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Labour minimum wage demands rattle State Governors

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Governors under the auspices of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum have summoned all 36 members to an emergency meeting to discuss the minimum wage and possibly take a common position.

The meeting, which is scheduled to hold in Abuja today, is said to be compulsory for all the 36 governors.

This was contained in a statement issued by the NGF secretariat in Abuja on Monday. The statement requested that all governors must attend in person.

The statement read in part, “Emergency meeting of governors over minimum wage will hold tomorrow at the NGF secretariat, Maitama, Abuja at 5pm.

“In attendance will be all governors, no representation. Various  stakeholders including the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, and the Minister of Labour, Senator Chris Ngige.”

Meanwhile, in what appears to be a last-minute desperate effort by the Federal Government to forestall a nationwide workers’ strike, members of the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo-led Economic Management Team will on Tuesday(today),  meet with state governors in an attempt to reach a consensus on the new national minimum wage.

The meeting is the second within 24 hours.

They had met on Monday on the same issue.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, disclosed the need for Tuesday’s meeting in an interview with State House correspondents at the end of Monday’s meeting.

The minister said, “We held a meeting for us to bring out modalities for us to respond to the emerging problems thrown up by the National Minimum wage Committee and we have very fruitful meeting which necessitated the governors having further meeting tomorrow (Tuesday).

“We will reconvene tomorrow (Tuesday) to brief the Economic Management Team and the Vice-President and we take it up from there.

“The governors will meet to take a position and brief the Economic Management Team. This meeting is only for the Tripartite Committee of the government side.”

The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum and Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, also spoke with reporters at the end of the meeting.

Yari said while state governors were willing to pay the new minimum wage, ability to pay was key in arriving at a figure.

“The position of the governors is not very clear to some of you. We are willing to pay any amount but the issue is the capacity to pay,” he said.

Yari said the meeting discussed the proposal made by the organised labour and the figure proposed by the Federal Government.

He said, “The governors still haven’t come out with any figure.

“So, by tomorrow (Tuesday), we are going to discuss with our governors on the bill by the Minister of Labour and Employment to the NGF secretariat.

“We will digest it and come up with our own positions as governors because we are critical stakeholders on this issue.”

State governors who attended the meeting with Yari were Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu; Osun State Governor, Rauf Aragbesola; and Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong.

Apart from Osinbajo, others who attended the meeting from the side of the Federal Government were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige; Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed; and Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma.

Others were the Head of Service to the Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita; Director-General, National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission, Chief Richard Egbule; and the Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris.

Source: Punch

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The Peruvian Government Has Officially Classified Transgender, Nonbinary And Intersex People As “Mentally ill”

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According to the country’s ministry of health, the controversial decision was made to ensure the country’s public health services could “guarantee full coverage of medical attention for mental health” for the trans community.

It also categorises “dual-role transvestitism,” “fetishistic transvestism,” and “other gender identity disorders” under the same bracket of mental illness.

The new law will change language in the Essential Health Insurance Plan (PEAS) to reflect the view of trans and intersex people as a mental health disorder.

Trans groups across Peru have loudly condemned the decision as a step backwards for the country’s already complex relationship with LGBTQ+ rights.

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Math Teacher Accused Of Having Sex With 2 Students And Getting Pregnant For One Tearfully Reveals The Baby Was Taken Away From Her

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The UK teacher who had a baby with an underage student while on trial for having sex with another teenage boy broke down in court after revealing her newborn baby girl had been “taken away” from her.

Manchester math teacher Rebecca Joynes, 30, sobbed to jurors over how her baby was taken “24 hours after being born” this past January — and now she only sees her for nine hours a week, Joynes told jurors on Monday, May 13, according to the Manchester Evening News.

“At the moment I have contact with her three times a week for three hours and that’s it,” she said through tears.

Joynes was arrested and released on bail on orders not to have unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 after allegedly grooming her pupil, known as Boy A in court, by buying him a $430 Gucci belt before bringing him to her apartment for unprotected sex.

She was suspended from school and eventually fired, but soon after, she began having a relationship with a 15-year-old boy, known in court as Boy B, whom she had a baby with in January.

Joynes, who has denied having sex with either boy when they were underage, told the court that when she learned of the allegations against her she had gone to the second boy in a “panic” and he deleted all of her phone’s content.

The former teacher denied having a sexual relationship with the second boy until after he turned 16 and she was already suspended from teaching.

According to her narration,

She said he had added her on Snapchat twice, which she only accepted the second time because she thought he “wanted to tell her something.”

Joynes said a friendship developed and he quickly became her “best friend” even though the boy would make flirtatious and sexualized comments toward her when he was drunk.

She told jurors that it wasn’t until after his 16th birthday that he messaged her saying “I’ve left school now” with a winky face.

After she received notice that she had been dismissed from her job, he went to her apartment, where following an emotional conversation, they had sex.

The two then entered a relationship that Joynes described as “quite toxic” telling the court how the teenager was “very controlling.”

After discovering she was pregnant, Joynes hid love notes for the boy to find around her apartment.

The notes eventually led to a piece of baby clothing that had the words “I love my daddy to the moon and back” written on it.

The court was told that she gave birth to their baby girl in January, but following an emergency court hearing, the newborn was taken away from Joynes.

Joynes has denied two counts of sexual activity with Boy A; two counts of sexual activity with Boy B; and two counts of sexual activity with Boy B while being a person in a position of trust.

Her trial is ongoing.

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First Man To Receive Pig Kidney Transplant Has Died

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The first Man to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died two months after the operation.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), which carried out the procedure in March, announced Sunday, May 12, that Richard “Rick” Slayman, 62, has died.

They said there was no indication his death was a result of the transplant.

Transplants of other organs from genetically modified pigs have failed in the past, but the operation on Mr Slayman, who was suffering with end-stage kidney disease, was hailed as a historic milestone.

In addition to kidney disease, Mr Slayman also suffered from Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

In 2018, he had a human kidney transplant, but it began to fail after five years.

Following his pig kidney transplant on March 16, his doctors confirmed he no longer needed dialysis after the new organ was said to be functioning well.

“Mr Slayman will forever be seen as a beacon of hope to countless transplant patients worldwide and we are deeply grateful for his trust and willingness to advance the field of xenotransplantation,” MGH said in a statement.

Xenotransplantation is the transplanting of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another.

MGH said it was “deeply saddened” at his sudden death and offered condolences to his family.

Mr Slayman’s relatives said his story was an inspiration.

“Rick said that one of the reasons he underwent this procedure was to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” they said.

“Rick accomplished that goal and his hope and optimism will endure forever.

“To us, Rick was a kind-hearted man with a quick-witted sense of humour who was fiercely dedicated to his family, friends, and co-workers,” they added.

While Mr Slayman received the first pig kidney to be transplanted into a human, it is not the first pig organ to be used in a transplant procedure.

Two other patients have received pig heart transplants, but those procedures were unsuccessful as the recipients died a few weeks later.

In one case, there were signs the patient’s immune system had rejected the organ, which is a common risk in transplants.

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