News
Save Lagos Group Plans “Occupy Lagos”
A civil rights organisation, the Save Lagos Group has described the current administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as a burden on the over 25 million residents of Lagos State.
In a statement issued on Thursday at the group’s office at Ikeja, in Lagos by the Convener of the Group, Comrade Adeniyi A. Sulaiman, the Save Lagos Group disclosed that it has concluded arrangement with similar likeminded organisations to occupy the state secretariat in Alausa to continuously mount pressure on the government to change its ways, which he said are inimical to the wellbeing of the people of the state.
Appraising the state of things in the state with specific reference to the recent hike in the Land Use Charge, Sulaiman in the statement said: “We are convinced now more than ever before that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and members of his All Progressives Congress in Lagos State do not have the interest of the people at heart.
“Rather, through their actions and inactions, their speeches and body language, we are now of the view that the current government through its officials is working for the interest of a certain godfather who has cornered the resources of the state for personal aggrandizement.”
Sulaiman added: “We are calling on well meaning individuals and organisations to speak out against the rape of our common patrimony by a privileged few who have held the reins of authority since the advent of democratic rule in 1999.”
While describing the situation as portending dire consequences for the peace and security of the state, he stated that the desire of the state government to further push the residents of the state to the abyss economic misery would engender mass resistance which the group is ready to lead.
Sulaiman in the statement stated that the current efforts to hike fees payable as Land Use Charge by the Akinwunmi Ambode led government is akin to the Lagos State Environmental Management and Protection Law 2017, which rendered many residents of the state poor via job losses and failure in the waste management objectives of the government.
“Like the law they promulgated for the management of waste in 2017, this law will further serve to pauperise the people of the state even the more. When operational, the people who have had to bear the brunt of the current harsh economic environment in the country but are struggling to pay the current charges would be too hard pressed to pay the exorbitant fees that are far beyond they reach.
“Unfortunately, we are all living witnesses to the failure of the draconian environmental law, which was captured in the state government designed initiative tagged, Cleaner Lagos Initiative that replaced Nigerians with a foreign firm, VISIONSCAPE. Unlike before, our streets are further dirty with likely scourge of epidemic in the state owing to the desire by the governor to satisfy his friends and godfather,” he said.
He added that the promulgation of the law led to loses of over 3500 jobs as the waste managers, with nothing to do now opted to disengage the affected workers in their employment, saying the new law when operational alongside some other revenue mobilisation policies and programmes of the state government would render businesses and commercial business owners poorer with attendant loss of jobs by the less privileged.
While describing the new law as repressive, insensitive, callous, barbaric, unlawful, and unconstitutional, he added that it is consistent with the state government’s philosophy of further dragging the people into the abyss of want, poverty and misery, while the privileged members of the ruling class enjoy themselves to the detriment of the teeming masses.
“We are not in any way surprised by the action of the state government that prides itself as a populist one. They aspire to leadership on the basis of Awoism but they tend to do something else with power. It is a common knowledge that the late sage was a populist who championed the course of the teeming masses but those in power using his name are doing the reverse opposite of what the man stood for,” the activist added.
While urging other well meaning individuals and organisations to speak up on the issue, the Save Lagos Group praised members of the Ikeja branch of the Nigeria Bar Association for the stance taken by giving the state government a seven-day ultimatum to rescind its decision to go ahead and implement the law.
Commenting further, Sulaiman added that if the association had been forthcoming on issues of national importance, the current administration would not have been embolden to undertake the obnoxious review of the law the way it has done.
On the next line of action, the activist added: “We are watching the situation closely, we note that the response of the state government through its officials has not helped assuage the feelings of the people who have expressed apprehension and indignation on the issue.
“We have however resolved to mobilise likeminded individuals and groups as well as the teeming residents of the state with a view to set up protesting camps at the state secretariat in Alausa using the locomotive instrumentality law of the angry masses of Nigeria. When we start, I can assure you that the OCCUPY NIGERIA of 2012 at the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota would be a child’s play,” he concluded.
News
Badaru on Operational Tour of 82 Division, other Military Installations in Enugu and Imo States
The Honourable Minister of Defence H.E Mohammed Badaru Abubakar CON mni is currently in Enugu on operational tour of 82 Division of Nigerian Army and other military platforms in Enugu.
He was received on arrival by the General officer Commanding 82 Division of the Nigerian Army / Commander JTF SE of operation Udoka Major-General H.T Dada and other senior military officers.
The Minister is expected to meet with South East stakeholders on the way forward.
Details later…
Tinubu has granted full oversight responsibilities to Ministers of State over agencies under them amongst whom are Minister of State for Defence Dr. Bello Matawalle, Water Resources and Sanitation, Minister of State for Agriculture and others will henceforth enjoy full oversight responsibilities over such agencies.
President Bola Tinubu at FEC Meeting has approved that ministers of state be given full powers to supervise the agencies under them, the cable reported.
Until now, files pertaining to departments and agencies under their supervision were sent by their permanent secretaries to the senior ministers.
With the new dispensation, ministers of state can now grant all necessary administrative approvals on the governance process of these agencies and departments.
According to a source in the office of the head of service of the federation, “the president was not pleased with the prevailing governing framework in which ministers of states were just ministers in name”.
This, Tinubu reportedly said, led to the “underutilisation of the expertise and capabilities” of most ministers of state.
“The president believes ministers of state should have the right to make decisions and direct action within their areas of responsibility,” the official added.
According to the Cable report, the source said the idea, first mooted by Hadiza Bala Usman, special adviser to the President on policy coordination and head, central delivery coordination unit got an instant buy-in from the President.
With the new directive, the administration hopes “to unleash” the potential of all the ministers, the source added.
…It’s unprecedented to earn above minimum wage in Enugu- Labour
… We’ll commence implementation immediately- ALGON
Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has approved N80,000 minimum wage for the state’s work force, including local government workers, effective October 2024, noting a direct link between a motivated workforce and his administration’s vision of growing the state’s economy from $4.4bn to $30bn.
The new minimum wage covers all state employees, primary school teachers, and local government workers.
Organised labour has described the wage as unprecedented, as it was the first time that Enugu workers would be earning above the national minimum wage.
Mbah announced the new minimum wage on Thursday after a meeting with the Enugu State Minimum Wage Implementation Committee headed by the Head of Service, Kenneth Ugwu and labour leaders, including the state’s labour leaders.
Mbah said, “Few weeks ago, I inaugurated a committee with the responsibility to oversee the implementation of the New National Minimum Wage in Enugu State. Today, I’m happy to announce a new minimum wage for workers in Enugu State, reflecting our fidelity to their welfare, in regard of which we have been resolutely committed.
“We have approved the sum of N80,000 as the new minimum wage in Enugu State. This underscores our commitment to bequeathing lasting legacies of improved living conditions.
“Our commitment to improved workers’ welfare runs deep, and is rooted in the firm understanding of the inextricable link between an inspired workforce and the audacious economic targets we had set our sights on.
“We clearly understood that reducing poverty to the barest minimum and achieving an unprecedented economic growth target were contingent on the output of the workforce. Therefore, for us, the best way to acknowledge that labour creates wealth is by ensuring that the workforce, which creates the wealth that oils the wheel of government, is sufficiently motivated.
“We have similarly demonstrated our commitment to workers welfare through the consistent payment of the wage awards, a gesture we had pledged to sustain until a new wage structure took effect.”
Speaking, the Chairman of the Enugu State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Fabian Nwigbo, thanked governor Mbah for always prioritising the welfare of workers, describing the new minimum wage as “a great one for Enugu workers.”
“In the past, when minimum wage is announced, it takes up to one or two years for anything to happen; and when it did, we took anything they gave us as we saw it. But today, you have even given us something much higher than national minimum wage.
“But I am not totally surprised because when other governors were paying N12,000 wage award, you were paying us N25,000. When others paid for some months and stopped, you continued paying it until the new minium wage as you promised. So, we have enjoyed wage award for 11 months and today you announced the minimum wage which is the first of its kind since my 32 years in service,” said.
Speaking to Government House correspondents, the Chairman of the Enugu State chapter of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, Comrade Ben Asogwa, said, “We are so happy. The governor did not just announce ₦80,000 minium wage, but said that it cascades down to even local government workers. He said that he does not want disparity in salary implementation in Enugu State anymore because we all go to the same market.
“This is the first time in history we are seeing the implementation of minimum wage above the approved amount by the federal government. Actually, when we entered into the negotiation, we were afraid because we know quite well that we are not among the states that share in dividends of oil money. We know quite well that we are at the back when it comes to federal allocation, but His Excellency actually surprised us.
“One thing we have seen is that he understands the impact of motivation on productivity. The governor has set a pace and we know that any other person coming after him will have the challenge to meet up with the target set by His Excellency, Governor Peter Mbah.”
On his part, Chairman of the Association of Local Government Workers, ALGON, Enugu State, Hon. Okechukwu Edeh, pledged the commitment of council chairmen to implementing the new minimum wage.
“When you motivate workers, they become more productive. What I am promising on behalf of the Enugu ALGON family is that we are going to cascade the new minimum wage to the local government level. Implementation begins immediately,” he said.
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