1. Home
  2. Blog
  3. Comrade Kehinde Abiona

Comrade Kehinde Abiona

  • 2024 Budget-Govt ought to make provision for New national Minimum Wage-Comrade Emelieze

    Wage 1The Federal Government ought to make provision for a new national minimum wage in the 2024 appropriation bill presented to both chambers of the National Assembly. 

    This assertion was made by a former chairman of the Oyo state council of the Trade Union Congress(TUC), Comrade Andreww Emelieze.

    ''It is disturbing that the details of the 2024 appropriation bill were not made public, but the Federal Government ought to make provision for a new national minimum wage in the bill, if it is truly sensitive to the difficulties and hardships Nigerians are passing through. As at today, the N35,000 wage award cannot buy a bag of rice. In addition, the government has only paid the wage award once since it commenced payment to federal workers,'' Comrade Emelieze stated.

    Similarly, health workers in Nigeria have expressed the hopes that their new salary scale would be included in the 2024 budget.

    The health workers made this known through a member of the National Executive Council(NEC) of the Non-Academic Staff Union and Associated Institutions(NASU) Comrade Kehinde Abiona, who is also the chairman of the union in the University College Hospital(UCH)Ibadan, Nigeria.

    ''It is somehow disheartening that the reviewed CONHESS and CONMESS are yet to be implemented. The approved salary scale for health workers took effect from June 1st, 2023, but financially nothing has happened. We hope that the renewed hope agenda will not leave behind harmony in the health sector,'' Comrade Abiona concluded.

  • Motivate the Workforce-NASU UCH Chairman to Govt

    Work 1The Federal Government has been charged with motivating its workforce as a step towards ensuring high productivity. This charge was given on Monday by the Chairman of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions(NASU),University College Hospital(UCH)branch, Ibadan, Comrade Kehinde Abiona.

    ''The Federal Government should do the needful when it comes to the motivation of its workforce. The government should also make the work environment conducive. But sadly, gardeners still make provisions for provisions, cutlasses them, they buy it themselves. Medical laboratory staff make do with outdated equipment, the same goes for those in accounts, who still apply old methods,,'' Comrade Abiona stated.

    He advised members of the union to be contented with their present situation, saying, '' take things easy, don't expect too much, accept what life brings to you and make do with what nature allows you to achieve in life''.

    Comrade Abiona appealed to the Federal Government to wake up to its responsibilities, adding,'' we were assured that we would receive the new hazard allowance in January 2022. That is September. We have yet to receive it, we have continued to borrow to sustain our families.''

    Similarly, members of NASU at the University of Ibadan have condemned the decision of the Federal Government not to pay them for the period that they were on strike.

    They made this position known through their chairman, Comrade Malachy Etim. ''Despite the fact that we fulfilled all the processes before proceeding on strike and despite the fact that we have called off the strike and have since resumed work, the Federal Government is still insisting that it would implement the No Work No Pay rule. This is condemnable. The government is still holding on to our salaries. This is inhuman and insensitive.''

    In the same vein, a former Vice President of the Senior Staff Association of Universities(SSANU), Western zone, Comrade Alfred Jimoh advised the government to desist from inducing strike actions, saying, ''human beings are not made for law, law is made for human beings. The Federal Government should apply the law with a human face. Even though we have called off the strike, the government is still holding on to our salaries. How does the government want us to continue working when there is no money?''

    In a related development, members of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria(ASCSN) have again called on law enforcement agencies to put an end to the cases of corruption going on in the union.

    The concerned members lamented,''we bring to your notice some of the challenges confronting us. Deductions have been made from our salaries by our union and there is nothing to show for it. The rising high cost of living and inflation that we are experiencing in Nigeria HAS NOT HELPED MATTERS. It has been extremely very difficult for us to make ends meet and, as such, workers have gone borrowing. Kindly look into the account of ASCSN.''