Solomon2day

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians that he was committed to a new minimum wage for workers in the country. Nigerian workers are  demanding for N30,00 as the new national minimum wage, but the Minister of Information has insisted that the President was yet to come out with a specific figure, just as he stressed that the Federal Executive Council, the National Economic Council and the National Assembly would determine the eventual figure that workers would receive as the new national minimum wage. However, state Governors have warned that they do not have the capacity to pay N30,000, while workers have blamed their union leaders for suspending the indefinite strike action, when the  Federal Government  is yet to accede to the workers' demand. In this interview with Federationews2day, the Founder, Spiritual head  and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke  says a new minimum wage would prevent politicians and the elite fr...

In 1998, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization,Ohaneze Ndigbo restructured, 12 months after, the structure became a platform to campaign for Igbo presidency. Again,in 2004, the socio-cultural organization restructured,even though the general elections came up in 2007. Nigerians were of the opinion that  the presidency was for all Nigerians. Their arguments were hinged on the fact that no section of the country,was excluded from aspiring to the highest position in the land. Indeed,there has never been and there is  still no constitutional provision or clause that allows for the exclusion of any tribe to vie for the presidency. Interestingly, Ohaneze, is a South East Geo-Political zone based socio-cultural organization, which projects the interests of Ndigbo in particular, and the rest of Nigeria in general. Although, at a particular point in time the organization was accused of been elitist.  The objective, according to a cross section of those wh...

Discrimination was the order of the day during the colonial era. In November, 1947, Imoudu led others to demonstrate against racial discrimination at the Bristol Hotel, Lagos.  In the cause of the demonstration, he was physically assaulted and arrested by the Police. However, of worry, is the self-preservation approach of present day labour leaders. At different times, he mobilized the conference of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) to protest against colonial rule and also workers and peasants for the independence movement led by Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, during the nationwide tour of the National Council of Nigeria Citizens (NCNC), to raise funds and support for the Nigerian delegation to the constitutional conference in London. The Labour wing of the NC-Democratic Grand  Alliance, of which Imoudu was a member, won four seats in the Lagos Town Council elections in 1950. In 1964, Imoudu  led the general strike  against the restriction of Democrac...

Soon after the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC)Comrade Ayuba Wabba met with the Chief of Staff to the President at the presidential villa, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Mallam Garba Sheu disclosed that the Federal Government would resume talks with organized labour on Thursday, 4 October, 2018. On Sunday, labour suspended the strike action, which it had described as indefinite. In this interview with Federationews2day, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke says that the labour unions in Nigeria today can only bark, but cannot bite.  Excerpts : Not long ago, labour proceeded on an indefinite strike action, over the new national minimum wage issue, but a few days into the strike it called it off. What are your views ? Since the time of the late Michael Imoudu to the era of Hassan Sunmonu, labour unions were found to be very dynamic in effecting the necessary changes for work...

Nigerians workers  have been called upon to vote out corrupt and anti-people political office holders in the 2019 general elections. This call was made by the Chairman of the Oyo state chapter of the  Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria(ASCSN), Comrade Babatunde Balogun, at a News Conference in Ibadan, Nigeria. ''We will use the 2019 general elections to turn this dismal record around, by voting out the corrupt and anti-masses government in Nigeria at all levels to have a government of our own. Our stand on this is that the nation's expensive Democracy, natural, human and hard earned resources is only serving the interest of the ruling elite who are less than five percent of Nigeria's population, this has placed the plight of the working class and the masses in general on deaf ears.'' Comrade Balogun lamented that those who could afford to spend money were now in control of governance in the country, saying'' the commercializatio...

The need for an increase in wages and better working conditions prompted Imoudu to lead a demonstration from the locomotive yard in Ebute metta, Lagos to the Government House situated at Marina, Lagos Island, Lagos. The Governor General of the Colony of Lagos, Bernard Bourdillon noticed that any form of industrial action at that period, could disrupt railway supplies to the coalition, during the Second World War in 1941. It was on this premise he acceded to a 50 per cent pay rise for the workers. This success, further inspired Imoudu to put forward more demands, among which were conversion of daily casual labour to salaried employment, Saturday work with pay, permanence of daily labour, holiday travel grant and payment of arrears to cover 1932 to 1942 of unpaid entitlements. This did not go down well with Bourdillon, who facilitated the termination of Imoudu’s appointment on 23 January, 1943 and also ordered his arrest under the Nigeria General Defense Regulations, 19...

The activities of Labour leaders today is the raging  debate among workers in Nigeria. Workers express sadness and worry over the way their leaders handle issues concerning them. While the workers continue to wallow in the vicious cycle of poverty, hunger and worry, their leaders insist that they should be patient and show understanding with the Government. The agility and activeness of labour leaders of the present time, is determined by the political class and not by the deteriorating condition of workers in the country. Up till this moment, the name Michael  A thokhamien  Imoudu, represents a good example of a labour leader with a difference within the Nigerian territory and has continued to serve a s a source of inspiration  for the present set of labour leaders. Perhaps. Imoudu was born on 7, September, 1902, to a Soldier, who had fought in East Africa. His upbringing resulted into his fearless personality. He did not have fear for witches or wizards,...

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde has declared that Nigeria does not need its loan to give good health to the sickly economy. Rather, Lagarde recommended belt tightening measures to restore vibrancy and life to the economy. Lagarde also urges the Federal Government to be flexible in its foreign exchange policy. Indeed, the debt relief granted Nigeria by the Paris club during the tenure of former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, could be said to be the biggest debt write off for sub-Saharan Africa. $18 billion of debt written off. The Paris club agreed to write off Nigeria’s debt without an IMF economic programme. Of course, the country would not forget in a hurry, the harrowing experiences it had with the implementation of an IMF programme in the past, this is just as an idea of a national consensus for intensive reforms required to transform the ailing economy could not be woven around an IMF programme. The Nati...

During the reign of President Milosevic of Old Yugoslavia, independent journalists were labelled traitors and foreign spies. Several; journalists were killed, put in jail or convicted in the law court. That particular period of Old Yugoslavia’s history, a clique ruled the country. Milosevic ensured that Serbs became the biggest pariah of the international community. The President also ensured that Serbs were guilty of everything, even as 23 per cent of Serbs were sent packing from their homes. Monthly salaries did not exceed $3. Indeed, the Judicial system was not independent and not strong enough to ensure justice for the citizenry. This resulted in Milosevic’s trial for war crimes outside his country. Sadly, the international community did not have confidence in the local courts. Situations like this abound in several countries around the world, still grappling with the hydra like problems of dwindling economic fortunes and corruption. In this countries, the un...

The Kaduna state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN), through its secretary, Rev. Sunday Ibrahim, had in August, 2015, called on the state Government to ensure  the prosecution of any public or civil servant found wanting ; in its quest to rid the state civil and public service of corrupt practices. According to Rev. Ibrahim, prosecuting corrupt officials is necessary to rid the state of those who enriched themselves at the expense of the government and people of Kaduna state. ”I believe that there are people that may not be working in this state and are still collecting money from the government coffers. Just like we have been hearing that one person is collecting the salaries of 10, 15 or 20 and above. People that are not working with the government but they are collecting salaries from the Kaduna state government, or people that are ghost workers but they collect money. We have heard cases whereby somebody died for a long time and then someon...

The socio-economic fortunes of Nigeria continues the downward slide, despite the present administration’s repeated assurances that it would take steps to plug all visible and invisible leakages. Truly, the bail out initiative of the Federal Government has gone a long way in enabling state governments to clear the backlog of salary arrears owed workers, however, governance has become epileptic in most states, as the states grapple with paucity of funds. In the private sector, companies are having a field day exploiting helpless workers, who have no alternative, but to cope with their employers’ slave labour tendencies. Some states have abolished free education, as infrastructure in schools deteriorate daily, with children increasingly developing dislike for education. Interestingly, concerned Nigerians are already promoting devaluation of the Naira, as a way to accommodate the economic reality of the present times. The Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) has ceaseless...