction of the Apapa Highway. As a way of proffering lasting solution to the gridlock; when we form the next government, by the grace of God , we will bring back the idea of industrial park for these trucks. Rather than obstructing the road while waiting for their turn, the truck drivers can go there and park their vehicles.”

Sanwo-Olu said his government would consider introducing a housing scheme in partnership with the organised labour, noting that the scheme would be beneficial to both the government and the workers. He stressed that all workers, irrespective of level, deserved better welfare and living condition.

Responding to the workers’ concern raised on the difficulty in getting Certificate of Occupancy from the government, Sanwo-Olu promised that his administration, if elected, would review the process of the issuance of the Certicate of Occupancy, with the aim to remove the red tape that is slowing down the process.

He assured the workers that his government would improve transportation in the state, noting that the capacity of ferry service plying the waterways would be strengthened to complement that road transportation and reduce travel time.

His government, Sanwo-Olu said, will not discontinue the quarterly meeting which the governor usually has with a joint workers’ congress, while also promising that he would sustain the Office of Special Adviser on Labour Matters.

Ayo Midele/GEE

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Pix: L-R: APC Deputy Governorship Candidate in Lagos State, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Gubernatorial Candidate, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; his wife Dr. Ibijoke and the Board of Trustee Member, Nitechift Colliseum, Olorogun Dr. Sunny Kuku, during a grand house reception in honour of Mr. Sanwo-Olu, by the Coliseum board of Trustees, in Lagos…

Forum condemns child labour, honours Gov. Ambode with Safety man of the year

ITREALMS:

The unfortunate increasing trend of child labour is not only a local (States and Federations) challenge but also a global concern hence the International Labour organization, ILO has begun actions to tame the trend, reports ITRealms.

Records has it that, 541 million young workers (15-24 years old) - which includes 37 million children work in hazardous places. Child labour is also said to account for more than 15 per cent of the world’s labour force and suffer up to a 40 per cent higher rate of non-fatal occupational injuries than adult workers older than 25.

This global ugly trend in addition to the campaigns of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 8.8 on safe and secure working environments for all workers by 2030, and SDG target 8.7 of ending all forms of child labour by 2025, prompted ILO to bring together; the World Day for Safety and Health at Work (SafeDay), and the World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL) in a joint campaign for the 2018 SafeDay, to improve the safety and health of young workers and end child labour under the common theme:  eliminating child labour and promoting a culture of preventive occupational safety health (OSH).

In different countries and nation states this theme is discussed and various actions taken in accordance to their specific child labour implications.

In Nigeria, and probably the entire sub Saharan Africa, child labour is said to be at its worse hence the, Nigeria Safety & Security, NSAS Awards and Lecture, annually used by Safety&SecurityWatch magazine to commemorate the ILO Day of Safety and Health at work, dedicated its 2018 edition to Child Labour in Nigeria.

Two incisive presentations on the theme were delivered; one by a profound aviation safety professional, Engr. Godwin Anokwa, who heaped blame of the aberration seen as child labour on poverty, lack, ignorance, culture and other associated reasons.

On his part, the second speaker and moderator of the Discussion that followed the presentations, a rounded safety professional, Engr. Badmos Jamiu, argued how the children, most of who are their families bread winners would be put off working considering the level of poverty and hunger ion the land. He maintains that child labour may not be eradicated as it were in the Nigerian context for the above reason, he therefore appeals to employers of these children to create a conducive work environment that can mitigate the hazards associated with under-aged workers to enable them work safer.

It was indeed a very touchy topic that aside the panel of discussants drawn from teachers, lawyers, employers of labour and child based government and non-governmental organizations, almost everyone in attendance had something to say or an experience to share.

In her contribution, the managing editor of Safety&SecurityWatch magazine, organizers of NSAS Awards and Lecture series, Dr. Amaechi Chinyere, reminded the gathering that in the past, students do vacation jobs or while waiting for JAMB to go to the University after G.C.E O’level; the common employment was either office assistant to run menial errands or clerical officer. 

But the times have changed for the worse she continued, where employers take advantage of the hunger on the land and these desperate young ones particularly the industrialists who assign them to hazardous tasks ill equipped for it - with little or no training and no personal protective equipments, PPE. More often than not, they are engaged as casual workers as another scheme to pay them pittance for their hard labour.

Dr. Amaechi therefore appeals to employers of labour to in addition to the provision of an ennobling working conditions; to also give these children age appropriate engagements as well as train and equip them adequately for the task so assigned.

The event also featured film clips on child abuse and child labour as parents were advised to give birth to the number of children they can cater for rather than engage their less fortunate children in child labour.

High point of the event was the presentation of Awards and medals to Awardees. The Lagos State Governor, H.E Akinwunmi Ambode was the Safety Man of the year, the Director, Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Mr. Modecai Danteni Baba Ladan was the Safety Icon of the Year while Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Management Agency, NIMASA took home the Safety Organ of the Year Award. 

Other awardees include: Group Safety Manager MTN Mr. Fynray Mbata, former national president Environmental Society of Nigeria Engr. Olu Andah, immediate past director of factories Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment Mrs. Nofisat Arogundade, Dr. Ibilola Amao of Lonadek and Vision 2020, Youth empowerment programme, Anambra State head of Fire Service Engr. Agbili Martin, and many other worthy Nigerians who came from far and near for their recognitions.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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Minister of State for Labour, James Ocholi, wife, son die in car tyre burst

ITRealms:

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Barr. James Enojo Ocholi, a  Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) has been pronounced dead alongside his wife and a son, reports ITRealms.

Ocholi, an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain died in a car accident along Kaduna-Abuja Expressway on Sunday afternoon, as a result of tyre burst which led to several somersaults of the vehicle in which they were traveling in.

An indigene of Dekina area of Kogi State, Ocholi, ITRealms gathered that the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) was a former governorship aspirant in Kogi State before his appointment as Minister in President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration.
 

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CNSSL says Jos call centre staff are not MTNers

Gbenga Adebayo, CEO CNSSL

The management of the CNSSL has refuted the allegations making a round that employees at the Jos Call centre are the employees of MTN Nigeria.

According to the chief executive officer of CNSSL Contact Centre Limited, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online, on Wednesday 14th March 2010, the MTN Call Centre in Rayfield, Jos, Plateau State, was besieged by a crowd purported to be officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

He alleged that their stated mission was to protest the conditions of service of the staff in the centre and the alleged resistance to unionization of staff.

But in furtherance of their objectives, the NLC came with placards and effectively barricaded the building and prevented staff from entering their offices.

He insisted that the call centre staffers are not MTNers but CNSSL employees.

“It is pertinent to note that the MTN Call Centre in Jos is operated by CNSSL, a Nigerian company under an outsourcing arrangement with MTN,” he explained.

The staff in the call centre, Mr. Adebayo was quoted as saying, are therefore not employed by MTN.

CNSSL, as said by him, provides skilled employment for Nigerians under terms that far exceed the national minimum wage requirements and comparable with prevailing conditions for graduate employees in many areas of the private sector.

“Our vision is to increase our capacity to do so,” he said.

Adebayo lamented that the action by the NLC Wednesday morning disrupted the activities of the call centre and jeopardized the ability of CNSSL employees to attend to the teeming MTN customers under its care.

“Such incidents not only undermines our ability to fullfill our contractual obligations to MTN, it is a disincentive to investors who wish to provide employment opportunities for the youth in the Jos area which is experiencing great social upheaval,” he said.

CNSSL employees at the call centre, he said, have no known issue with their employment conditions; hence, they were reported to have robustly resisted the barricade erected by the NLC in an attempt to enter their place of work.

“A breakdown of law and order was narrowly averted,” he declared, stressing that they at CNSSL are currently engaging the leadership of NLC and the relevant security agencies in order to avoid a re-occurrence of the unfortunate and unwarranted action that took place today.

Remmy Nweke

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