Akeredolu will fulfill all campaign promises, says APC

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The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State on Wednesday reassured residents that Governor Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) would fulfil all his electoral promises.

The APC reiterated this in a statement in Akure by its Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Adesanya. He promised prompt payment of workers’ salaries, job creation through industrialisation and agricultural revolution as well as peace and stability.

Reacting to the advice by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) against creation of new local council development areas, Adesanya said: “Akeredolu will fulfill all electoral promises.”

PDP had warned the governor against his proposal to create new local council development areas out of 18 local government areas promised during Akeredolu’s electioneering campaign. Adesanya stressed that there would be creation of local council development areas as promised by Akeredolu during campaign.

“Contrary to what played out during the last administration, APC-Akeredolu is poised to steer the state’s affairs in the right direction and also deliver the true dividend of democracy to the good people of Ondo State,’’ he said

Adesanya berated PDP for leaving behind a whooping debt of about N150 billion, eight months unpaid salaries of workers and several months of unpaid allowances and gratuities of pensioners.

“What moral justification has Ondo-PDP leadership to advise APC-Akeredolu’s government?”

“We view your advice as anti-developmental and evil against the people of the state.

“It’s a clear attempt to derail our government so as to create bottleneck and distraction for Akeredolu.

“The former government has no useful ingredient at its disposal to complement the efforts of this current administration,” he said.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mFoGkS

FG pledges to work directly with oil producing communities

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The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Brigadier-General Paul Boroh, says the Federal Government will henceforth work directly with the oil producing communities in the region.

Boroh, who is also the Coordinator Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday. He said the Federal Government would involve the youths and stakeholders in the development of their communities.

The presidential aide said the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is committed to finding a lasting solution to the unrest, instability and underdevelopment of the region. According to him, the Federal Government is proposing a new vision that focuses on technological advancement and innovation in improving the value of oil produced in the region.

The coordinator said Acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s visit to Benin and tour of the region will go a long way to win the confidence of the youths and the leaders.

He explained that the tour is also a fact finding mission on issues affecting the region.

He said the visit was also to fulfill the Buhari’s administration earlier promised of ensuring the genuinely development.

“People finally can see this government face to face and discuss their problems and their perceptions are finally changing for the better.

“The pipeline bombing and other violent threats have almost disappeared in the region.

“Before now there were no forum to meet and no opportunity for interaction and exchange of ideas by opinion leaders,” he said.

Boroh explained that with the interaction there was better understanding of the challenges of government in tackling the Niger Delta problems.

He said the tour had provided an opportunity to reassess the journey so far and the way forward.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mAJqKx

Sacked Fidelity bank drivers protest alleged non-payment of benefits

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Fidelity Bank

About 50 drivers recently sacked by the Fidelity Bank Plc on Monday barricaded the bank’s headquarters on Victoria Island, Lagos, to protest alleged non-payment of their severance packages.

The workers, who carried placards and chanted solidarity songs, said that since the bank retrenched them a month ago, efforts to make it to pay their entitlements failed.

One of them, Mr Samuel Ayuwa, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the management of the bank sacked all drivers and was not willing to pay severance packages.

”Since Fidelity bank does not want us again, we want the management to pay our benefits. Some of us have worked for more than five years. It is our right to get our money,” Ayuwa said.

Another driver, Mr Bayo Adewale, said that dialogue between the management and the sacked drivers broke down because the management was not ready to pay the entitlements.

Some other drivers also told NAN that they were not afraid of leaving the bank but needed their benefits.

When contacted, the General Secretary of the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institution Employees (NUBIFIE), Mr Muhammed Sheikh, told NAN that the protesters were not members of the union.

According to Sheikh, efforts made by the organised labour to institute a workers’ union in the bank were resisted by the management.

He said that NUBIFIE would not be able to speak or negotiate on behalf of the workers since they were not members of the union.

Mrs Oyinkan Olasoye, President, Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Insitutions (ASSBIFI), also told NAN that Fidelity bank workers were not members of the union.

However, Mr Ejike Ndiulo, Head of Corporate Affairs of the bank, said that the management would soon resolve the conflict with the workers.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2maRcbm

Thousands march in Moscow two years after Putin foe killed

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Russian opposition leader and chairman of the People's Freedom Party (PARNAS) Mikhail Kasyanov (C) and supporters of slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov hold flags and banners during a memorial march on February 26, 2017 in central Moscow, two years after Nemtsov was gunned down just yards from the Kremlin. Kasyanov has his face covered with green paint after he was attacked before the start of the procession. Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister in the government of Boris Yeltsin, was gunned down shortly before midnight on February 27, 2015, while walking across a bridge a short distance from the Kremlin with his Ukrainian model girlfriend.<br />VASILY MAXIMOV / AFP

Thousands of Russians marched through central Moscow on Sunday in memory of slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, two years after he was shot dead near the Kremlin.

The assassination of the former deputy prime minister on February 27, 2015 was the highest-profile killing of a critic of President Vladimir Putin since the ex-KGB officer took charge in 2000.

Five Chechen men from Russia’s volatile North Caucasus are currently on trial for carrying out a contract hit, but those who ordered the killing have not been brought to justice.

“We came to pay tribute to the honesty and bravery of Boris Nemtsov,” pensioner Galina Zolina told AFP, clutching a bunch of red carnations.

“We want to show the authorities that we haven’t forgotten.”

Charismatic Nemtsov — who went from Kremlin insider under Boris Yeltsin to one of Putin’s fiercest foes — was hit in the back by four fatal shots as he walked home across a bridge by the Kremlin with his girlfriend.

The march Sunday was permitted by the authorities but not allowed to include a makeshift memorial officials have repeatedly sought to dismantle at the spot Nemstov was killed.

Some 15,000 demonstrators, organisers and AFP estimated, surrounded by a heavy police presence waved Russian flags and posters criticising the Kremlin and Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine, which Nemtsov had fiercely opposed right up to his death.

“The march can maybe get the attention of the authorities,” said unemployed biologist Alexei Kuznetsov.

“It might be able to influence the investigation, show that the case resonates in society even if the authorities try to ignore it.”

– Masterminds untouched –
Last October five men — including a member of an elite interior ministry unit in Chechnya — went on trial in a military court in Moscow for carrying out the contract killing for 15 million rubles (currently $250,000, 240,000 euros).

But despite claims from officials that the case has been solved Nemtsov’s family and allies insist that the probe into his death has left the masterminds untouched.

They insist he was killed to stop his political activities and the murder trail leads to those close to Chechnya’s Kremlin-loyal strongman Ramzan Kadyrov.

“The investigation stopped at the level of those who carried out the murder but nothing has been done to find those who ordered it,” Vadim Prokhorov, the lawyer for Nemtsov’s family, told AFP.

Nemtsov’s slaying sent a chill through Russia’s marginalised opposition, which has already been sidelined under Putin’s authoritarian rule.

The march — which was accompanied by events in other Russian cities — came as authorities released prominent activist Ildar Dadin from jail in Siberia.

Dadin, who spent 15 months behind bars, was the only person to be convicted under a controversial law against public protests that has helped snuff out demonstrations against the Kremlin.

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Bangladesh releases arrested factory workers

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Bangladesh garment workers arrested last year over wage strikes are being released, global union IndustriALL said Saturday, adding that international fashion brands have agreed not to boycott a key industry conference in capital Dhaka.

A strike by tens of thousands of workers in December demanding higher pay was quashed after around two weeks, with 1,600 employees sacked and 34 workers and union leaders arrested.

Cases alleging such things as burglary, arson, vandalism and extortion were also filed against more than 1,500 others, while authorities dismissed the workers’ demands saying that no pay hike would be made before 2019.

Global fashion companies including H&M and Zara-owner Inditex — top clients of Bangladesh’s $30-billion garment industry — later said they would pull out of a key conference in support of the workers.

The Dhaka Apparel Summit, scheduled for this weekend, is the signature annual event in the global textile hub with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina designated as keynote speaker.

But in a statement Saturday global garment union IndustriALL, who led a campaign against the Bangladesh government’s crackdown on the movement, said most of the workers had been released and the rest would be freed shortly.

“This is an important victory for garment workers in Bangladesh, sending a strong message to the country’s industry to enter into a constructive dialogue with the trade unions,” spokesman Valter Sanches said.

IndustriALL said it had entered into an agreement with the government and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) — a body representing 4,500 clothing factories — allowing for the release of the workers.

The BGMEA had previously labelled the strikes illegal and warned that salary rises would drive retailers in Europe and the US to competitor markets like Myanmar.

“We will continue to support the fight for higher wages and will closely monitor the situation until all charges are dropped,” IndustriALL’s Bangladesh Council (IBC) spokesman Kutubuddin Ahmed told AFP.

“We have informed the brands who earlier pulled out from Dhaka Apparel Summit about the agreement and release of the workers and unionists. Following our confirmation, they have decided to join the summit.”

A senior BGMEA official also said that the fashion companies would be joining the conference while H&M confirmed in an email to AFP that it had decided to participate.

– ‘Unbearable’ harassment –
Bangladesh’s garment industry accounts for 80 percent of its annual exports, but it has a woeful history of poor pay and conditions for its four million workers.

Protests over wages, benefits and working conditions are common but gained intensity after the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex in April 2013, which killed 1,138 people.

Workers in the industrial town of Ashualia staged mass protests in December to demand a three-fold hike in pay, which can typically run as low as $68 a month.

The subsequent crackdown by authorities was widely criticised by international rights groups and top global brands.

Human Rights Watch said the union representatives were facing “unfair or apparently fabricated criminal cases”.

Last week union leaders said workers were “living in constant fear” of being arrested as the police hunted those involved in the strikes.

On Saturday, Mohammad Ibrahim, a union leader who was jailed for nearly two months, told AFP that for now the majority of workers had only been released on bail but he hoped the charges would be dropped soon.

“Most of the arrested union leaders and workers are now out on bail,” he said.

“The harassment we had to go through was unbearable. However we now want the authorities to withdraw all of the false cases.”

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Basket mouth hints on Chris Rock, to visit Nigeria

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PHOTO:AFP

Ace comedian Basket mouth real name, Bright Okpocha, on Friday gave a hint on plans to invite Chris Rock, Top American comedian for a performance scheduled for June in Lagos.

Basket mouth on his Intagram handle @basketmouth said, “If Chris Rock was coming to Lagos in June 2017… would you pay N10,000 for a regular ticket?”

The hint has already generated divergent reactions from his fans.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Rock is also an, actor, writer, producer, and director.

After working as a stand-up comic and appearing in small film roles, Rock came to wider prominence as a cast member of Saturday Night Live in the early 1990s.

He recently released a romance/comedy movie titled, “Top 5’’, featuring actors including Gabrielle Union, Kevin Hart, Rosario Dawson and Cedric the entertainer.

He is currently in a relationship with Nigeria-born Megalyn Echikunwoke, an actress.

Meanwhile, Basketmouth’s Lord of The Ribs US tour with Bovi is slated for July 2017.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lzZxqn

NEMA confirms one dead as vehicle plunges into Lagos river

SSANU threatens to invade Plateau University over suspension of officials

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Jos – The national body of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU), has threatened to invade the Plateau State University (PLASU), Bokkos over the suspension of its officials.

The university recently suspended the interim chairman and secretary of the PLASU chapter of SSANU, Messrs Timnan Rimdap and Dusu Sambo Yaro.

The duo have been suspended for three months, during which they would be entitled to only half of their basic salaries.

Copies of the suspension letters, dated Jan. 17, and signed by the institution’s Registrar, Mr Amos Mallo, indicated that the duo were suspended over many issues, some of which bordered on the deductions of SSANU members’ check-off dues.

Further details revealed that while management insisted that the union must be formally registered with the school to guarantee such privileges, the union, quoting sections 3 (1), and 46 (2) of the Trade Union Act 2004, argued that only the Registrar of Trade Unions had such power.

“The National President of SSANU – a registered trade union – has granted approval for the establishment of a branch thereof in PLASU and the recognition of the union by an employer is obligatory,” the SSANU local officials argued, in one of the letters to management.

NAN reports that after series of communication on the matter, including queries and responses, the management suspended the officials, and barred them from entering the school unless with the “express approval of the Vice Chancellor, Registrar or Acting Chief Security Officer”.

Reacting, Mr Solomon Alfa, the National Vice President (North) of SSANU, expressed shock at the development, and described the suspension of the officials as “unacceptable”.

He said that the university’s chapter of SSANU was inaugurated by the national body, which conferred on the officials the rights to collect the check-off dues of all registered members, as contained in the SSANU constitution and the Trade Union Act 2004.

“Before we inaugurated the chapter, we insisted and confirmed that the members voluntarily agreed to be part of us; we also told them of the check-off dues, which is 2 per cent of their basic salary, and they all agreed to paying it.

“So, we were surprised when we heard that the school was unwilling to effect the deductions, even when no one had objected,” he said.

He said that SSANU, on learning of the school’s reluctance to effect the deductions, directed the local chapter to write to the school and enclose the trade union act, SSANU constitution and membership list, to justify the request.

“It did that, but could not change management’s stance.

“We have tried to avoid a confrontation with the school, but since things have turned this way, we may be forced to invade the school to ensure that the right thing is done,” he said.

He said that SSANU, after inaugurating the PLASU chapter, wrote to formally notify the school, but did not get an acknowledgement from management, and described such attitude to unionism as “sad”.

Alfa said that he was particularly surprised that the Registrar of the school, Mr Amos Mallo, who was supposed to be the number one SSANU member, had not shown any interest in the union, and was absent when it was inaugurated on Nov. 23, 2016.

The SSANU official said that the inauguration was a “formal endorsement the school ought to have accepted”, pointing out that there was “no other legal document” that surpassed it.

Alfa also reacted to allegations of bad behaviour contained in the suspension letters.

“If the chairman or secretary is involved in any misbehaviour, that should be brought to our notice. So far, no such has been brought to us.

“I don’t know if there is any personal disagreement between the officials and the management which we do not know about. For now, we believe that the suspension is over union matters and shall step in to ensure justice for our officials,” he said. (NAN)

The post SSANU threatens to invade Plateau University over suspension of officials appeared first on Vanguard News.

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Major airlines reject re-routes during Abuja airport closure

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Nigeria's aviation ministry has said the planned six weeks of resurfacing work were needed because the runway.

International airlines are refusing to fly to an alternative hub when the only airport serving Nigeria’s capital shuts down, forcing travellers to make lengthy detours at extra cost.

Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja closes completely for runway repairs on March 8. Domestic and international flights will be diverted to Kaduna, 170 kilometres (105 miles) away.

Nigeria’s aviation ministry has said the planned six weeks of resurfacing work were needed because the runway, which was built in 1982 with a 20-year lifespan, was “dilapidated” and “unsafe”.

There have been several reports that potholes have damaged aircraft, prompting one international carrier to cancel its flights on the route.

But Lufthansa, Air France and South African Airways have all said they will not re-route their flights to Abuja from Frankfurt, Paris and Johannesburg, to Kaduna or elsewhere in Nigeria.

British Airways and Turkish Airlines have not made a decision but look likely to follow suit, as both have suspended ticket sales for Abuja flights during the closure.

Malte Liewerscheidt, senior Africa analyst with the Verisk Maplecroft global risk consultancy, said the closure of the capital’s airport was “highly symbolic”.

Nigeria — Africa’s most populous nation — is in recession and desperate to turn around sky-high inflation and a weak currency that have deterred overseas investors.

“You have a government that doesn’t even keep the airport to its capital open. What does that say?” he told AFP.

“This raises a whole lot of questions for investors about the assets of the Nigerian government.”

No alternative
Kaduna airport manager Amina Ozi Salami maintained the runway was “100 percent better” than in Abuja. But the state of the runway was not the issue, according to analysts.

Gillian Parker, Nigeria analyst at the Control Risks consultancy, said the refusal to re-route showed that major international airlines do not see Kaduna as a “credible alternative”.

Salami said work on the terminal building, which was abandoned in May 2015, had restarted and would be completed — if the contractor was paid — by early next month.

At the same time, more space was being prepared for storing aviation fuel while the state government was working to improve street lighting on the airport road from the city, she added.

Round-the-clock security has been promised, as well as bus shuttle services to the railway station, from where trains run to the capital twice a day.

“Staff at Abuja airport will be deployed to Kaduna, so all hands are on deck to deliver on services,” said Salami, accusing those against the plan of “playing politics”.

Questions remain about whether Kaduna will cope with the increase in domestic flights onto which long-haul passengers will have to transfer after arriving in Lagos and Port Harcourt in the south.

“Cancellations and delays associated with domestic airlines, currently starved of funds, are unlikely to abate during this period,” said Control Risks’ Parker.

“Kaduna airport, in its current state, is poorly equipped and operates without automated services and is likely to struggle with additional traffic.”

No figures are available about how much money Abuja stands to lose by having its airport out of action for at least six weeks.

But the president of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tony Ejinkeonye, said everyone associated with the facility would be “highly affected”.

Airlines are the only viable option for relatively speedy travel around Nigeria, as road infrastructure is lacking and security questionable.

Motorists on the Abuja to Kaduna road have been the target of kidnappers while Kaduna state has seen a spate of violent ethnic and sectarian clashes in recent months.

Some travellers could be deterred even with the government’s pledge of extra security on the road. More security checkpoints will add more time onto journeys.

One car hire operator in Abuja said travel to Kaduna costs between 25,000 and 30,000 naira ($79-95, 74-89 euros) for a four-wheel drive, and 20,000 to 25,000 naira for an ordinary car.

But prices will likely rise during the closure, the operator added. The Nigerian Railway Corporation has already increased fares on its Kaduna-Abuja route by 25 percent.

Passengers now pay 1,050 naira for a standard ticket and 1,500 for an executive seat, leading to charges of profiteering.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lkab5P

Merkel says Trump immigration ban ‘not justified’ (Read full details)

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel / AFP PHOTO / TOBIAS SCHWARZ

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday slammed the restrictions on immigration imposed by US President Donald Trump, saying it was “not justified” to target people based on their background or religion.

“The chancellor regrets the entry ban imposed by the US government against refugees and nationals from certain countries,” her spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.

“She is convinced that even in the necessarily resolute battle against terrorism it is not justified to place people from a certain origin or belief under general suspicion.”

The German government “will now examine the consequences” of the ban for German citizens with dual nationality affected by the decision, he added.

Trump has caused consternation at home and abroad after signing a sweeping executive order on Friday suspending refugee arrivals and barring visas for travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for the next three months.

A federal judge on Saturday blocked part of the ban, ordering authorities to stop deporting refugees and other travellers stuck at US airports.

Merkel’s condemnation comes a day after she spoke by phone with the new US president, when they discussed a range of issues from relations with Russia to the situation in the Middle East and NATO.

Statements released by both sides after the call made no mention of the immigration ban, but Seibert on Sunday said Merkel had reminded the US billionaire of his human rights responsibilities.

“The Geneva Refugee Convention calls on the international community to take in war refugees on humanitarian grounds,” he said.

“The chancellor stressed this policy in yesterday’s phone call with the US president.”

– ‘Catastrophic mistake’ –

In an interview with European media earlier this month, Trump said Merkel had made a “catastrophic mistake” in allowing a record number of migrants into Germany.

More than a million people, including hundreds of thousands from war-torn Syria, have arrived in Germany since the chancellor opened the country’s doors to those fleeing conflict and persecution in 2015.

Although the number of arrivals has slowed significantly in recent months, the influx has deeply divided Germans and fuelled a surge in support for the rightwing, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Even within Merkel’s own conservative CDU/CSU bloc, the policy has been controversial.

One of the fiercest critics in her own ranks, the head of the CDU’s Bavarian sister party CSU, Horst Seehofer, on Sunday praised Trump for sticking to his campaign pledges.

“He is implementing his campaign promises one by one with consistency and speed,” Seehofer told Germany’s bestselling Bild am Sonntag newspaper, while adding that he did not agree with all of the US leader’s decisions.

Merkel says Trump immigration ban ‘not justified’

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