Mohammed Shosanya

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, has lamented the death of over 100 of its members as a result of the non payment of their four months salaries during the 2022 strike embarked by the four University based unions.

SSANU has also criticized the new Ministers for not hitting the ground running as directed by President Bola Tinubu, alleging that while the Ministers of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, and Works, Nyesom Wike and Dave Umahi respectively have obeyed the directive, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong and his counterpart in Education, Tahir Mamman have not done anything meaningful.

In his remarks at the 45th National Executive Council, NEC, meeting, held at University of Maiduguri, Borno State, the national President of SSANU, Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, regretted that the union was yet to get any circular concerning the recent approval of 25 percent and 35 percent salary review for workers in higher institutions in the country.

SSANU further frowned at the federal government delay in concluding the 2009 renegotiation agreement and advised the government to conclude it without further delays.

He said: “We lost over 100 members as a result of the government inability to pay our members their four months salary. Some of them could not meet up with their medical needs. We will not forfeit our salaries because it is our right and the money has been budgeted for.

“The refusal to pay the withheld salary is anti labour, inhuman because if it’s claimed that we went on strike, our strike was legal and it followed all due processes and protocols. We did not wake up to go on strike, we wrote and we were discussing and it was because we got stampeded and government withdrew from our discussions and we were pushed to the wall and the labour laws also gives us the right to withdraw our services, this was exactly what we did. We didn’t break anybody’s head, we didn’t violate any law. Our money has to be released for peace to reign.

“We are aware that the President of this country Bola Ahmed Tinubu, did instruct his Ministers to hit the ground running and we have seen one or two, positively or negatively they have hit the ground running. Even the greatest of Wike’s critics cannot say he has not hit the ground running.

“Even the greatest of the critics of Umahi cannot say that he has not hit the ground running but our Ministers of Education and Labour, they have hit the bed sleeping because the only way members of SSANU will understand that they have hit the ground running is to release our withheld salaries and also fastrack the release of this reviewed salaries.

“Hitting the ground running is not only semantics but it is actionable. We have written to congratulate both the Ministers of Education and the Ministers of Labour. If truly they want to hit the ground running, we expected by now they should have met the university based unions but we realize that there is a new style of governance of only meeting with people whom they are afraid of.

“We are not also reluctant or are we afraid of making the troubles but our strategy in SSANU is different and because we are people who think before we act and that is why we only raise our voices when the kneels of the antagonists is on our neck.”

The association in its communique said, “NEC in session for the umpteenth time condemns the action of government on the withheld four months salary arrears during the last nationwide strike embarked upon by it’s members, viewing it as insensitive and inconsiderate.

“It was obvious that SSANU complied with all legal provisions including giving adequate notices to the appropriate authorities but were forced to embark on that strike due to Government’s failure to honour her part of the agreement.

“SSANU therefore earnestly requests Government to pay the withheld salaries without any further delay considering the harsh economic realities currently faced by citizens in the country as Government is aware, the value for the money has already been eroded by hyperinflation.”

Mohammed Shosanya

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has instructed its members across the country to ensure all operations stop starting on October 3, 2023.

The action is in compliance with the indefinite strike action called for by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) to express their anger over the removal of fuel scarcity and government’s inaction to arrest the consequences of the policy.

NUPENG’s National President and General Secretary, Comrade Williams Akporeha and Comrade Afolabi Olawale, respectively, said in a statement that the federal government’s show of insensitivity to the plight of workers and Nigerians at large is unacceptable.

It reads: “Consequent upon the joint resolution of the National Executive Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress as the outcome of the joint National Executive Council meeting of the two Labour Federations held on September 25, 2023, we wish to inform all our members in the formal and informal sectors of the Nigerian oil and gas industry and alert the general public that the rank and file members of our union are hereby directed to commence full mobilisation and ensure unwavering compliance with the directive of the two labour centres to all affiliate unions to embark on a nationwide industrial action from midnight on October 3, 2023.

“The leadership of NUPENG finds it so disturbing and unfortunate that the federal government of Nigeria and other tiers of government are so insensitive to the excruciating and debilitating socio-economic pains Nigerians are passing through as a result of very harsh and sudden economic policies taken by this administration without any accompanying socio-economic policies to ameliorate and cushion the immediate effects and impacts those difficult and harsh policies are having on the citizenry.

“Further worrisome to us is the apparent lack of regard and respect for the cries and yearnings of organised labour, civil society organisations, and the general public by this administration.

“It appears the administration is arrogantly taking the goodwill and tolerance level of the workers and Nigerians in general for granted.This arrogance is demonstrated clearly and loudly by the ways and manners of meetings with organised labour, and the outcomes of such meetings are being taken with levity and disrespect.

“The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) is aware of the huge impacts a 24-hour industrial action by organised labour can have on businesses and the socio-economic lives of the nation.

“Unfortunately, the government’s actions and inactions are inexorably forcing organised labour to take this very hard and painful route of last resort to demand the needful socio-economic policies to ameliorate and cushion the debilitating and dehumanising living conditions of Nigerians generally.

“Beyond any reasonable doubt, the government has demonstrated high insensitivity and a lack of respect and regard for organised labour and the Nigerian masses.

“Therefore, it is in light of the above that NUPENG, as a responsive and responsible affiliate union of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), will fully comply with the resolution of the joint NEC meeting, and we hereby direct the leaders in the four (4) zonal councils of our great union to mobilise all our members in the formal and informal sectors to shut down services effective October 3, 2023.

“All NUPENG members, including the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), Petrol Stations Workers (PSW), Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers (LPGAR), and all other allied workers in the value chain of petroleum products distribution, must comply with this directive from midnight of Tuesday, 3rd October 2023.

“All branches and units of our union are to take note and ensure full compliance by setting up compliance and monitoring teams in all operational locations.”

Mohammed Shosanya

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has advised over 17,000 of its members allegedly delisted from the monthly payroll of the Federal Government, under the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) to remain calm as measures were being taken to address the situation.

The civil servants were said to be apprehensive when news filtered in that over 17,000 government employees were said to have been delisted from the IPPIS for failing to comply with a verification exercises spanning over five years.

At a press conference on Tuesday, National President of the ASCSN, Comrade Tommy Etim Okon, alleged that there were also some discrepancies in the IPPIS verification process, disclosing that names of Personal Assistants (PAs), Special Advisers (SAs) and in some cases Ministers who had served in successive governments were found in the portal.

He faulted the association’s members,and wondered why most genuine civil servants feigned ignorance of the verification exercise, while it lasted.

He noted that the office of the Head of Service of the Federation has given a one week grace period for affected employees who were erroneously omitted from the IPPIS portal to forward their documents for update, provided they had genuine cases.

He said:”We called your attention to what we heard or information at our disposal just few days ago, we received an information that over 17,000 workers in the core civil service did not carry out the online verification which was done by the office of the Head of Service of the Federation.

“Quickly we swung into action to interface with the government through the HoSF and by that singular act, there was need for us to talk to our members and that informed the reasons, because we have seen a lot of apprehensions from our members, receiving several phone calls, then we also looked at the timing because of the social economic challenges.

” We went deep into the document where we also realized that even in some government agencies, we realized that names of PAs, SAs and some Ministers were included in the IPPIS portal, whereas those people were political office holders in their own rights in various regimes”.

On the life line available to the affected workers, he disclosed that a committee has already been constituted in the office of the HOSF to handle such cases, while calling on those with genuine complaints, who had initially done the online verification on the portal of the IPPIS to submit a scanned copy of their document to the email that has been provided.

He added that the one week deadline given by the HoSF to fully comply with the verification exercise was rather too limited, stressing that government should in its magnanimity extend it because of the rigours involved.

” You know it is always said that when you want to kill a dog, you give it a bad name, that maybe justifies the inclusion of SAs, PAs to the bad name in quote. They came up with claims that civil servants don’t come to work, they just sit down at home and collect salaries, we said capital No to that.

“These information is very important to our members and we are calling all our members to remain calm because the HoSF is doing her best to see that those workers who were genuinely captured and verified with evidence of clearance will be brought back to the payroll.

” The HoSF has given a window of one week to ensure that if you were verified genuinely on the online portal of IPPIS, that you should submit the scanned copy to the email that has been provided, you can also submit the document to the committee which has already been set up in the office of the HoSF, let me also say this to our members, this exercise was not carried out last week, it has been over 5years but one is taken aback why some of us became recalcitrant to things that affect our career and even our family”

Mohammed Shosanya

The Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress have declared an indefinite strike, beginning from October 3rd, 2023.

Both unions disclosed this on Tuesday, shortly after their National Executive Council meetings in Abuja.

NLC President, Joe Ajaero,said the action became inevitable due to government’s lackadaisical stance in meeting demands raised by both unions.

He said NECs of both unions having taken into consideration the stance of government in the wake of the subsidy removal policy, left them with no option than to call for an indefinite strike.

He accused the government of putting the unions under its whimps and caprices, particularly regarding its interference in the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) activities.

President of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo said they resolved at their NEC that beginning from October 3rd, after the independence day festivities, all workers are expected to withdraw their services.

Mohammed Shosanya

Organized Labour under the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has warned investors to stay off unity schools in the country.

The action was sequel to renewed clamour to privatize Federal Government Colleges (FGCs) throughout Nigeria.

The ASCSN’s Secretary-General, Comrade Joshua Apebo,who conveyed the warning in a statement on Tuesday, regretted that over ten years after the union stalled plans to sell the 110 Federal Government Colleges, the collective wealth of millions of Nigerians to the privileged few, the matter is rearing its ugly head again.

He maintained that in civilized climes, philanthropists and other individuals and groups build standard schools, hospitals, etc, and donate them for public use.

“But in Nigeria, portfolio-carrying investors always connive with greedy politicians to be converting public companies and institutions into their private estates under the dubious Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

“We, therefore, urge the Trade Union Movement, Royal Fathers, Religious Organizations, Civil Society Groups, Parent-Teachers Associations, Student Unions, Leaders of thought, men and women of good conscience in the country to unite as they did more than ten years ago in order to prevent a situation where Federal Government Colleges will be sold to few parasitic individuals,” the union emphasized.

He recalled that appalled by politics of ethnicity and bitterness which characterized the first Republic, the then Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, in 1966 conceived and set up three Federal Government Colleges, one at Okposi (later moved to Enugu) for Eastern region, another one in Warri for Western region and the third one in Sokoto for Northern region to be unifying institutions for Nigerian children from all parts of the ountry irrespective of their social status and tribes so that they would grow up as better citizens and see themselves as Nigerians having interacted closely with one another during their formative years.

He said that once the schools are ceded to private entrepreneurs, they would become money-spinners and as such would be out of the reach of millions of Nigerian children whose parents and guardians would not afford exorbitant fees that would be imposed apart from the fact that thousands of teachers and other workers would be thrown into the saturated labour market.

“Once education becomes a commodity only for the rich, it will be a violation of Section 18 of the 1999 Constitution as amended which stipulates, among other things, that Government shall direct its policies towards ensuring that there are equal and adequate educational opportunities at all levels.

“Indeed, Section 18 (3) provides that Government shall strive to eradicate illiteracy and shall therefore provide free, compulsory and universal primary education; free secondary education; free university education; and free adult literacy programme,” the union stated.

It also recalled that while the struggle by the Union and other well-meaning Nigerians to retain the Unity Colleges between 2005-2010 raged, the then Honourable Minister of Education set up a committee headed by Senator Jonathan Silas Zwingina to tour all the FGCs and make its recommendations.

According to ASCSN, while presenting its report to the Honorable Minister of Education on 12th March 2009 in Abuja, Senator Zwingina stated, among other thins, that funding of the Unity Colleges appeared to be the single most important factor because some stakeholders see the maintenance of the Colleges as expensive and wasteful and had even called for their privatization.

The Zwingina Committee then posited: “The fact is that National integration is so important that we cannot place a limit to the cost of sustaining it.

“Those complaining about the cost of National integration should reflect on the comparative cost of National disintegration. Presently, the institutions sustaining integration in Nigeria are the NYSC, the Federal Unity Colleges and Federal Departments and Agencies who have staff all over the country. We should therefore not take this effort for granted but must continue to sustain and encourage their growth and expansion,” the report emphasized.

The ASCSN Secretary-General stated that during the struggle to forestall the sale of FGCs, the Union embarked on seven (7) weeks strike, did intensive media campaigns, engaged Lawyers, apart from series of correspondences and meetings with government officials.

“It was discovered then that those who have been penciled down to buy the Schools wanted to convert the vast expense of land and the structures therein into hotels and shopping malls to make profits because they do not have the interest of millions of students at heart.

“Communities who donated the land pledged to retrieve their land because they were donated to build schools for Nigerian children and not for the privileged few to make money,” he emphasized.

The union urged Nigerians not to stand by and watch the Federal Government Colleges sold to the privileged rich and thereby mortgage the future of millions of Nigerian children.

Mohammed Shosanya

President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) Festus Osifo has said that Nigerian workers are running out of patience, on account of the recent subsidy removal by the federal government.

Osifo spoke on Tuesday, during a meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong in his office.

He decried the seeming inaction of the government towards addressing the grievances of the workers on the country.

He acknowledged the fact that the President was away in the United States, attending the United Nations General Assembly, but noted that they expect the government to within the next two weeks wrap up effective palliative scheme to douse pressures.

“We as TUC appreciate the efforts of the Minister but there has to be more action than promises because workers are getting more inpatient due to hardship occasioned by the removal of subsidy.

“Workers are facing enormous pressures that are making life very difficult, which makes the leadership of TUC to have sleepless nights.

“We hope that between the next two weeks, the President would have done everything possible to arrive at a conclusion which the workers are eager to hear in order to douse the tension and threat for withdrawal of services by workers,” Osifo reiterated when they met with the Minister.

Briefing the TUC officials on efforts being made by the Federal Government to address their grievances, Lalong said after their last meeting, he met with the President to highlight some of the issues raised by the Labour union.

He implored the TUC to exercise more patience, explaining that before the President left for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, he was fully briefed and gave further directives on implementation of issues put before him, particularly when he personally met with the labour leaders.

Before the meeting went into a closed door session, the Minister thanked the TUC for accepting to come for the briefing, which showed that they were committed to the Nigerian project and are open to dialogue for greater industrial harmony.

The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots & Engineers have mandated their members to embark on a 2-day nationwide warning strike in solidarity with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) declaration beginning from Tuesday 5th to Wednesday 6th September, 2023.

In a circular letter addressed to all aviation workers notice of NLC 2-day nationwide warning strike dated September 4th, 2023 made available to journalists on Monday, said as affiliate of NLC, all state councils and branches are directed to embark on the strike action.

“As you are all aware, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has directed a 2-day nationwide warning strike due to the present regime of subsidy removal which has wrecked untold hardship on workers and the common people generally.

“Accordingly as affiliates of NLC, all state councils and branches of the above named trade unions are hereby directed to fully join respective state councils of the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC in all states on September 5 & 6, 2023 for the strike action.

“Aviation workers are hereby directed to stay at home during these periods. All must comply,” the circular letter signed by both NUATE Secretary General, Comrade Ocheme Aba and ANAP Secretary General, Comrade Abdul Rasaq Saidu stated.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday, threatened to commence immediate nationwide strike if federal government effects further review on the current fuel pump prices.

It threatened that its affiliate unions will commence strike immediately at the shortest notice from its headquarters.

Its President,Joe Ajaero disclosed this at African Alliance of Trade Unions meeting in Abuja,where he noted that the ongoing negotiations for palliatives must be put in place first.

Reacting to the advice of the Registrar of Trade Unions on how labour should conduct themselves as they carry out their responsibilities of protecting the interest of workers and Nigerians by extension,

He implored the government to change bad economic policies that has continued to make Nigerian workers worse-off.

“As we’re here now. They’re contemplating on increasing the pump price of petroleum products. But the Minister of Labour for some time now, will only go to Minister of Justice to come up with injunction to hold the hands of labour not to respond. They have started floating ideas of a likely increase in the price of petroleum products.

“ But let me say this. Nigeria workers will not give any strike notice. If we have not addressed the consequences of the last two increases of fuel pump price, and we wake up from sleep to hear that they have tampered with the fuel pump price again.

“I want to plead with government that those bad economic policies that make our wages next to nothing, should be checked. If you check those policies that lead to inflation, and devaluation of the currency, we will be comfortable even where we are. If naira is at par with dollar today, we will asks you to leave minimum wage at 30,000.

“If inflation is checked to zero, we will ask you to leave things the way they are. But inflation is flying, and by the admittance of the National Bureau of Statistics, we have over 133 million Nigerians that are multi dimensionally poor. I think these are the issues Government should address. If we go for wage increased tomorrow, the inflation that will follow suit will destroy it.

“The Nigerian police, the IG is now performing the duties of the Ministry of Labour. The duty of Ministry of labour includes addressing the issue both inter and intra union disputes. It is not within the purview of the Inspector General of Police to go into that area. And I think there is need for the Ministry of Labour to educate the police to tell them that they don’t have the right to usurp its functions. If they do that, the Ministry of Labour will go into extinction and there’ll be no basis for Minister of Labour to remain there.

“We say it is legal and we demand an apology from the IG of police for arresting or even contemplated to arrest the president of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, for whatever reason, at the eve of the election. It is unheard of in the history of this country. And never again should not be entertained. Nigerian police against Nigerian workers, we will not waste time too much to their offices. Let them use the same gun that was bought with the workers’ tax tonight engage us?

“Go and collect your functions from Ministry for police and for Ministry of Justice. Even when there is a dispute intra or inter it is your function to refer such to NIC. As the Nigeria Labour Congress that relates with the Ministry of Labour so much. We are afraid that your work is going into extinction. But we’re here ready to cooperate with you, laugh with you, and fight with you at appropriate time.”.

Mohammed Shosanya

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGANSSAN),Tuesday picket the offices of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in Abuja over the poor welfare of the agency’s workers.

The workers blocked the offices in the nation’s capital’s Jabi District as early as 7:30 a.m. and preventied easy access to the premises.

Premium News reports that the embattled workers displayed placards with various inscriptions which drew the attention of the agency to their deplorable state and the need to reverse same.

The Chairman of PENGANSSAN,NUPRC branch, Engr. Okey Anya,who led the protest ,insisted that the action will remain peaceful, and the embattled workers will never be intimidated by anyone.

He disclosed that workers of NUPRC have been subjected to too many anti labour practices by their management for too long.

He said:”Workers have lost their confidence and self esteem, needed for productivity, due to inhumane treatment, and poor working environment.

” We are doing a peaceful protest against our welfare that has been neglected for so long. We have a situation where pension deduction are done and not remitted to the PMAs. We have a situation where our staff who have accessed our cooperative and have had deductions made, but Management has refused to remit them.

“We have a situation where our offices in Port Harcourt did not have light for over a month, we are talking about DPR that was a standard in the industry. All these situations are anti Labour practices, and we say no to them. We cannot be giving our best in the industry, making sure that the country remains afloat and we are neglected”.