Delta state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan raised the hope of workers in the state on May-Day, which was workers’ day on Thursday, with a promise of extra pay package for them at the end of this year.
He said that the extra pay package will be the first of its kind since the state was created and will be aimed at encouraging them to put in their best.
“Let me assure the workers that at the end of the year, we will work out something extra, definitely, there will be extra payment for the workers.”
Governor Uduaghan assured workers of improved welfare and better working conditions to enable them meet the financial difficulties at the Christman and new year festivities.
The Governor emphasized that workers deserved to be motivated and appreciated for the roles they are playing in ensuring increased productivity, stable government and virile economy.
He acknowledged that unemployment has become a global phenomenon and that leaders of countries have been forced to resign because of their inability to tackle unemployment.
“The biggest challenge today is unemployment. It is a worldwide phenomenon and as a state, we are working hard to reduce the number of unemployed citizens. “Under the Delta Beyond Oil, we have been able to create opportunities for our women and youths to be engaged and become employers of labour.”
The Governor promised that his administration will employ more teachers and health workers within the next few weeks in addition to the ongoing employment into the Delta State Civil Service, even as he lamented that some unscrupulous persons are trying to thwart   government’s good intention to conduct fresh recruitment into the state’s civil service. He said that such people are going about collecting money from prospective job seekers before the exercise even begins.
He warned that anybody caught collecting money from job seekers would be made to face the full wrath of the law and that his administration will continue to employ qualified Deltans “based on availability of fund and declared vacancies.”
The Governor commended the organised labour for choosing ‘Peace and Unity: Panacea For Sustainable National Development’ as the theme for this year’s celebration, advising workers in particular and all Deltans in general to be security conscious.
He said that a security committee has been set up to deal with the menace of cattle rearers and strangers who do not have genuine reason to be in the state.
“Be mindful of who you take as labourers, house helps, security men, those you collect money from to live in your uncompleted buildings and those we admit into our communities because, they may be dangerous to us.”
The Governor called on Deltans to report all strange movements and faces to security operatives.
Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Delta State, Comrade Williams Akporeha in his address, commended the Uduaghan’s administration for converting a large number of casual workers into the state’s main workforce among other gestures.
Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in the state, Comrade Mike Arinze, assured Governor Uduaghan of the continual support of organised labour in his administration’s quest to develop the state.

“Nigeria is not a poor country. Nigerians are the most travelled people. There is no country you go that you will not see Nigerians. The GDP of Nigeria is over half a trillion dollars and the economy is growing at close to 7 per cent. Aliko Dangote was recently classified among the 25 richest people in the World.”

These were the President Goodluck Jonathan’s perception of the country over which he presided in his May-Day message to the country’s workers.

President Jonathan insisted that the realities on ground do not portray the country as a poor nation, but a nation which abundant wealth needed to be evenly redistributed, adding that his administration is putting policies in place to ensure that Nigerians have access to financial resources to create wealth for themselves.

The President gave a narration of how he visited Kenya recently on a state visit and that the number of private jets that landed from Nigeria in Nairobi that day was a subject of discussion in Kenyan media for over a week.

“If you talk about ownership of private jets, Nigeria will be among the first 10 countries, yet they are saying that Nigeria is among the five poorest countries.

“Some of you will experience that there is an amount of money you will give to a Nigerian who needs help and will not even regard it and thank you but if you travel to other countries and give such an amount, the person will celebrate.

“But the World Bank statistics shows that Nigeria is among the five poorest countries. Our problem is not poverty, our problem is redistribution of wealth.’’

The President added: “probably, wealth is concentrated in very few hands and a number of people do not have access to it and that is why my administration is committed in terms of financial inclusiveness and we are working very hard to achieve this.’’

Jonathan specifically noted that in the agriculture sector, government introduced the electronic wallet for farmers in rural areas so they could access income through bank facilities.

He said government was also moving agriculture from just a rural development programme to wealth creation and major business programme, adding that government had taken pro-active steps and policies to stabilise power “so that small and medium-scale enterprises will thrive.

“The key commitment of government is to make sure that so many Nigerians have access to finance so that they will be able to create wealth for themselves.’’

The President also read certain political undertones in the processes of ratings by international bodies and global rating agencies.

According to him, so many countries were downgraded economically in the few past months including some African countries, saying: “They looked at Nigeria and we gave explanations and they could not see any convincing reason but to downgrade our economy, they left us as BB minus.

“They said elections are coming, politicians are shouting at themselves, it may affect their economy. We will no longer give you stable outlook but give you negative outlook, which is same BB minus. When so many countries have been downgraded, they said Nigeria is one of the five poorest countries.’’

Jonathan assured that with the support of Nigerians and in particular, the organised labour, the nation would overcome its challenges and take its pride of palce in the globe.

“We must collectively move this country to where we want to go. Government is working with labour leaders and workers of this country to create wealth. We will sure move this country to where we want to go.’’

The President also reiterated that the on-going National Conference is not personal but meant to evolve a roadmap that would redefine Nigeria, stressing that he has no personal agenda for initiating the Conference, but for the common good and progress of the country.

“A number of people came to me that any President that set up this kind of conference must have a roadmap set for him. But I said to them that the roadmap is the roadmap for Nigeria.

“Jonathan has no personal roadmap for the conference. You can go and ask the over 500 people that are there whether I have sent any emissary to anybody to define anything for my own interest. I repeat, the issue is not Jonathan, I have spent three quarters of my life on earth.

“What we want is a Nigeria for our future generation. We will lead our country to where we want to go.’’

The President noted that the overall interest of the country informed the nomination of many representatives of organised labour, civil society organisations and youths to the conference, adding that this is the first time that the government is having a national conference and labour has such a number of representatives.

He said that the civil society was robustly represented at the conference and the first time that youths were well represented, saying: “there are 18 youth representatives at the conference which has never happen. We believe that as elders, we must prepare a country for the young generation and build a nation for our children and grandchildren.”

He said that the resolution of the conference would be sent to the National Assembly to be implemented for national good.

“I believe that at the end of the conference, if the resolutions are agreed by everybody, I will be able to work with my brothers, sisters and friends in the National Assembly to see that whatever they agreed on sailed through.

“All what we want is to agree on something that is common and useful for the country. ‘’

The Minister of Labour, Emeka Wogu, said that the theme of the 2014 Workers Day: “Building Enduring Peace and Unity’’ was impressive, apt and relevant, even as he asked labour unions to have faith in the Jonathan administration as it continued to implement policies and plans for national emancipation.

He said that the administration had ensured and would continue to ensure that the voices of labour was heard, adding that the Labour Bill drafted to improve the lots of workers pending before the National Assembly would soon be passed into law and urged the unions to be considerate in their demands.

The emergence of Binta Masi Garba as the first-ever female elected state party chairperson of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa state has excited the former Nigeria Vice President and now the chieftain of the party, Atiku Abubakar.

Atiku, who reacted to what he called the peaceful conduct of the just-concluded congress in the state form where he comes, described the emergence of Binta as “historic and exemplary.”

He expressed confidence in the ability of the female chairperson to lead the party to total victory in all future elections in Adamawa state. He also congratulated  all those who emerged in the process, adding “the party is assured of my total support until we win all our elections.”

Atiku commended the Adamawa State Governor, Admiral Murtala Nyako and other leaders of the party for the high level of accommodation and the spirit of give-and-take that characterized the horse-trading leading to the emergence of the new state executive.

Nigeria’s second Republic Deputy Senate President, John Wash Pam,  is dead. He died at the age of 73 from complications secondary to prostrate cancer at the National Hospital, Abuja at about 1.30 pm today.

The former senator is survived by two wives and 18 children. Wash Pam, a prominent Berom elder, hailed from Foron district of Barakin Ladi local Government Area of Plateau State.

His death was confirmed by his first son, Mr. Ganan Wash Pam and his Special Assistant, Mr. Williams Chieshe (Jnr).

“Baba died about one and half hours ago,” Chieshe said, adding “he has been battling with prostrate cancer for a while now.

Wash Pam was deputy senate president to senator Joseph Wayas from 1979 to 1983.

 Members of the all-powerful Petroleum & Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) boycotted have made it clear that they could not have been part of the May-Day jamboree at the time the nation is supposed to be in mourning mood over the abduction of over 200 female students of the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno state.

They said that their boycott of the celebration at the Eagle Square today is to identify with the pains and trauma of parents of missing Chibok students. The union took the decision at a meeting of its National Executive Council (NEC) in Abuja.
The President of the union, Comrade Babatunde Ogun in his May Day Message said the failure of the Government and its security agencies to find the over 200 abducted girls should put the nation in a mournful state.

“We demand that all machinery, including collaborating with foreign countries that have sophisticated and hi-technology equipment for surveillance should be put in place to ensure the rescue and restoration of the school girls to their parents and guardians,” he said.

Ogun further called on the government to invest more in unemployment and poverty which have been identified as factors for the breeding of criminality.

Speaker of House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has given a number of reasons why Nigeria is currently drifting into socio-political abyss, saying social injustice is one of the key factors.

According to him, inability of successive governments to set up Nigeria as a just society has deprived the country from attaining it’s aspiration.

Tambuwal made the remarks today at the Second edition of Sam Nda-Isaiah Annual Lecture Series, held at the Sultan Maccido Institute of Quranic and General Studies, Sokoto.

According to him, Nigeria has become a nation whose moral deficit is bankrupting the economy, thereby robbing the children of their future and threatening the very foundation of the nation’s unity.

He said that over the years, successive governments had failed to prosecute programmes and policies that will deliberately bridge the gap between the haves and the haves not.
Details later.

Second Republic civilian governor of old Kwara state, Alhaji Adamu Atta is dead. He died in Abuja late yesterday.

It was learnt that a delegate form Kogi state Government, led by the deputy Governor, Yomi Awoniyi was in Abuja this morning to convey the remains of the deceased to his home town, Okene in Kogi State where he would be buried according to Islamic rites.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Environment, Dr. Bukola Saraki has described the death of Atta as very sad.

Saraki, who was a governor of Kwara State for eight years, said that Atta was a statesman of repute, and a stakeholder in the Nigeria project whose records and antecedent are clear in the history of Kwara and Nigerian politics.

“Though gone, the impact of Alhaji Adamu Atta cannot be under estimated in Kwara politics and apparently, his role and contributions in the administration of Kwara State. His departure is painful, but the fact that his wealth of wisdom in the history of Kwara state administration will be missed is more painful.”