Following the agreement between the Federal Government and organized labor on the N70,000 minimum wage, the Organized Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN) has voiced concerns about its ability to meet the newly approved wage requirements....Click Here To Continue Reading>>

Recall that the leadership of the workers’ union accepted the N70,000 minimum wage because President Tinubu promised to support the private sector in paying the new minimum wage.

However, the OPSN asked the Federal Government to immediately announce the proposed support it promised organized businesses to enable effective planning.

They stated that private organizations are overburdened by high production costs and other necessities.

The Director-General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Mr. Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, stated this on behalf of the group, though the group commended the federal government for approving the new minimum wage.

He pleaded with the federal government to reverse the increase in electricity tariffs, ensure the CBN redeems all outstanding forwards for companies in the productive sector, put a freeze on the introduction of new taxes and levies on businesses for the next five years, and provide a duty exemption on imported conversion kits along with government subsidies on their procurement.

According to him, there is a need to…Read Full Article

The NDLEA said it comes barely three weeks after seizing six thousand, one hundred and twenty-five (6,125) cartons of codeine syrup containing one million and fifty thousand (1,050,000) bottles of the opioid worth over seven billion three hundred and fifty million naira (N7, 350,000,000.00) in street value, at the Port Harcourt Ports complex, Onne, Rivers state.

Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, announced this in a statement issued on Friday.

Babafemi said the latest seizure made on Thursday is the fourth and last set of such consignments that have been under the watchlist of the Agency’s Maritime Special Operations Unit Targetting Team, which worked in partnership with the Port Harcourt Ports Command of the Agency and other security agencies, including the Customs Service for a 100 percent joint examination of the targeted containers.…Read Full Article

A Niger Delta human rights activist, Israel Joe has reacted to the recent new minimum wage approved by the President Bola Tinubu government....Click Here To Continue Reading>>

He called on the federal government to place politicians irrespective of their rankings in the country on seventy thousand naira minimum wage like civil servants.

Comrade Joe made the call in a statement sent to newsmen in Warri, Delta State

He argued that if ₦70,000, minimum wage is good for civil servants, it should also be good for politicians.

He stressed that citizens have equal rights to better living and welfare.

Joe, however, asked workers not to celebrate the increase in the minimum wage but to sorrow over it, saying, “My simple opinion is that the minimum wage can’t even purchase a bag of rice and we should not joy over what we should sorrow over.”

He expressed sadness that a country with so much wealth would have to pay its workforce a minimum wage of less than $50 (dollars).

“Our workers have finally settled for servitude and slavery.”

Comrade Joe appreciated the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, TUC for raising the bar to 100%...Read Full Article

Veteran journalist and Chairman, Ovation Media Group, Chief Dele Momodu, has called on President Bola Tinubu, to rise to the occasion of governance, and cease frittering the nation’s resources for his selfish interest of securing a second term in office

Momodu made this assertion in an open letter he wrote to the president via his social media handles, sounding an alarm that “Nigeria is in big trouble”.

He advised the president to face the business of governance as it is only performance that can guarantee him a second term in office. He noted that there is urgent for the Tinubu-led government to “stop this reckless propensity for wasting scarce resources.”

He informed Tinubu that “Purchasing Presidential jets, building outlandish monuments, distributing cash as palliatives, etc, are signs of a failed and careless government”, adding that “If you can curb the excessive spending of your government, you will free up a lot of resources for serious development.”…Read Full Article

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s call for Nigerians to make sacrifices to achieve the country’s greatness has sparked widespread criticism and demands for him to lead by example....Click Here To Continue Reading>>

Nigerians, civil society organizations, and opposition parties like the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Young Progressives Party (YPP) have urged the president and his administration to demonstrate sacrifices before asking citizens to do the same.

Tinubu had while addressing journalists after observing the Eid-el Kabir prayer at Dodan Barracks, Lagos, on Sunday, said that Nigerians must follow the path of sacrifice to make the nation great.

“Being a very good citizen comes with responsibility. As citizens, what do you do to be a very committed member of our society? Go and sacrifice. Love your country, love your neighbours, share what you have with one another and be thankful to Almighty God. That’s all,” he had said.

However, his comment has been met with anger and frustration.

Many Nigerians who are struggling with poverty, inflation, and hardship feel that the government has failed to fulfil its promises and provide basic necessities like security, electricity, and infrastructure.

Critics argue that the government’s removal of fuel subsidies, increase in electricity tariffs, and introduction of new taxes have further burdened citizens, making it unfair to ask for more sacrifices without providing relief or social safety nets.

They point out that the cost of governance is high, and the president and his appointees should reduce their own expenses and lead by example.

An economist and lecturer at Saadatu Rimi University of Education, Kumbotso, Kano, who is also the Director, Fiscal Discipline and Development Advocacy Centre (FIDAC), Dr. Abdulsalam Kani, said the government had failed to fulfil its promises made to Nigerians.

“The government has removed fuel subsidy and increased electricity tariff, plunging many into difficulty. Nigerians were promised that Port Harcourt refinery will begin production in December last year, and that has not happened. Despite these and the failure of the administration to fulfil promises, they are making plans to buy new aircraft for the president and vice president,” he said.

The Secretary-General, Nigeria Political Science Association (NPSA), Dr Bakare Adegbola, said: “The statement of the president is a normal thing politicians say during eid celebrations, especially Eid-el Kabir, which is all about sacrifice. But when politically contextualised, then we begin to read meanings to it.

“An average politician cannot make sacrifices in terms of what they get when they get into power because they see the position as a business investment and must recoup their money,” he said.

“However, before demanding such from the masses, he should have shown that he is leading from the front. The cost of governance is too high and yet, we are talking about buying new carriers for the president when we already have ten. Why not sell some of those ageing ones?

“The number of cars in their convoys has shown that they are not making any sacrifice. They need to govern by example and take the lead in their campaign of sacrifice,” he said.

Abdullateef Abubakar, a resident of Kano, said the Tinubu administration should rather reduce cost of governance instead of asking poor Nigerians to make sacrifices.

He said the president made so much appointments who are paid allowances from the government’s coffers.

“People are really facing difficulties. Food is beyond the reach of many families. What else do they want people to do,” he asked.

The PDP and YPP have called on the president to stop corruption and profligacy in his government and demonstrate sacrifices before asking Nigerians to do the same.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the main opposition party, has urged President Tinubu to tackle corruption within his administration and lead by example before calling on Nigerians to make sacrifices. According to the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, “If you look at our recent outing on the state of affairs in the country, we have told the president to take action and reduce profligacy and corruption in government.

“Yes, we agreed that every citizen needs to make sacrifices, but the leadership must lead by example; the government should show the way in making sacrifices by leading by example. That way, the people will be connected to the government.

“What we are saying as a party is that there are times everyone must make sacrifice for the good of the country, but the government must show the way by example; because that is the only way the people can be connected to the government.

“What is happening is that Nigerians have resorted to providing their own security, they have taken over the role of government, because government has apparently failed them and they are disappointed”, he said.

Ologunagba also said because of the situation in the country, “Majority of Nigerians have completely lost confidence in the APC government, which has failed to articulate any clear-cut, development-oriented policy direction that is geared towards guaranteeing the security and economic wellbeing of the people, leading to despondency and uncertainty”.