PAY OUR ALLOWANCES…. FCTA STAFF PROTEST

                PAY OUR ALLOWANCES….         FCTA STAFF PROTEST

                                                                 

                                         Some of the Protesting FCTA Displaying their Placards

                              JUAC Chairman Comrade Ajao Adelowo addressing the FCTA STAFF

                           Permanent Secretary FCTA Engr John Obinna Chukwu Addressing the protesting Staff

                                                 Armed Police At the Main Gate of the FCTA

                                           A cross Section of the Protesting FCTA STAFF

                                          A placard Displaying an Inscription Bala Must Go

                                                              BY: DAVID BARAU

                Aggrieved staff of the Federal Capital Territory Administration this morning barricaded the entrance into the premises of the headquarters of the administration  at Kapital street Area 11 Abuja in protest of what they describe  as neglect by the FCT Minister senator Bala Mohammed on staff welfare.

                The staff who were protesting under the auspices of the joint union action committee (JUAC) were seen displaying different placards and chanting solidarity songs and gyrations. Some of the placards reads: “Pay Our Hazard and Call Allowances Now’’ Stop The Abuse of FCTA Workers’ Rights “Return Our Housing Allowance Back to 100% others had a strong  show of grievance like “Bala Must Go; Staff Welfare Zero”.

                The joint union action committee is the umbrella platform of all the individual unions of the FCTA/FCDA.

                Addressing the staff at the entrance of the FCTA headquarters, the chairman of JUAC comrade Ajao Adelowo said the protest became necessary following the refusal of the FCT administration to honour their demands given to them, and after the expiration of the 21 day ultimatum the mass protest is to press home their demands.

                Some of the agitations of the FCTA staff according to the JUAC chairman include the refusal of the Administration to pay the salaries of workers that was stopped by the FCT Minister pending staff verification. “ the biometrics has been done and people have been cleared yet they have not  been paid” he added that the staff training has been stopped for a long time which should not be so “staff training and promotions should not be tied on biometrics they should be released immediately”

                The chairman added that many staff of the FCTA were exposed to risk and hazard in their jobs daily, but the FCT administration has failed to approve Hazard allowances. They also faulted the present FCT administration for reducing the Housing allowances of FCTA staff from 100% of the  annual  basic salary to 60%.

                A mild drama ensued when the permanent secretary of the FCTA Engineer John Obinna Chukwu came to address the crowd as he was booed by protesters who wanted the FCT Minister himself to address them. The timely intervention by the chairman who pleaded with staff saved the face of the Permanent secretary.

                After a moment the permanent secretary addressed the aggrieved staff and promised to meet with the executives of the union later in the day .

                “I’ve seen your demands and today the Management of the FCTA led by the Minister are meeting with the labour union at 1.30PM it was not scheduled yesterday because we’ve been talking, most of your request we have seen, but we do not talk under a non-conducive environment so I appeal to you to just give us today so that we talk with your union.”

                 That idea did not go down with some of the protesting staff who started shouting ‘we no go gree o! we no go gree!’. The assurance by the JUAC chairman that the protest will continue if the meeting did not take place was what calmed the nerves of the edgy protesters.

                Meanwhile as if to intimidate the protesting staff, two trucks full with armed police men stormed the premises of the FCTA but that did not deter the protesters who prevented motorists from coming into the premises or going out.

                It is however unclear if the meeting with the top management and the executives of the union held at 1.30PM, but what is certain is that the protest seems to be the beginning of the end of the relationship between the present administration of the FCTA and the Staff who have said they have seen enough.

Journalists' Round-Table: NIGERIA IS BROKE – LABARAN MAKU

Journalists' Round-Table: NIGERIA IS BROKE – LABARAN MAKU:                                                                                                                                   ...

NIGERIA IS BROKE – LABARAN MAKU

                                       

                                                             

                                              minister of information Mr. Labaran Maku

                                                            BY DAVID BARAU

  

                At least that was what the crowd gathered at the National Press Centre dreaded to hear when the Minister of Information Mr Labaran Maku addressed a world Press Conference on the activities and achievements of Government.

                A concerned civil servant seated beside me poked  me after the address to ask the Minister of information Mr Labaran Maku if the delay in the payments of August salaries was as a result of the cash crunch rumoured by a section of the media. http://saharareporters.com/news-page/nigerian-government-broke-targets-pension-savings

                I told him that I have other question to ask the minister but he can do so himself as it was an open forum and not restricted to Journalists alone, ‘God forbid’ he said ‘do you want me to lose my Job?’ I am civil servant o’             

                I asked him if civil servants were not allowed to ask questions and he just smiled, anyway that is for another day’s argument, well I suggested a way to which he can ask a question and remain anonymous and that was through the social media platform twitter.  @FMINigeria which he did and fortunately the questions was raised    

                Responding, the minister of information Mr Labaran  Maku says the federal government is not broke and the economy is stable

                ‘How can you call a country that has $ 40 million in reserves and 8 per cent inflation broke? We are growing, the stability in the economy is one that is desired that’s why people are coming in to invest so I can tell you certainly that Nigeria is not broke’.

                That still did not convince my friend the civil servant who asked the question and scores of other civil servants who did not understand how the economy was good and ok, yet it did not reflect on their salaries.

                Noticing the agitation in the audience, Mr Labaran Maku said the delay in the release of August salaries has nothing at all to do with whether the government was broke. The information Minister stressed that the delay was caused by technical challenges in the new payment system and assured that the monies will be paid before the end of the week (Last weekend).

                ‘Being a new payment system sometimes there are unusual delays because we are changing to ensure that those ghosts that we use to pay, those ghosts that have taken millions from public sectors particularly the federal public sector stop taken money from our own purse and so the system we put in place sometimes there are these delays.’

                The information Minister went further to say that Nigeria’s economy in the last decade has not been as fantastic as what we have today. He reiterated his address in the following sub-headings Economy, Agriculture, Transportation, Power, and Education. Which I will summarize three

ECONOMY.

                The information Minister said for the first time in the history of the country, the micro-economy of Nigeria has claimed global recognition because the foreign exchange has remained stable for the last three years, according to him a stable foreign exchange is able to make investors plan on the long term without fear of losing their resources.

                He gave an example of the Dangote group entering a deal worth N3.3 Billion to establish the largest refinery and a petro-chemical company.

                ‘This is good because the foreign companies want to see what Nigerians are doing themselves in their country before they invest, so the Dangote group is opening the door to the world to come and invest’

                Still in the oil and gas sector Maku said the government will not be able on its own re-vitalise the downstream sector that is why it has opened free trade zones where private companies can come and invest in the sector. He gave example of chevron which is working on our Liquefied Natural Gas which will be in use by the end of the year because about two hundred companies in the country rely on gas for power.      

                The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is rising as the minister emphasised, the GDP is estimated to be between 6.7% - 7% at the end of the year which will see Nigeria maintain the number one spot in the continent above South Africa and Egypt.

                ‘Economically we can tell you that the Nigeria’s economy is receiving greater confidence from the world, investments are coming in in Agriculture, Investments are coming in the Gas sector and also the petro-chemical companies that are being established’.

                My friend the civil servant after the submission by the Information Minister on the state of the Nigerian economy only muted ‘why did they introduce the system if they know it is not fast?

AGRICULTURE

                In this sector the Information Minister Mr Labaran Maku accused past administrations of paying lip service to Agriculture until the coming on board of the transformation agenda of President Jonathan.

                According to the minister, about 750 thousand young farmers are expected to get the opportunity in agricultural sector to give the sector the required rise it needs.

                ‘The most important thing in Agriculture is deregulation that has taken place in the sector, what is happening in this sector has never happened since the collapse of the marketing burst in the mid-eighties, today we are seeing the agricultural sector driven by private companies supplying seeds and fertilizer directly to farmers without government involvement we have eliminated bureaucracy that has hindered the development of this sector’

                The minister emphasized that the deregulation has allowed private individuals to invest huge amount of monies into this sector, a risks no one was willing to take in the past decades.

                 In 2014 Nigeria will not only be the largest producer of cassava but the largest producer of processed cassava ready for export because of the numerous cassava plants established in the country said the Minister.

                In the area of rice production the minister said ‘we have seen the advent of 12 rice mills, we saw one of them in Eboyin and the one in Kebbi must have been completed by now and in all these towns we have set up grain reserves’.

                According to him a private farmer has invested $ 40 million dollars in rice production and by 2015 we will be able to achieve self-sufficiency. The minister called on Nigerians to patronise local products.

TRANSPORTATION.

                At this moment  my friend gave my an insight of what the information Minister was going to say, he told me the minister will talk about the rail lines from Lagos to Kano and the airport rehabilitation.

                Well it turns out my friend was right, the Minister of information started with the railway ‘we are going to visit with media particularly the rail sector before the end of this month we are going to take the media what is the government is doing in the standard guage rail line betweenAbuja and Kaduna so that Nigerians will see the progress going on simultaneously with the Warri- Ajoakuta  lines.’

                Wondering how my friend the civil servant knew all these did he get a hold of the script?  He said he was present at the ministerial platform and has listened to the Information Minister speak every day for a month, and that there’s nothing new that has happened between July and September.

                I informed him that he cannot say that something new has not happened; I reminded him that for the first time in the history of the country an airline landed and departed from the south-east to china. He simply responded by saying if I could go to china I won’t be sitting beside you.

                Whatever he meant I didn’t want to stress further but the point I figured out was that the average civil servant is less concerned by the economy unless it does affect his/her salary. If these group of persons that are supposed to well informed and interested in governance and provide answers to many who don’t know care less, what will be millions outside the sector be channelling their strengths into?

                Similarly the government should focus on developing new achievements rather than hammering and chorusing on the same old issues.

                I hope you have been paid by now my friend?

               

               

               

               

Journalists' Round-Table: ASUU STRIKE- NIGERIAN STUDENTS SEEK EDUCATION ABRO...

Journalists' Round-Table: ASUU STRIKE- NIGERIAN STUDENTS SEEK EDUCATION ABRO...:                                 L-R Jennifer Onyukwu head Education USA Abuja, Bill Strassberger- Head Cultural Affairs Section US...

ASUU STRIKE- NIGERIAN STUDENTS SEEK EDUCATION ABROAD.

                                L-R Jennifer Onyukwu head Education USA Abuja, Bill Strassberger- Head Cultural Affairs Section US Embassy and Elise Brombach Consular Officer.

By: David Barau.

                Studying outside the shores of the country has become imperative for Nigerian tertiary students owning to poor standard of education and recently the incessant strike embark upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

                The Academic Staff Union of Nigerian universities have been on strike for over two months demanding that the federal government keep to their promise made in 2009 of injecting mega funds to university Education. With several meetings between government officials and Asuu ending in deadlock, Nigeria students are searching for Education Elsewhere.

                For this reason many countries over the years have been advertising their education programmes and marketing scholarship opportunities to Nigerians. The United Kingdom, and the United States embassy in Nigeria have been championing this cause by inviting reputable institutions in their respective countries to come to Nigeria and recruit prospective and eligible students even on the spot.

                Many Nigerian students who cannot afford the luxury of western education travel to nearby African countries which offer cheaper and sometimes better education. Ghana is one of such countries, in the past years Ghanaian students have been educated in Nigeria from primary to tertiary levels, now they receive Nigerians as their highest number of foreign students. Education is now one of Ghana’s highest gross domestic products (GDP) due to incessant strikes in Nigeria.

                Suffice you to note that countries that cannot be compared to Nigeria in whatever level of indices used are receiving thousands of Nigerians as students.

                Recently the Sudanese Ambassador to Nigeria Ambassador Tagelsir Mahgoub Ali in a courtesy call to the former Minister of youth development Alhaji Inuwa Abudulkadir says about 1600 Nigerians are currently studying in Sudan.

                Nigeria’s best brains through this migration has been lost to many of this countries  a point  the head cultural affairs Section US embassy Abuja Bill Strassberger was quick to debunk  at a media briefing on Education USA recently.

                ‘ we’ve been accused  sometimes of a brain-drain but we don’t see that in Nigeria so much, we’re not grabbing your best students, educating them and making it easy for them to stay, but the Nigerians are choosing to come back cos there’s so much opportunity in the county.’

                The United States Mission to Nigeria has in the last 14 years organised annual EDUCATION USA COLLEGE AND CAREER FAIRS; where prospective Nigerian students are given the opportunity to explore the vitality and diversity of U.S colleges and Universities. Admission officers and other U.S university representatives and their alumni are available to provide hands on information on their institutional requirements for admission and financial aid.

                This programme has over the years helped in giving Nigerian students admission in the US.

According to the head Education USA Abuja Jennifer Onyukwu

                ‘Nigeria is currently the number one largest sender of students from sub-Saharan Africa to the U.S with about 7000 students studying at over 700 institutions in the U.S’

                The programme has in the last five years witness students who benefitted in over $ 40 million in scholarship and financial aids from U.S colleges and universities both for undergraduate and post graduate studies.

                ‘we are looking forward to do more in the upcoming year, scholarship are very competitive, we are looking for academically stellar students, students who obtain a first class in their undergraduate degrees and students with 8 distinctions in their SSCCE.’

                This year’s edition of the colleges and career fairs is expected to begin on the 7^th and 8^th October, in Lagos while that of Abuja takes place on the 9^th and 10^th October,2013

                A consular officer at the media briefing on education USA Elise Brombach advised intending students to present only genuine credentials during visa interview and applications. She further adised students to make sure they fill out all the required forms themselves.

                ‘if any student present a fraudulent material it’s going to affect their application negatively by negatively I mean you may permanently not be granted entry into the united states.’

                It is true that the Nigerian Educational system has declined from the days of the great University of Ibadan and the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria to become a shadow of itself now, it is also a fact that the federal government has not lived by its words by funding adequately tertiary education in Nigeria.

                For the sake of the Nigerian Students, sheath your sword Asuu ! sheath your sword Federal government! Go back to the negotiating table with an improved package for education in Nigeria.

               

               

BARRICADES TO DISAPPEAR ON ABUJA STRREETS: APO, LUGBE ARE SECURITY FLASHPOINTS

                                                Fct police commissioner Femi Ogunbayode

             

                                                                BY: DAVID BARAU

                The barricades along major highways in the FCT mounted by security agencies against possible attack on government institutions will soon be cleared.

                The FCT commissioner of police Mr, Femi Ogunbayode made this known during an interaction with members of the fourth estate of the realm at the Nigerian Union of Journalist’s FCT secretariat Utako recently Abuja.

                CP Ogunbayode said the recent terrorist attack on government institution and other public places had made it imperative that such measures be adopted in order to prevent further attacks in the system.

                ‘you know these things (barricade) came into being as a result of the activities of suicide bombers, they were there before I came and I have said one thing as time goes on we are going to relax them and it will start from me’

                He reiterated that the current fight against terror in some states of the federation has been successful and soon the barricades that hitherto narrowed some roads in Federal capital will be removed.

                Similarly the FCT police Commissioner identified Apo, Lugbe   and areas within the Kaura districts of the FCT as flash points for car snatching and other criminal activities.

                ‘ we have been able to secure a peaceful daytime at least the first twelve hours from 6am to 6pm but where we have the challenges is from 6pm to 8.30pm when you have this menace of car snatching and then from 12 midnight to 3am.’

                The CP attributed the high risk associated to this areas as a result of the over 120 housing estates which do not have perimeter fences and are mostly empty.  

                He stated that the number of people relocating to the federal capital territory is increasing on daily basis owning to the security challenges in the north and other parts of the country thus making the police over stretch its resources.  He urged private developers to ensure that they built perimeter fences around their estates.

                'If you go to all these private estates, you will see that in an estate of 120 to 200 houses you will see that only 20 -30 people live there'

             He decried the situation where by the street were not named and security lights are not available.

            ‘Take for instance we get a phone call from Nzube Estate by 12 midnight, we arrive there and there’s no one to ask because there’s no perimeter fence and a security post, who will you ask where there’s an incident by 12 midnight’

            The CP commended the efforts of the FCT administration towards the provision of over 75 vehicles to the FCT police command and solicited for more to be done as the FCT population is growing rapidly.

            On the issue of persons parading themselves as journalists, CP Ogunbayode said he would cooperate with the NUJ FCT chairman Comrade Chucks Eherim and the committee inaugurated to arrest fake journalists who have been putting the image of the Nigerian press in bad light.

            ‘This is about the easiest task, you don’t need to go and find them, arrange a press conference they will come invite the police we will come lock up the venue and everyone should identify his/her medium’

            The interactive session provided an avenue for members of the press to relax with the police a scenario which hitherto spelt trouble