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  • Govt Increased Price of Kerosene with the False Feeling that It Has Pocketed Impoverished Nigerians-AWC

    Kerosene 1The Federal Government of Nigeria has increased the pump price of Kerosene with the feeling that it has pocketed and silenced impoverished and disillusioned Nigerians.

    This assertion was made by the All Workers Convergence(AWC) through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.

    ‘’Nigerian workers are shocked to hear that the Federal Government of Nigeria is systematically finding an excuse to increase the pump price of Kerosene in the face of poor economy and poverty. Painfully, they are able to do this because they feel that they have pocketed the Nigerians and the labor movement in Nigeria.’’

    ‘’Therefore because the labor movement is in agreement with the Government, the Nigerian masses will suffer. Kerosene that is used by the majority of poverty stricken Nigerians, Government wants to increase the pump price, when the issue of the new national minimum wage has not been settled. The AWC knows that this is just a bait, and that government is coming up with more worse agenda in terms of the eventual increase in the pump price of petroleum products.’’, Comrade Eemelieze concluded.

  • Namibia PM Laments Low Positions of Women

    Namibia 4Prime Minister of Namibia Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has decried the  low positions of women in paid employment in the country.

     Kuugongelwa- Amadhila made this position known on Friday at the Namibia Women in Engineering Annual Conference in Ongwediva.

    "Women remain at the lowest level of employment and struggle with practical impediments that limit their economic independence and self-sufficiency," the Prime Minister stated.

    She  lamented that  Namibia was a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw), the Beijing Platform for Action (1995), the Cedaw Optional Protocol (2000) and the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Declaration on Gender and Development (2005),while noting that  the aim of all these laws, conventions and protocols was to ensure that women have equal opportunities to their male counterparts.

    The Prime Minister,however, wondered that despite all these effortslegal equality was yet transform into structural equality.

  • Low Income Workers Ask Unions for Waiver on Check off dues as Federal Govt workers shut down Secretariat in Oyo state

    Nigeria 20Federal Government workers whose  take home pay are insignificant have called on their various unions to waive the mandatory check off dues deducted from their salaries monthly.

    The workers who made this call incognito for fear of victimization, cut across most of the Federal establishments in Nigeria.

    They made their position known on Friday in an interactive session in Abuja.

    ‘’Our monthly salaries are nothing to write home about and for several years our unions have continued to deduct check off dues for our meager salaries on a monthly basis. They should have pity on us by stopping to deduct these check off dues.’’

    ‘’If you ask us for the benefits of been members of our various unions, this will be difficult to pin point, this is the precarious situation we find ourselves’’, the workers lamented.

    In recent times, workers in Nigeria have been agitating for executives of their unions to justify the monthly deductions of check off dues from the source of payment of their salaries.

    Thousands of workers have been unjustly treated, demoted and dismissed by their employers, without any meaningful interventions from their ‘’elected’’ executives.

    Corruption is the trend in most of these unions, at the national, state council, chapter and unit level, the issue of accountability has been the unanswered question.

    To the chagrin of the workers, elections into a sizable number of these unions are by consensus, selection or imposition, with the covert backing of government.

    Meanwhile Federal Government workers under the aegis of All Workers Convergence(AWC) in Oyo state on Monday shut the two entrances into the Federal Secretariat Complex at Ikolaba, Ibadan, to press home their demand for immediate implementation of the new national minimum wage.

    As early as 7.00 am in the morning, the workers had took positions outside the entrance, to ensure that vehicles and visitors were not allowed into the Secretariat complex.

    Workers were noticed discussing the development in groups.

    They chanted solidarity songs, while accusing the executives of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria(ASCSN) of trading the demand of workers for monetary gains.

    In a chat, with Poverty Line the National Coordinator of the AWC, Comrade Andrew Emelieze disclosed that the decision to proceed on an indefinite industrial action was reached in a congress by the workers.

    ‘’By the special grace of God we have shut down this place indefinitely and this is the decision of workers in a congress organized by the All Workers Convergence. They resolved that the non-implementation f the new national minimum wage is a set back to Nigerian workers. And until it is implemented the Federal Secretariat, Ibadan and all Federal Departments and Agencies shall remain shut. We are also protesting against the general insecurity in the land, increasing rate of suicide, high rate of unemployment and poor governance.

    On the demand of low income workers, Comrade Emelieze had this to say ‘’as workers they have the right to air their feelings, though the check off dues is automatic, if they can pursue the cause to a logical conclusion, this will wake up labor leaders from their slumber. This has proven that there is no more free check off dues, but rather labor leaders must work and account for such check off dues they collect.’’

  • Zimbabwe Workers Reject Paltry Pay Rise

    Zimbabwe 3Workers in Zimbabwe have rejected government's additonal pay of 180 million Zimbabwe dollars($21 million) to cover the seconds half of 2019.

    The workers hinged their rejection of the amount on the rising inflation.

    The amount which would cater for  309,000 civil servants, would see each worker  receiving a paltry extra $11.28 each month.

     

     

  • Attempt by Govt to Unilaterally Impose Salary Increase on Workers is Counterproductive-AWC

    Nigeria 18The All Workers Convergence(AWC) has condemned the attempt by the Federal Government to unilaterally impose consequential adjustment of salaries on Nigerian workers.

    The AWC made its position known through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.

    ‘’The negotiations are not yet completed and it must involve all parties, therefore it is foolhardy of government to unilaterally impose specific payments for specific set of workers without the Joint agreement of the all the parties involved. This is primitive, counterproductive and it also goes against the principles of the international labor organizations as regards the doctrine of collective bargaining.

    ‘’The AWC is not in any way comfortable with the position of government to divide the rank and file of workers through the nascent questionable inconsequential adjustment of salaries of Grade levels 01 to 06, thereby leaving the rest to go on with negotiations. It is an attempt to divide the Nigerian workers, though government is been deceitful, knowing fully well that between Grade levels 01 to 06 have been concession ed out and only a very few in those levels will benefit from the so called N30,000 new national minimum wage.’’

    ‘’The AWC supports the move for a national strike by the National Joint Public Negotiating Council as announced by its National Secretary, Comrade Bashir Lawal. Government is trying to hypnotize the Nigerian workers and put them in a state of perpetual disillusionment as regards the new national minimum wage, as it is one story today another story tomorrow, more of a cycle of endless confusion’’, Comrade Emelieze noted.

    The Federal Government has proposed a 9.5 per cent increase in salaries for Grade levels 01 to 14, while five per cent increase will be effected for those from Grade levels 15 and above .

    However, the labor unions are agitating for a 35 per cent increase across board.

    Interestingly, the National Incomes, Salaries and Wages Commission has fixed the salaries of those workers who presently earn below N30,000 and such workers shall begin to receive payments at the end of July.

    Recently, elected members of the Federal House of Representatives received N25 million each as entitlements due to them on resumption, while their counterparts in the Senate received N30 million each.

     

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  • Police warn School Girls in Ghana not to give out Personal Information on Social Media

    Ghana 7Girls in Senior Secondary Schools in Ghana have been warned not to share personal information on social media.

    This warning was given on Wednesday by the Head of Public Relations of the Accra Regional Police Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Effia Tenge at at a Forum of Heads of Girls Senior High School (FOHGSHS) summer camp 2019 at Aburi Senior High School (SHS) in the Eastern Region.

    Tenge noted that such personal information cuold be utilized by criminals, such as kidnappers, to perpetrate crime.

    She also stated that to prevent kidnapping and related crimes, the members of the public be mindful of free rides, undue demands and gifts from strangers.

    "Inform trusted people of your movements and avoid spontaneous schedule and also look out for potential threats and people who approach them in hostile environment," Tenge said.

    The Polic image maker adviced the girls to ensure that their frienda are known to their parents and guardians, while warning them to avoid late night outings.

    She also warned them to turn down odd job offers from people they know

     

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  • Malawi Govt Unable to Service its Obligations

    Malawi 6

    The Malawi Government has for sometime been unable to service its  financial obligations to ensure good governance.

    For about two months now, contractors and suppilers have had to put up without badly needed payments from government, which has led to a major cash crunch.

    "The prolonged elections tussle, unavailability of the budget means nothing can be spent on without the budget," a well informed source opined.

    The government is the major source of survival for most businesses  in Africa's most impoverished but resource endowed country.

    Of worry, is the rsing debt of the country, which according to Center for Social Concern(CFSC)Malawi's  debt, both locally and internationally, stands at  about K3.3 trillion .

    CFSC's Economic Governance Programmes Officer Lucky Mfungwe says "The research revealed that on average, 14 percent of the budget is being used to pay loans domestically while one percent is being used on foreign loan," 

    This development is coming on the heels of violent protests over the outcome of the May elections in the country, which opposition parties allege was rigged  to facilitate President Peter Mutharika's re-election.

     

     

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  • Govt Ought to Provide Where Nigerians will Dump Refuse at Affordable Rates-Prof Olagoke

    ProfThe poor waste management policies of both the Federal and State Governments has resulted in the need to secure quality environment, adequate for good health and well being of the citizenry.

    However, both levels of government have overtime hidden under various reasons to avoid accepting responsibility for the environmental challenges impeding development.

    Sadly, kidnappings, killings and other violent crimes have been the major cause of government’s visible inability to ensure good governance and development. Of note, is the worrisome programs, summits and talk shops buy government apologists to sway public opinion.

    In this interview, the Founder, Grand Imam and Spiritual Head of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that every household must therefore have where they should dump their refuse and where refuse contractors will pick the dirt up at affordable rates. Excerpts :

    What do you think can be done to rescue Nigerians from the environmental hazards occasioned by government’s poor waste management policy ?

    The issue of waste management of any nation rests solely on the policy of government, which in the case of Nigeria is not expected to pose any problem, but for the lack of political will at the implementation level, for example, policy drive is not supposed to be limited to cleanliness of the surrounding alone. The area of controlling what to clean, sensitizing and reinforcing who to clean and the general minimization of generating wastes must be revolutionized into a culture with all aggression from the government end, most especially from the beginning. For example, waste generation sources must be identified as it varies from one tribe and geo-political zone to the other.

    Nigeria 15The types must be determined for the purpose of research and control by the professional bodies who will have to see to the collection, transportation, treatment essence and recycling possibilities to develop other useful money spinning products for the society.

    These process areas will not only challenge our professionals and experts on the need to design and articulate equipment development for the purpose, thereby creating job opportunities for many.

    In the culture of recognizing and encouraging our indigenous experts in this sensitive area of human endeavor, the artisans, technicians, technologists, corporate members and fellows at the research level will be meaningfully occupied and engaged with all happiness as significant stakeholders in the scheme of nation building.

    Scientists and other environmentalists will equally need to collaborate in the area of environmental pollution with the aim of controlling the health consequences on the people.

    However, for the people to appreciate government’s efforts on their concerns for the environment, agencies and boards set up for the purpose need to collaborate to ensure that the quality and standard of the environment must be kept to the stipulated recommendations of the World Health Organization(WHO).

    AbujaThis will show our seriousness on the need to domesticate all international instruments, most especially to which we are signatories.

    When every household is sensitized on the issue of maintaining clean environment the culture of keeping neat and sustainable level would reflect in the following ways :

    Patented waste bins to be generated from students’ research efforts in our institutions of higher learning for the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria(MAN) to ensure the mass production of the tested and trusted bins, which must also be people-with-disability-friendly for the benefit of government and for the use of the people with government as the major financier. This is because designs and construction of any machine should be based on the peoples’ culture as well as been adaptable by the people that may want to adopt it.

    Every household must therefore have where they should dump their refuse and where refuse contractors will pick the dirt up at affordable rates.

    Nigeria 16Along all streets, commercial or otherwise, there must be befitting waste bins at some meters length interval where you can dump your refuse while walking.

    This will make the controlling law against reckless dumping of refuse to be effective.

    Dumping of refuse at the middle of the road is not only promoting environmental hazards within the time frame of when the contractor is to collect same, for it defaces the aesthetic values of the affected areas,both to the pedestrians and the passersby in the moving vehicles, making it to look like the government is either not in control or unserious.

  • Elusive Contributory Pensions :PFAs Deceived Dead Retirees-Prof. Olagoke

    ProfNigerian retirees who served their fatherland in the three tiers of government are now faced with the reality of the present time.

    While in government service, certain amounts were deducted monthly from the source of their legitimate earnings and labelled contributory pension deductions.

    However, in several states these pension deductions were not remitted to the Pension Fund Administrators(PFA) and has resulted in the pensioners’ inability to access money for their daily sustenance.

    In addition accruals which are supposed to be paid by the Federal Government are not forthcoming.

    With no respite in sight for the precarious situation, the pensioners lament that a sizable number of them have passed on to the world beyond, as a result of their inability to collect their entitlements.

    In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that the Pension Fund Administrators only deceived the workers to register for the scheme, that has resulted in the the death of several of them after serving their fatherland all their lives.

    What do you think can be done to salvage pension deductions of retirees by states which failed to remit same to the Pension Fund Administrators(PFA) ?

    In 2004, the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo introduced the contributory pension fund.

    This was considered to be better than the old process for the payment of pensions and gratuity by government.

    Those who joined government service during or before 2004, perfectly fell into this category. For those who had joined before 2004, the service of the Federal or State Governments, their pension funds, after retirement, had to go through the process of reconciliation.

    However, some states failed to join at the time of its commencement, while some are also yet to join the scheme as of now.

    For the states that are yet to join the new scheme, retirees have up till now been contending with a lot of difficulties, when it comes to getting their pensions as and when due, while thousands are still been owed their gratuities, which are very huge amounts.

    In the process of unnecessary delay from government, many retirees have died because of lack of funds to take care of themselves, particularly, feeding and health condition.

    If not for the delay in getting their rights and the fruits of their labor, they wouldn’t have encountered the Waterloo of untimely deaths.

    These deaths are preventable.

    As commendable as the new scheme is, workers prior to their retirement, face a great deal of discriminatory deductions from their employers, when they compare notes with their colleagues from sister places of work, depicting that even before retirement they’ve been putting up with the trauma of playing games with their salaries.

    Pension 2The institution pays 15 per cent of the workers’ salaries, while the Federal Government pays the remaining 15 per cent into the same purse of the workers for their future glorious exit from service or for a better retirement period.

    Unfortunately, even while at work, workers have been very much confused about the truth regarding the myth surrounding the deduction process saga, but they were powerless to resolve issues, even through their so called unions.

    The Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) usually raise the hopes of the intending retirees, through various sensitization programmes, but this is within the limits of what their organizations can divulge as necessary information for the intending retirees.

    In Nigeria life after retirement, usually snow balls into that of frustration, most especially when one experiences unnecessary delay due to lack of the much needed information that could show the stage of development of the processes, regarding the exact time, one’s accrued rights of entitlements would come and the possible amount both for your pension, for a lifetime savings and for gratuity for a lifetime venture and planning.

    PensionThe fifth column in every bank is another headache for the retirees, when the issue of their safety and security is taken into consideration, when the amount eventually arrives.

    The delay been experienced by several pensioners, has prompted members of the public to call for the need for transparency in the calculation of their final entitlements.

    Government on it own must try as much as possible to work on the delays, to disabuse the minds of the public on the fact that politicians in power, usually disregard, the ethical principle of the no go area for the retirees pool of accrued substantial amount of funds, that is meant for their sustenance, after a meritorious service to their fatherland.

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  • Govt Please Release Our Earned Allowances-SSANU

    Ssanu 1The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities(SSANU) has called on the Federal Government to release the earned allowances due to its members to avoid industrial disharmony.

    This call was made by the National Vice President of SSANU, who doubles as the Chairman of the association in the West zone, Comrade Alfred Jimoh.

    ‘’It is equally important to let Nigerians know that the contentious issue of earned allowance is yet to be resolved in the Federal Universities despite the claim of the Federal Government to have released 25 Billion Naira to all unions in the Federal Universities to take care of the Earned allowances of all staff since last year. It is disheartening to note that as we speak, government is yet to release the said fund to the universities.’’

    ‘’Furthermore, SSANU wishes to reiterate that the money should be released to Universities and not Unions for the purpose of paying to individual staff, since the Bursary of each university has the record of staff and should be in the best position to know what each staff is entitled to as Earned allowance,’’ Comrade Jimoh stated.

  • Nigerians must Pray for President Buhari and State Governors to have the Political Will to Curb Indiscipline and Corruption-Prof Olagoke

    ProfThe Almajiris comprise of downtrodden parents and their children, orphans and destitute. Alamajiri system of education commenced in Kanem Borno, a long time ago.

    Sokoto and Borno caliphates were the pioneers in this system of education.

    Under the system, children learnt moral upbringing from their parents. All schools at this period were within the vicinity of  the students. Matters pertaining to the schools were handled by inspectors who reported to the Emir of the province in question. These schools were financed by parents, zakkah, sadaqqah and in some instances through the farm output of the students.

    With time, the British abolished the system of education, thereby ensuring that government no longer funded the system of education. This resulted in the Teachers and students resorting to begging for alms and undertaking menial jobs for sustenance. 

    Sadly, presently, the system of education lacks qualified Teachers, educational facilities and other essentials.

    Worried stakeholders of this system of education insist that proscribing the system would be a great disservice to humanity, since the government in the present dispensation has done next to nothing to impact positively on those in the system, even though government made use of the stakeholders to achieve self serving interests.

    In this interview with Federationews2day, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that for this and other issues to be resolved Nigerians must pray for President Muhammadu Buhari and all the 36 state Governors to have the political will to curb institutional indiscipline and endemic corruption which has consumed the fabrics of society. Excerpts :

    The Federal Government is toying with the idea of doing away with the Alamjiri system of education, even though the administration of the former President Goodluck Jonathan spent considerable amount to ensure that the system of education remains. Do you think this would be beneficial to the country in the long run ?

    During the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan, he ventured into building schools for nomadic education, which Nigerians hoped then, would have taken care of the Alamajiris, who lived like orphans,but returned their proceeds from the streets to some wicked surrogate parents.

    Fortunately, President Muhammadu Buhari referred Nigerians to section 18 : 3 of the 1999 amended constitution, which places on all Nigerians, the obligation to eradicate illiteracy.

    Free and compulsory education accroding to international standards demands that every government in Nigeria must provide free and compulsory education for every child of Primary and Junior Secondary school age.

    The President also stated that it was indeed a crime for any parent to keep his or her child out of school for this period.

    Almajiri educationBy implication, when the government fails to provide the schools, Teachers and teaching materials necessary for basic education, it is actually aiding and abetting crime.

    Based on this assertion, the President emphasized on,with affirmation to all state Governors, the need to ensure proper education during the first nine years of schooling, to be able to inculcate in the children, the right moral values.

    The President equally realized that the age long Almajiri system of education, resulted in the North of Nigeria witnessing orgies of crimes which have eventually snowballed into insurgency and uncontrollable acts of violence and terrorism.

    The President, believes that the problems confronting Nigeria are rooted in the fact that a lot of people have been denied the opportunity to get formal education and this has led to the accumulation, over the years, of  large mass of Nigerians who have taken to crime, drug addiction among several other social problems. Again these category of Nigerians have also become willing tools in the hands of some elements in the wider society, who have always nurtured dangerous intentions.

    The President then made mention of the Alamajiris, as a group to be proscribed, as they happen to be the symbol of informal education, that could be likened to absolute illiteracy, considering the fact that their activities spread beyond the geographical contraption of the North, to the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.

    Firstly, as street urchins, they continue to become the future monsters, who work against society.

    Almajiri education 2The President now went on, to recognize and recommend the Western region of Nigeria philosophy, under the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who started free and compulsory education at both the Primary and Secondary levels, when he was Premier.

    My worry and take on this issue, ranges as follows :

    In the face of the present scenario of poverty for the people and kleptocracy in government, would the state Governors be able to meet up with the calls of Mr. President ? Which equally aligns with the UNICEF’s stand that education is the right of every child and the United Nation’s charge on countries of the world on the need for sustainable development.

    Unfortunately, it is imperative for the state Governors to find a means of achieving this, most especially if one considers the two digit interest loans, even for those who have access, poor remuneration for workers, excluding the political class and the unfortunate state of dilapidation of the buildings of several public schools. All these put together have given way for the quacks to foray into the education sector. They put up schools that are never accredited through the laid down government rules and regulations.

    Almajiri education 1Another challenge, is on the strength of the political will of Mr. President to abrogate the Alamajiri system in the North and the possible ‘’hostility’’ from the states outside the North, that would quickly seize the opportunity to ‘’deport’’ the beggars within their environment.

    My Prayer and Nigerians must also pray for Mr. President and all the state Governors, for God to give them the needed will power and wisdom to curb institutional indiscipline and endemic corruption in both low and high places.

    Equally, it is important for government to take the issue of functional education seriously, by first, reviewing downward, the wages and allowances of the political class as a form of the necessary sacrifice from them, to be able to make the Nigeria project feasible.

    They equally need to down size the number of ‘’servers’’ in their cabinet to meaningfully control wastage in governance while we must equally look inward to resuscitate the ‘’dead’’ industries to be able to provide employment for those who are been turned out as fresh graduates for the country’ institutions.

  • New National Minimum Wage : Reject Govt. Proposal that does not meet the expectation of Workers-AWC

    Nigeria 14

     

     

     

     

    The All Workers Convergence(AWC) has warned that any proposal by the Federal Government on the new national minimum wage that does not meet the expectations of Nigerin workers would be rejected.

    The AWC gave this warning through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.

    ''It must be noted that any proposal by the FederalGovernment on the new  national minimum wage that does not meet the expectations of  Nigerian workers would be rejected and visited with protests and strikes. The AWC therefeore calls on government to retrace its steps and fine tune the table to reflect public servcie  rules and regulations. The AWC also calls  on workers at the state level and their labour unions to resist and protest against any state government that attempts  to pay below the legally accepted new national minimum wage . Labour is called upon to give a final notice of June ending for the implementation of the new national minimum wage or else the labour unions should declare a nationwide strike action from 1st of July, 2019'', Comrade Emelieze concluded.

  • When Oyo Governor Visited Former President Obasanjo in March , 2019

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  • MSF calls for Assistance to curb Measles Epidemic in DRC

    Drc 2Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has called on called on local and international organizations to assist in the combating of a measles epidemic currently ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC).

    MSF made this call through its Medical Coordinator in DRC, Rachel Séguin,''MSF teams, in collaboration with the teams of the Ministry of Health, are doing their utmost to cut the chain of transmission of the disease by providing vaccination responses as soon as cases of measles are reported, and by providing care for patients.''

    "But in addition to the efforts already made in recent months, more resources and organisations are needed. Ensuring the supply of vaccines and medicines is essential - the sooner the better."

    The Ministry of Health in DRC, recently declared an out break of the disease which has officially recorded more than 1,500 measles-related deaths in the first five months of this year.

    This accounts for  75 per cent of the total number of deaths recorded throughout 2012 during the deadliest epidemic of the last decade. 


    Since January,  MSF has been working with local teams of the Ministry of Health in 10 provinces of the country: Haut-Lomami, Haut-Uele, Ituri, Lualaba, Kasai, Kasai Central, North Kivu, South Kivu, Tanganyika and Tshopo, to combat the  measles epidemic.

  • Cameroonian Govt Orders Crackdown on Hard Drug Suppliers in Schools

    Cameroon

     

     

     

     

     

    The Cameroonian Government has ordered the idenfitication and crackdown on suppliers of hard drugs to schools.

    The Government gave this order, recently,  through the Minister of Terrotial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, during a meeting with administration and security officials in Douala.

    The order is coming on the heels of the increasing rate of drug abuse  amongst school children and the youth in the city of Douala and the rest of Littoral Region.

    Atanga Nji maintained that urgent steps had to be taken to  the  curb trafficking of Tramol, Tramadol and cocaine in the region, just as he warned of  the consequences of their abuse on school children and youth .

    To stem the tide the Minister  ordered that efforts be made  to identify the sources of supply of these drugs a step towards apprehending as to the traffickers, while noting that  synergy of action by all stakeholders was required to maintain the peace.

  • Somalia gets First Female Mayor

    SomaliaSafiya Hassan Sheikh Ali Jimale has been appointed the first female Mayor in Somalia.

    Safiya Hassan Jimale,  will  oversee the affairs of Beledweyne in central Somalia.

    The city  is the capital of Hiiran Province, located in the Shebelle Valley near the border with Ethiopia and about 210 miles north of Mogadishu.

    She becomes the second Mayor of the city, which has more than 1,7 million inhabitants, after Beledweyne held municipal elections in 2012, the first since the beginning of the civil war in the early 1990s

    Women currently in position of Mayors in  the Africa include Yvonne Aki Sawyerr of Freetown, Sierra Leone, Marie-Chantal Rwakazina of Kigali, Rwanda, Rohey Malick Lowe of Banjul, The Gambia and Soham El Wardani of Dakar, Senegal).

  • Sudan Military Orders Closure of Al Jazeera In Khartoum, Warns Protesters

    Sudan 5As tens of thousands of protesters continue their agitation for civil rule in the capital, Khartoum, the Sudanese military has ordered the closure of the office of  Al Jazeera Media Network.

     According to a Press Release by Al Jazeera denounced the "abrupt" closure of Khartoum bureau and the banning of its reporters from reporting in the country, calling it "a complete violation of the freedom of the press".

    The protest  is coming on the heels of a  two-day strike organised by demonstrators and opposition groups frustrated by a deadlock in talks on a transition to democracy.

    In reaction the head of the central region in Khartoum, General Bahar Ahmed  said ''The protest site has become unsafe and represents a danger to the revolution and the revolutionaries and threatens the coherence of the state and its national security.''

  • Budget Failures Responsible for Low Productivity of Workers-AWC

    President 3The absence of budgetary provision for training and retraining programmes for workers in Nigeria in the last four years has been fingered as one of the impediments to good governance.

    This is the position of the All Workers Convergence(AWC) who made this known through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.

    ''Generally, workers are complaining in all aspects  that affects productivity, including training, retraining and manpower development which ahs been at its lowest ebb in the last four years.This is so because in the last four years we have been having budget failures and the budget has not been fully implemented. Therefore funds for the training and retraining of workers might not be readily available based on budget non-performance, which of course has affected productivity and the psychology of workers, coupled with the gravity of low pay. Workers are generally ill motivated'', Comrade Emelieze opined.

  • Financial Autonomy for LGs Will End State Governors’ Mismanagement-Prof Olagoke

    ProfThe Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit(NFIU) recently pronounced that states would no longer control the funds of Local Governments in the country beginning from 1 June, 2019.

    However, state Governors insist that the NFIU’s action is illegal, but a cross section of Nigerians are of the opinion that the action is timely and would enable development get to the grassroots unhindered.

    In this interview, the Spiritual Head, Founder and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that autonomy for the Local Governments would end wastage and mismanagement of finances of Local Government funds by state Governors.

    Excerpts :

    What is your reaction to the pronouncement of the NFIU Local Government funds ?

    The pronouncement of the NFIU is long overdue, in view of the fact that the financial scam we are trying to prevent through the states’ control of the Joint accounts of States and Local Governments, only resulted in the impoverishment of the Local Governments as well as the people at the grassroots.

    The superpower approach of many state Governors, with the attendant wastage of resources not been directed to the development concern of the grassroots must have informed the NFIU’s pronouncemnt.

    Equally, the bureaucratic process leading to the unnecessary delays as well as some hanky panky by the National Assembly and their probable collaboration with the Governors would have informed the Federal Government’s decision to separate the NFIU to do a perfect job.

    Governors forum

    Naturally, the clamor for the autonomy of Local Governments ought to have been done in the spirit of the need for the development of the grass roots, this is for rural integration to get a boost. The Local Government is closer to the people and this tier of government is easier to approach by the ordinary man.

    However, the culture of running governance as a personal empire, arguments would ever surface against the move by the Governors, whose meeting under the umbrella of the Nigeria Governors Forum have never been known to be on the side of the masses, whose rights they regularly and easily trample upon.

    The state Governors should realize that their annual budget should be within the limits of what the constitution assigns them and projects to be executed must be such to cover their specified areas of jurisdiction.

    All over the world most especially in the countries that are known to be fully developed such as the United Kingdom as well as the french speaking nations like Cote Ivoire, the Local Authorities take charge of development at the grassroots, with visible impact on the lives of the people, making their nations to follow the normal curve of economic class-Low, Middle and High, but in Nigeria, the middle class has gone into extinction, leaving us to the mercy of the low, high and outrageously and extremely very high in an environment of poverty, destitution, hunger and diseases, with every matter of development been politicized.

    Structurally in Nigeria, a lot of things are wrong and they have been there for so long, mainly because the masses are highly marginalized and incapacitated. This has made the politicians to lose focus on development, while they chase the shadows of self aggrandizement, illegal acquisition of wealth with low records of physical symbol on record of good performance while in office.

    All the masses could reap as dividends of Democracy is mere propaganda to cajole the people . They spend three months in office as political office holders, all they acquire during this period would be fatter than the gratuity of retired Professors, who must have served the nation for almost 40 to 50 years.

    With the NFIU’s pronouncement, sanity would be introduced in the financial transactions of the Local Governments. Also one would hope that the institutional committees such as the ACTU will equally spring into action to check the excesses of principal officers and surrogate allied officers in milking dry various institutions. For example there is a need for Nigerians to know the sources of the funds of some civil servants building Malls and edifices in Abuja and Lagos and even buying houses abroad.

    I have seen Universities and Polytechnics, where some people appointed as Bursars thank their their luck in their religious houses and with all fanfare throw parties as if to say their salaries would be more than that of the Senators.

    I have equally seen Registrars building palaces of complexes in different cosmopolitan towns and floating event centers as well as hotels spreading across hectares of land, but without having genuine sources of funds from any of their established business conglomerate.

    The owners of these, reflect the rot in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, in a land where we are fighting corruption. We must not lose sight of this.

    To make the financial autonomy of Local Governments to stand firm, there is the need to have a very effective network of anti-graft measures to checkmate possible excesses of Local Government Principal Officers from relaunching orgies of financial recklessness.

    It is not enough to make a law or effect a change, it is necessary to monitor critically, the workings in order that the Local Government does not again deviate from the expected service target of effecting development positively, with welfare of the people as a priority.

  • Foundation Feeds Families in Seychelles

    Seychelles 1Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Foundation(SSTF) in continuation of its "Don't Waste, Eat!" food waste reduction programme' has distributed over 200 kilogrammes of food to over 35 families.

    The "Don't Waste Eat!" food waste reduction programme kicked off in July 2018 and is facilitated by  the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Foundation, (SSTF) in collboration with Betterfly Tourism --a software publisher for tourism profession.

    The programme serves to equip staff with necessary skills to measure and monitor food waste, provide hotels with a platform that facilitates monitoring of cost savings and food waste reduction.

    According to the SSTF Project Officer, Rosetta Alcindor. the Foundation is committeed to putting smiles on the faces of families.

    "There is more to a food donation than what we usually think. We are not only providing food for the community and diverting good food from the landfill, but we are also putting smiles on families' faces.''

    "Though a lot of the products are buffet leftovers or had reached their best before date, they are still good for consumption.''

    "As the food is donated, it reduces the demand for importation of food products on the market as families now consume what they were donated, hence avoiding CO2 emissions along the supply chain," Alcindor stated.

    Families received vegetables, fruits and other food products which included pastries, cakes and bread. The donations were made by SPAR supermarket and a number of hotels which are members of the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association such as Alphonse Island Lodge, Constance Ephelia, Bravo Restaurant, H Resort and Kempinski Seychelles Resort.