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President
of the National Industrial Court (NIC), Babatunde Adejumo, shocked his
audience at the Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan, on Tuesday when
he declared that over 80 per cent of the cases before the court are on
“who should collect check-off dues and who should not.”

Mr. Adejumo, who
delivered the lead paper at a two-day national workshop for union
leaders and management of southern Nigeria based universities on
industrial harmony, said many of the strikes that have taken place
within the system were needless.

Jointly organized
by the NIC and the Consultancy Services Centre (UNIFECS) of the Obafemi
Awolowo University, Ile Ife, the workshop sought to engender symbiotic
relationships among the unions and the management of the Nigerian
universities.

According to him,
most often, many members of the union are completely in the dark about
the cause their leaders are fighting for.

“Many times,
workers are not well educated on the need to go on strike,” he said.
“There must be constant and proper education for union members. Most
people believe that the union leaders are only there to manage the
check-off dues. That should not be the only active role and functions
the union should play. Before the issue of strike, how best have they
done to discuss the issue and educate their members? This is more
important.”

Improper strikes

While reaffirming
the inalienable right of workers to go on strike when their rights are
trampled upon by their employers, Mr. Adejumo cautioned union leaders
against leading their member to strikes that do not conform with the
provisions of the constitution on exercising their rights, saying the
effect could be counter-productive.

He hinted that
about eight court complexes of the NIC will soon be commissioned and
open for operation in the spirit of ensuring that litigants across the
country have access to an industrial court within a distance of less
than three hours.

He further revealed
that the National Assembly is almost through on the amendment of the
relevant legislation guiding the operations of the court, with a view
to empowering it to better deliver its mandate to the people of Nigeria.

In order to achieve
harmonious relationship between the university managements and unions
of their staff, Mr. Adejumo called for the creation of codes of conduct
within each of the universities.

“The aim of the code should be to lay down principles and guidelines
on the practice of industrial relations for achieving greater
industrial harmony,” he said.

The
Ondo State House of Assembly has fixed tomorrow as a mourning day in
honour of late president, Umaru Yar’Adua, who died last week in Abuja
after a protracted illness. The lawmakers made the resolution yesterday
in Akure during a special session, adding that the plenary would not
hold that day.

The House also
directed that letters of condolence be written by the assembly to the
family of Mr Yar’Adua, the Kastina State Government and the federal
government.

They praised late
Mr Yar’Adua for introducing amnesty programme for the Niger Delta
Region, adding that the former president needs to be immortalised. They
also appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan, to follow electoral
reform programme to a logical conclusion.

The Deputy Majority Leader, Ayodele Awodeyi described Yar’Adua as a forthright leader who had good aspirations for Nigerians.

“Yar’adua was a detribalised leader who was the only president who declared his assets to Nigerians,” he said.

Mr Awodeyi
commended the late president for establishing the Ministry of Niger
Delta, government machinery put in place to facilitate the development
of the Niger Delta Region.

Call for honour

The Deputy Speaker,
Francis Emiola, called on the Federal Government to immortalize the
late Yar’Adua by naming a national monument after him.

Mr Afolabi
Akinsiku, Ondo West I, also praised the late president for identifying
himself with the rule of law. He pointed out that the ruling Labour
Party in Ondo State reclaimed its electoral mandate due to Mr
Yar’Adua’s respect for the rule of law.

Two
NEXT reporters – Clara Nwachukwu, assistant business editor, and Daniel
Osunkoya, business reporter – have been nominated for the Diageo Africa
Business Reporting Awards.

Diageo, the world’s
leading premium drinks manufacturer, on Tuesday, announced finalists
for the eleven categories in the seventh annual awards ceremony.

Ms. Nwachukwu’s
story: ‘Adenuga’s Conoil owes N100 billion in taxes’ was nominated in
the Best Business News Story category, while Mr. Osunkoya’s portfolio
of three features: ‘Nigerian banks in battle of transparency,’
‘Flooding in luxury estates’ and ‘We fear for bonds’ were selected for
the Best Newcomer category.

According to the statement, over 750 entries were received from 20 countries across Africa and the rest of the world.

At a gala ceremony
in London on Thursday, July 1, where a panel of eminent judges will
select the winners of each category, Ms. Nwachukwu’s piece would
compete with stories by Felix Dela Klutse (Daily Guide Newspaper,
Ghana) and Bankelele (Bankelele, Kenya). Mr. Osunkoya’s stories would
contend with features written by Pia Minchener (African Decisions,
South Africa) and Gemma Ware (The Africa Report, France).

Obiageli
Ezekwesili, vice president of the World Bank, Africa Region, is
expected to be the keynote speaker at the awards ceremony. Ms.
Ezekwesili served as Federal Minister of Solid Minerals, and then as
Federal Minister of Education in Nigeria during the second term
presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo.

Proud of achievement

Commenting on her
nomination, Ms. Nwachukwu said, “This Diageo Award is particularly
significant because there have been (few or) no Nigerian in the
competition since the award was instituted, and this makes the award
special and unique because it will be a first for Nigeria. I am happy
for NEXT Newspapers for building a culture of professionalism.”

Mr. Osunkoya said:
“It’s a great honour and privilege to be nominated in this year’s
awards. I say a big thank you to NEXT for providing the platform, and
Diageo for the encouragement.” Devlin Hainsworth, managing director of
Guinness Nigeria, a subsidiary of Diageo, said the finalists represent
“those who are leading the way in creating a more balanced view of
business reporting on Africa. The shortlisted entrants have gone the
extra mile in reporting the opportunities and challenges of doing
business in Africa and have thoroughly investigated issues that matter
to business communities locally, regionally and internationally.

“The record
breaking number of entries from across the globe reflects the increase
in business reporting on Africa in 2009/2010. Also, the type of entries
we have received also indicates a shift in the way that news is being
delivered to audiences, with many more entrants being online citizen
journalists and bloggers.”

He added that with over 750 entries received for the award this
year, “those shortlisted in their category should be immensely proud of
their achievements and contribution to promoting a more accurate
understanding of the business environment in Africa.”

The
national leadership of the Labour Party, at the weekend, made a
passionate appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately
commence the process for a fresh and transparent registration of voters
in country.

The Party, in a
communiqué issued at the end of its 8th National Executive Council
meeting held in Akure, at the weekend, argued that the present Voters’
Register was totally dubious and full of errors.

The Labour Party,
in a communiqué signed by Dan Nwanyanwu and Abdusalam Abdukardir Salam,
National Chairman and National Secretary of the Party respectively
added that the current voters’ register could not be relied upon for
conducting credible polls in the country.

“We want to enjoin
President Jonathan to ensure that credible elections are conducted on
the basis of one person, one valid vote are put in place.

The Party also
lauded the recent sack of the former boss of the Independent National
Electoral Commmisssion (INEC), Maurice Iwu, saying that his leadership
was characterized by manipulation of votes and fraud in the
announcement of winners of elections.

‘As a party, we are satisfied with the removal of Maurice Iwu because he was not with the job given to him to do.

All we want
Jonathan to do is to appoint credible people to man INEC, people who
will able to conduct credible elections for the nation,” the party said.

The party also
commiserated with the immediate family of the late former President
Umaru Musa yar’Adua and the entire nation over what they termed
“painful exit of a man of peace,”.

For wage increase

The party’s NEC
equally threw its weight behind the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and
the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) in their agitation for the
payment of minimum wage of N52, 200 for workers in the nation.

It assured that
the party would be consciously re-positioned by aggressive drive to
further expand its membership base in all states of the federation,
resolving that the Party’s Congresses in all wards, Local government
Areas and States be held and concluded in August 2010 based on the
approved guidelines issued by the National Working Committee (NWC) of
the Party.

There’s a huge sticky mess floating towards the southern United States. It is crude oil but it is politics too.

“Obviously, there’s going to be a significant challenge and we are going to be working overtime,” said President Barack Obama.

The challenge began
with an explosion aboard an oil rig last month that killed eleven
workers. Oil spewing from the undersea well has formed a slow-moving
slick big enough to be seen from space.

The catastrophe has brought back memories of Hurricane Katrina, the last natural and political disaster to befall the region.

Katrina roared
ashore in 2005, flooding New Orleans and stranding thousands of its
residents. The world watched on television as people pleaded for help
that, in some cases, took days to come.

Even then, as a
little-known senator, Barack Obama criticized the Bush Administration
for what he called its slow response. Many other Americans did too.

Like Katrina, the spill is proving to be a much bigger problem than government officials first expected.

With the leaking
well more than a kilometer below sea level, they relied heavily on the
oil industry for expertise and equipment.

Some Republicans are raising questions that the president will find familiar.

“The American people deserve to know why the administration was slow to respond,” said Republican Congressman Mike Pence.

From the very
outset, Obama and his aides repeatedly blamed BP, which was operating
the well and organizing the efforts to plug it. And the president has
his defenders.

“The Obama
administration has done nothing wrong,” said Katrina historian Douglas
Brinkley. “This has been British Petroleum not having a Plan ‘A’ or
Plan ‘B’ or Plan ‘C’ or Plan ‘D.” With so much of the oil still at sea
there is no accurate way to calculate the eventual environmental or
economic damage it will cause when it comes ashore, but the price tag
is already being tallied in the billions of dollars.

BP has already acknowledged that it’s responsible for the leak and will offer compensation for the damage it causes.

But at the White House they are also concerned about the potential cost. They don’t want the president to pay it.

Catch Political Mann on CNN International Fridays at 1730, Saturdays at 0430, 1400 and 2000 and Sundays at 0900 (All times BST).

Hundreds of travellers were, on Sunday, left stranded at the international wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, because of power failure at the facility.

An employee of the airport, who asked not to be named, said the three-hour blackout was caused by a broken cable which transmits power to the terminal.

“We cannot power the airport, whether generator or not, for the cable is of vital importance,” the source said

Hours after the blackout, the public affairs manager for the airport, Akin Olukunle, said the problem had been rectified and apologised to passengers for the inconvenience.
Officials had complained that poor power supply at airports is affecting service delivery.

Officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, the agency in charge of airports in Nigeria, have often complained that irregular power supply is a challenge to them.

Henry Anyanwu, a regional manager of the agency at the Port Harcourt International Airport, said on May 5, that “Power is the greatest problem we have at the airport. Diesel is the problem”.

“We use average of four trucks monthly, which is about 136,000 litres every month. This is because all the six generators here are not yet in operations.”

The
traditional ruler of a community in Benin Republic (Ketu), Alao
Alade-Ife, has said that Yoruba speakers in the Republic have concluded
arrangement to sign Memorandum of Understanding {MOU} with the
government to pave way for more recognition of their culture,

Mr. Alade-Ife, who
informed journalists about this development during a visit to him, led
by Albert Ashipa, the Chairman of Imeko-Afon Local Government area of
Ogun State, also said a proposal to include Yoruba language in the
school curricula had been forwarded to the appropriate authority of the
French speaking country. He expresses optimism that, the proposal will
scale through.

‘We have equally
made a meaningful move to ensure that Yoruba language henceforth has a
place in the school’s time table and curricula, and so far we are
optimistic on this,” he said.

The monarch, who
went down memory lane, said the Yorubas were the original settlers in
the country, before the French colonization of the territory and
subsequent demarcation turned his people into a minority in the country.

“The first son of
Oduduwa, who is Alaketu, founded Ketu, Popo and Safe towns, all which
are now situated in Benin Republic,” Mr. Alade-Ife said.

“Even with the development, the Yoruba would not sell their birthright by forgetting their culture and origin.”

Due recognition

The traditional
ruler added that he was at the forefront of a campaign for the
recognition of the Yoruba nation in Benin Republic.

“There is a need to give us our proper and right recognition, we are
the founder of major towns in the country before the colonization,’ he
said. ‘But it is only the land that is demarcated. Our origin, culture
and rightful place in the country cannot be demarcated’ The Royal
father, who said the Federation of Yoruba would be launched in the
country between 22 and 23 of May, 2010, said the government had
acknowledged the calling for a memorandum of understanding between it
and the Yoruba.

Some federal civil
servants have called for the decentralisation of their pre-promotion
training programmes to reduce the challenges faced in converging on
Abuja from all parts of the country.

The workers are
attending a compulsory pre-promotion training at Public Service
Institute of Nigeria, Dutse, FCT. The is workshop organised by the
Office of the Head of Service of the Federation in collaboration with
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Office.

The training,
which witnessed a large turn-out of civil servants from all the states,
was for officers on grade levels eight to 16 who are due for promotion
in 2010.

Some of the participants on grade level 14 who spoke to journalists decried the poor management of the training programme.

They complained of the lack of accommodation and poor organisation.

A federal civil
servant from Lagos State, who pleaded anonymity, stressed the need for
adequate arrangements before the commencement of the training, saying
one of the best options was to decentralise the exercise.

“Those of us in
the south zones should be made to attend the training in Lagos, while
those from the northern part of the country should be brought to
Abuja,” he said.

Another civil
servant from Ebonyi blamed the poor arrangement on the lack of
up-to-date data on participants, adding that the organisers should be
held responsible for the poor arrangement.

“Up till today,
nobody attended to us,” he said. “We have written our names on several
lists, yet nothing tangible is coming out of the exercise. This
morning, it was when we insisted that nothing would take place here and
sent a delegation to the Head of Service that they came to tell us to
go and come back on May 17.

This is very
unfair; a lot of us have been sleeping here as a result of a lack of
accommodation. This is unacceptable; it is most reprehensible.”

A top official of
the institute, who also pleaded anonymity, confirmed that the institute
was supposed to provide facilities for the training classes.

He explained that
the training sessions were supposed to be divided into four groups for
easy coordination, stating that workers on grade levels eight to 10
were supposed to be trained at the Administrative Staff College of
Nigeria (ASCON), Badagry, Lagos; while level 12 officers at the Centre
for Management Development (CMD).

He said that CMD should be held responsible for the lapses witnessed in the group that they were supposed to train.

“The Office of Head of Service of the Federation has done its part by ensuring that each group is taken care of,” he said.

The participants on grade levels eight, 10, 15 and above are
currently undergoing the training at the institute, while those on 14
were told to go and come back on May 17. Those from Abuja were
dismissed on Tuesday for lack of proper arrangements.

The Northern Youth Movement for Positive Change has reiterated its decision to continue to campaign for the election of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011.

The group, which recently pasted the posters of Mr. Jonathan across the Abuja metropolis, urging public support for him in 2011, also says it will continue its campaign whether the President distances himself from their activities or not.

Mr. Jonathan, who was still Acting President at the time, moved quickly to distance himself from the campaign.

In a draft reply to Mr. Jonathan’s response to their activities, exclusively e-mailed to NEXT, the group gave several reasons for its actions while urging Mr. Jonathan to focus on electoral reform, power and anti-corruption before the 2011 presidential election.

They also deny presidency’s claim that their activities is a distraction to smooth governance.

The group said it was moved to reply following a description of the group by Mr. Jonathan’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Ima Niboro, as a “distraction”.

Not a distraction

The letter reads, “The Northern Youth Movement for Positive Change recognizes the right of His Excellency to distance himself from the activities of the movement, given that in truth there is absolutely no relationship whatsoever between the President and the movement. For this reason the movement does not begrudge Mr. Niboro but wishes to refute the untrue import of his remark.

“The Northern Movement for Positive Change hereby makes it crystal clear that it is only those who are enemies of true democracy that are distracting the president and certainly not a patriotic and grassroots oriented organization like the movement which was set up to rescue the nation from the clutches of its cabalistic enemies.”

Furthermore, the group refuted the government’s assertion that it was a distraction which activity was merely heating up the polity. It stated that its support and campaign for Mr. Jonathan were borne out of its genuine interest for Nigeria and, thereafter, demanded state protection.

It states further: “In the view of The Northern Youth Movement for Positive Change, only election riggers would quake at the prospect of comprehensive electoral reforms; only kleptomaniacs would dread the government’s anti-corruption drive; and, only the cabal that imports and markets generators would fear the worst now that Jonathan is personally overseeing the electricity sector.”

The Northern Youth Movement for Positive Change writes-off allegation that the president is merely doing all these because he wants to run for office come 2011, as utter nonsense.

“Are those who are saying this implying that a president who doesn’t plan to run should just sit down at The Villa doing absolutely nothing but the looting of the treasury? Apparently this is their view of public service. What a shame!”

Agenda for the President

The group also reminded Mr. Jonathan to address the needs of the people of Nigeria especially electoral reform as the Constitution demands of him whether he plans to run for presidency in 2011 election or not.

The letter concludes, “It is the projection of The Northern Youth Movement for Positive Change that given the short space of time available to the President before the upcoming elections, it will be enough for Nigerians that he implements electoral reform for everyone’s vote to count. If he however goes ahead to give us light in our homes and offices, and brings the rogues, crooks and pathological criminals in the corridors of power to book, he would indeed have surpassed the expectations of the vast majority of Nigerians and the rest of the world.

“Finally, The Northern Youth Movement for Positive Change wishes to serve notice of its determination to continue canvassing support for the president until he is inaugurated in his own right as president. When 2011 comes we shall see who can prevent the people’s choice from carrying the day.”

Following last Sunday’s three hours of power outage at the
Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, the airport on Monday
witnessed “frequent” power interruptions which also disrupted flight
operations.

Though the crowd of air travellers at the departure terminals
reduced compared to the number present at the halls on Sunday, hundreds of
passengers were still seen at the terminal awaiting their flights.

“The power here has been on and off for uncountable times and
this is mainly because of yesterday’s complete breakdown that lasted for more
than three hours,” said an employee at the airport who spoke on conditions of
anonymity.

According to the source, the situation affected operations,
though airlines were taking measures to air lift their customers.

“Any little power failure will definitely affect activities
here, not to talk of an over three hours power outage of yesterday and frequent
on and offs of today,” he said. “The good thing is that airlines are working
hard to fly their passengers.”

Commenting on the issue, an employee of Aero Contractors, at the
departure terminal, disclosed that the power failure crashed most of the
systems of airlines at the terminal, adding that the crowd present, as of the
time of filing this report, was as a result of the power failure and incessant
interruptions.

“It took more than necessary time to get the flight list out,
and this is because our systems went down after the power failure,” he said.

“As you can see, part of this office is not powered, the air
conditioner is not working, the fans are switched off and all this is done just
to have enough power to operate our systems so that passengers can fly to their
destinations.”

The staff called on the aviation ministry to work on infrastructure
at the airport, stressing that it is high time “this embarrassment on
passengers and airport users is stopped.”

Officials comment

Akin Olukunle, the spokesperson for the Federal Airports
Authority of Nigeria, disclosed that the power outage of Sunday was discovered
to be “a shorting of seven of the cables” supplying power to the terminal
building, adding that power was, however, restored to the one of the arms of
the airport immediately the problem was determined.

“Our suppliers were contacted immediately we discovered the
fault that caused the outage and they supplied the cables that were being used
to currently solve the problem,” he said.

“The management of FAAN appeals to the travelling public to bear with us for
the inconveniences occasioned by this unfortunate incident.”