Rare Bowie to be reissued for Record Store Day…Read full details

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David Bowie. PHOTO: cavalier.cz

Two rare recordings from rock legend David Bowie will be reissued next month for the 10th anniversary of Record Store Day, the global celebration of vinyl’s rebirth, his label said Friday.

The albums, to be released in limited quantity on Record Store Day on April 22, include a three-LP live album from 1974 called “Cracked Actor.”

The concert in Los Angeles came as Bowie, who earlier defined glam rock, embraced the soul music scene of Philadelphia.

The 1974 concert featured Bowie sharing vocals with soul great Luther Vandross.

While parts of the show had featured in a BBC documentary, “Cracked Actor” marks the first time the concert recordings have been put together. They were recently remastered by Bowie’s longtime producer Tony Visconti, the Parlophone label said.

The second reissue is “Bowpromo,” a rare 1971 promotional release with alternative versions of tracks that would come out later that year on one of Bowie’s classic albums, “Hunky Dory.”

The B side of “Bowpromo” features unrelated songs by an artist on the same promotional roster as Bowie, Dana Gillespie, an English singer best known for appearing in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

Bowie was famous for the constant evolution of his music, even on his last album “Blackstar” which came out last year two days before the rocker stunned the world by dying from an undisclosed battle with cancer.

Record Store Day was launched in the United States in 2007 in a bid to highlight locally owned stores.

It has since become a worldwide celebration with special releases and events inside stores.

Vinyl sales have soared in the past few years in the United States and a number of European countries, providing a welcome but still tiny boost to the long beleaguered music industry.

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FG unveils economic recovery plan, foresees strong growth (Read full details)

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Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma

• CBN intervenes in forex market again, releases $100m
The Federal Government expects the economy to climb out of recession and grow 2.19 percent this year, according to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, which unveiled the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020 yesterday.

In a statement made available to the media yesterday by Akpandem James, the Media Adviser to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, the ERGP focuses on achieving macroeconomic stability and economic diversification by undertaking fiscal stimulus, ensuring monetary stability and improving the external balance of trade.

The ERGP, which aims to increase oil production to 2.5 million barrels per day and for Nigeria to become a net exporter of refined petroleum products by 2020.

The goal of the ERGP is also to increase export earnings and government revenues by an additional N800 billion a year.

Under the plan, the government also expects to earn N35 billion from the sale of some national assets, including oil joint ventures, and reducing stakes in other oil and non-oil assets.

The government said it would review and possibly remove a ban on accessing foreign exchange for 41 goods and services.
Nigeria hopes to improve tax collection to raise N350 billion per annum, in part, by boosting a luxury goods tax to 15 per cent in 2018 from its current rate of 5 per cent.

The goal is to increase the overall tax to GDP ratio to 15 percent from 6 percent between 2017 and 2020.

In the agriculture sector, the Federal Government wants self-sufficiency in rice by 2018 and in wheat by 2019 or 2020, and hopes to be a net exporter of rice, cashew nuts, groundnuts, cassava and vegetable oil by 2020, according to the plan.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday, released $100 million into the interbank market, pushing the exchange rate at the parallel market down to N440 per dollar.

CBN Acting Director of Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor, said that the latest dollar injection by the apex bank brings the amount so far pumped into the interbank forex market within the last two weeks to $1.14 billion.

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IPMAN suspends planned strike, averts petrol scarcity (Read full details)

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NNPC

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) yesterday suspended its planned nationwide strike.

This follows the intervention of the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru.Chairman of the IPMAN Committee on forex intervention, products sourcing and distribution, Musa Felande, who spoke after their meeting with the NNPC management in Abuja yesterday, said the meeting in which peace was brokered also addressed all the pending issues concerning the association.

Felande said the meeting resolved n issues relating to products supply, equalization fund, access to forex and pricing of products, which are of interest to IPMAN.

“This is a very remarkable day for IPMAN and the country. We want to let the public know today that IPMAN is now one single group and we are determined to continue to support the government.

“We are calling on all our IPMAN members to go on with the usual supply and distribution of products in their respective stations and retail outlets across the country,’’ Felande said.

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Warri Wolves discover ‘long throw specialist,’ set for new season…See full details

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Warri Wolves during a league match.

Since the demise of former IICC Shooting Stars defender, Moses Otolorin, who was noted for his powerful shots and long throws, Nigerian coaches have been working round the clock to find a replacement.

A new ‘Master of Long Throw’ has been discovered by officials of Warri Wolves FC, who are preparing for the 2017/2018 season.

One of the club’s new recruits, Woke Efefairoro, who hails from Oghara, Ethiope-West Local Government Area of Delta State is said to possess the qualify of the former Shooting Stars’ defender.

Efefairoro, who is in his early 20s, is from a family of ex-footballers. His elder brother, Charity Efefairoro (now a coach), was a member of the all-conquering Piedmont FC of Ologbo, Edo State and Baha’i Peace Makers FC in Delta State. Another member of the family, Samuel, played for Delta State team at a National Sports festival, while his sister, Gloria Efefairoro was a member of Delta Queens FC that won the Super Six trophy in Umuahia in 2004 as well as the FA Cup at Abuja in 2005.

The Guardian learnt that officials of Warri Wolves discovered the tall, dark Woke Efefairoro during a mini league football tournament held at Sapele Stadium earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the General Manager of Warri Wolves, Tony Rafua, told The Guardian yesterday that the club presently had 35 players, including 12 former players.

According to him, 27 players will make their final cut in preparation for a ‘marathon’ league season. “We are trying to put in place a good squad that can take the club back to the Premier league. The coaches and all members of the crew are working very hard towards the new season,” the former Gateway FC of Abeokuta General Manager said.

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Inadequate gas supply cuts electricity output by 3,000MW (Read full details)

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High tension construction for electricity transmission

The Federal Government said the Nigerian electricity sector recorded a shortfall of 3,000 Megawatts (MW) due to inadequate gas supply to power plants.

However, the country’s power generation stagnates at 3,729 MW, the Minister of Power Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, expressed optimism that functional pipeline would increase electricity output to 6,000MW.

Achieving a 6,000MW capacity of electricity is expected to save the country from noise pollution, emanating from generators.

Speaking at the 12th Monthly Power Sector and Stakeholders Meeting in Ibadan, hosted by Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) on Monday, Fashola said sabotage of gas assets and pipelines has decommissioned power plants and their ability to provide up to 3,000 MW of power.

He said sabotage of gas to power plants has also created debt problem, shortfall in power expectation, and therefore, shortfall in cash recovery. “And we see that they pay more when the power is more stable. “Now, the reason why I have gone through this is just to reiterate that all of us have an understanding of the problems and all of us have different roles to play in solving those problems,” he added.

He said the scheduled visits by the Vice President to the Niger Delta to engage the communities is aimed at negotiating with the militants to stop the vandalism while the issues that agitate them can be treated and resolved.

“I believe that if we are successful as we expect to be, we should be able to sometimes this year recover all the 3,000MW that has been lost to gas pipeline outages,”he added.

The minister said government had made some progress in resolving some of the liquidity issues in the power sector, saying “I believe that within the last one month, some of the payments that were due to some of you ought to have been remitted by Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) as they promised.

“If they haven’t been remitted, I sure you it is only procedural process. The approvals have been given; you will get the money.

“But what is more important is that we have spent the last month holding top-level government meetings to identify the debts owed to the gas companies and the generation companies and in the shortest possible time that it will require us to do so. We intend to settle the outstanding liabilities, debts and to provide a comfort assurance from government that every month those who actually produce power will get paid. So, we will conclude that very soon.”

Commenting on complaints regarding service delivery from a town called Ago-Iwoye under IBEDC’s distribution area, Fashola said the community was complaining about incessant load shedding of power supply and this is a matter for Transmission the Company of Nigeria really.

He said there is a need to install an additional 60MVA transformer, which is currently going on at Ijebu-Ode.

“I am told that the project has since stalled; so TCN to note and brief us in the course of local issues on transmission,” he added.

He commended the management of IBEDC for the progress recorded in improving their distribution assets.

Vía Uzomedia http://ift.tt/2lT6f8j

Nigeria’s conflicting love for President Trump

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US President Donald Trump (C) speaks to the press as he waits at his desk before signing conformations for General James Mattis as US Secretary of Defense and General John Kelly as US Secretary of Homeland Security, as Vice President Mike Pence (L) and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (R) look on, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, January 20, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / JIM WATSON

Over the last few weeks I’ve largely avoided the sinkhole of social media debates surrounding President Trump’s seemingly daily executive orders that seem to be getting more absurd, because I’ve seen them mostly as toothless policies meant to fulfill partisan campaign promises. But the controversial Muslim ban; which sparked protests nationwide and was ultimately halted by a panel of judges, forced me back into the arena because it revealed a surprising and conflicting alliance between some religious conservative Nigerians and President Trump. One that excuses his character and temperamental flaws in favor of his anti-gay and anti-abortion policies. One that struggles to reconcile support for his anti Muslim rhetoric with apprehension for his xenophobic and anti immigration ideology which could threaten Nigerian visitors and migrants to the United States.

Few days after the US elections, a friend in Nigeria posted a campaign video in our Whatsapp group chat, which had made its rounds through churches in the US and around the globe. The video featuring then Vice Presidential candidate Mike Pence, targeted the socially conservative Christian evangelicals seeking to allay concerns about Donald Trump who had been married 3 times, was clearly unfamiliar with Biblical teachings, was previously on the opposite side of social issues and who had been caught on tape in the waning days of the campaign violating at least 9 of the 10 commandments. The calmer, more devout Mike Pence highlighted his religious beliefs, while assuring voters that Donald Trump would appoint conservative supreme court justices that would overturn laws legalizing abortion, gay marriage and separating church and state, in favor of ones supporting Christian values, and “religious freedoms” which is just Christian freedom.

While the sentiments of foreign nationals positive or negative have little or no effect on the outcome of US elections, the fact that this campaign video made the rounds within the Nigerian Christian community, spoke to an undercurrent of support for President Trump that didn’t show up in opinion polls or casual conversations. When I raised questions about Trumps personal misgivings and the hypocrisy of supporting someone who clearly wasn’t a practicing Christian, they excused his insidious character as an imperfect vessel for Gods message, but celebrated what they see as a return to the moral values.

While millions were protesting the controversial Muslim Ban signed into law by President Trump in the streets and at airports of most major cities in the United States, yet another one of typo ridden forwarded messages was making its way around Whatsapp groups. The message clearly written for the Christian conservative audience sought to rationalize the Muslim ban by questioning why Saudi Arabia which allegedly has 100,000 empty fully air conditioned tents in Mina, capable of housing 3 million people has refused to take refugees despite the fact that they have the same language, culture and traditions. Of course in the era of fake news, it isn’t surprising to realize that Saudi Arabia has in fact taken in 2.5million Syrian refugees since the start of the war in 2011. It went further to suggest that the ban was cheaper for the American taxpayers as it is more economical than spending money monitoring them, since it’s difficult to separate a genuine refugee and a terrorist.

Of course no religious tolerance lesson would be complete without the gratuitous “Muslims need to do an internal house cleaning and reorientation”, but this lesson had a uniquely Nigerian twist. One I’d never seen before. It recommended that Muslims around the world visit Western Nigeria to learn the “tolerance and civilized” version of Islam practiced by the Yoruba ethnic group of Nigeria. Where there are interreligious marriages and all religious holidays are celebrated. While I found this hilarious in its absurdity and dismissed it as just another forwarded message, I soon realized that the sentiments in the message were widespread and indicative of attitudes about the Muslim ban. While it’s not terribly surprising that people of faith might support efforts to persecute those of religions other than theirs, it was surprising that Nigeria wasn’t on President Trumps list given the unrelenting insurgency in the North-East. The irony is that the same Nigerians who support the ban, share the same concern that Nigeria may be on the list should President Trump decide to expand his arbitrary list of countries on his banned list.

The most glaring sign of this quandary was when the same person who supported the ban voiced concerns about alleged detaining, interrogation and deportation of people who as much as transited in the Middle-East enroute the United States.

While the hysteria around the Muslim ban has brought this conflict into focus, it in no way resolves it. It is highly unlikely that the conservative right abandon President Trump, even if they are inadvertently harmed by his policies. As long as he continues his assault on the progressive values they so vehemently disagree with, they will continue to support and excuse even the vilest of his policies. The question then becomes: does this lead to the further erosion of the rights of persecuted groups within Nigeria now that the United States; which was able to use the power of the purse to moderate human rights abuses, seems to be heading down that path itself?

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kr7qdS

There must be consequences

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Our legal system, including our criminal jurisprudence, like most countries in the Commonwealth, was handed down to us by the British. This system of law is generally referred to as “Common Law” and countries that practice it are referred to as Common Law jurisdictions. In most CLJs, crimes are punished to achieve the following purposes:

Retribution – that punishment must be the convict’s “just desserts” for committing a crime. In other words, the punishment meted out to the convict should be commensurate with the offence committed.

Deterrence – that punishment should discourage the convict from repeating the offence, and also serve as a disincentive to the community at large
Rehabilitation – that a component of punishment should be attempting to give the convict a different philosophy to life, such that he does not even want to commit the offence again.

Incapacitation – that, in appropriate cases, offenders who are too dangerous be removed from society, ostensibly to the benefit of the society.
These objectives are the result of the thinking and consensus over time, of the great philosophers that shaped how modern society views the functions of its various parts. The underlying idea here is that for a society to be one in which, maybe peace, but certainly justice, reigns, if people were found to have committed wrongs, punishment had to be meted out to achieve one of these purposes. The aim of punishment by the State was to achieve justice.

On the flip side, the inference is that if there are no consequences for doing wrong, there is no justice. Before the State took over the functions of dispensing justice, people sought retribution on a personal level. If, for example, a man felt his honour had been impugned, he would challenge the impugner to a duel and the last man standing would be accepted as right. If a man’s livestock was stolen by another, that other was a marked man and would probably lose his life. If the current system that provides for trials for libel and slander, or for stealing, are no longer effective, what is the incentive of the average person who is wronged to leave the matter of justice to the State? If there is no consequence for doing wrong, is it the reasonable expectation that more people will do wrong, or fewer? Even the Good Book says that when a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong.

The strongest positive that was associated with General Muhammadu Buhari, our president, in his many attempts at becoming president, was that he could not abide with corruption. Since his election almost two years ago, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the State Security Service have intermittently announced the discovery or recovery of vast sums of money from serving or former public officials. Convicting them has challenging so far. Procedural challenges, withdrawal and reinstitution of varied charges and, according to some judges, less than competent and diligent prosecution of the cases mean we still don’t know if it pays to steal in public office or not.

There have been reports of a few of the accused persons agreeing to voluntarily ‘return’ or ‘forfeit’ certain amounts to the government, ostensibly as part of some plea-bargaining arrangement or the other, who yet walk about freely. This is a most peculiar type of plea bargaining arrangement as it seems to suggest that funds can be returned without an admission of guilt to any degree. Usually a plea bargain (the clue is in the word “plea”) is the accused person pleading guilty to a lesser offence than accused with, in exchange for a reduced sentence. No consequences for voluntarily returning stolen loot, it seems.

There have also been no consequences so far for the IDP grass-evacuation debacle where, despite several red flags raised by the Senate’s investigations, the President relied on technicalities and refused to examine the report on its merit. This past week, a prosecutor of international repute withdrew from a high-profile prosecution, allegedly in protest at the uneven handedness with which he felt the cases was being treated by the nation’s prosecutorial hierarchy. In a working judicial system, as President Trump has recently been made aware, all people should be guaranteed due process regardless of where they come from. Consequences must apply evenly, if they are to achieve justice.

There is also the issue of our own indigenous philosophies. Growing up, my generation learnt in social studies and in our literature texts how our pre-colonial societies delivered a form of the justice of consequences by ostracising those who broke with accepted mores. It was impossible for a thief to be an honourable member of society. Not so much, these days. A certain political leader in the South West, before his conviction was quashed by the Supreme Court, on completing his sentence was welcomed with rapturous ovation and a thanksgiving service. Similarly, perhaps on a larger scale, a former governor of one of our Niger-Delta states also received a hero’s homecoming on the completion of his term of imprisonment.

After the law runs its course, if convicted people can return to with their social currency intact, then their punishments are more likely to be seen as a small price to pay for the legitimisation of what the State was unable to recover, than as a deterrent to others. If we are “to build a nation where peace and justice shall reign”, and if the entire point of the war on corruption is to significantly reduce corruption, there must be consequences – real legal consequences – for those whose actions have violated our laws during their time as public officers.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2l9S1Dj

Awunah assumes duties as new CP for Akwa Ibom

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Akwa Ibom State Commissioner of Police, Dan Awunah. PHOTO: NAN

The immediate past image-maker of the Police Force, Mr. Donald N. Awunah has resumed duties as the new Commissioner of Police of Akwa Ibom State command. As the 21st Commissioner of Police since the creation of the state in 1987, he has pledged to remain apolitical and ensure a people oriented policing in the state.

He made this pledge while speaking in his office recently at the state police headquarters, Ikot Akpan Abia Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital. Awunah, who inspected a guard of honour mounted for his reception, hails from Benue State and took over from Mr Murtala Mani from Katsina State who was the 20th commissioner of the state since its creation.

The new CP stressed that he was out to project the core values of the police which is democratic policing, pledging that the police under his watch would be apolitical so as to protect democracy.

This, he reasoned, would enable him to abide strictly by those core values expected of him. “When you abide by the principles of democratic policing, it becomes very important to remain apolitical. We must protect democracy. We must remain non partisan, policing is about creating partnership”, he said

He promised to work to increase the tempo of good relationship between the Police and the public in line with the policy thrust of the Nigeria Police Force.

Awurah who also pledged quality service in the state said such service would not be possible without the cooperation of the people, he therefore solicited the support of Akwa Ibom communities to enable him succeed in his task.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kr9H8M

The end of recession?

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Recession

Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo’s recent declaration that the current economic recession will soon be history raises question as to authoritativeness. Is Osinbajo’s pronouncement based on concrete facts and figures or is it mere rhetoric? Coming from the highest authority in the land, such statements ought to carry weight and be reassuring. Prof. Osinbajo should not make political statements on a crucial economic matter that ought to be taken serious. Elsewhere, such statement coming from the exalted office would be taken as gospel truth. But I doubt if that is the case here since no specifics were given.

Truth is that nothing has changed, except, perhaps, the little increase in oil price. Saying that the recession is ending soon without facts, is vague. How soon is “soon”? “Soon” in Nigeria could mean any time – one, two, three, four five, 10, or even indefinite years. I am not excited whenever a public official says something is going to happen soon. As a matter of fact, it may never happen. The Acting President should be specific; otherwise, he should not make such statement if he doesn’t have his facts.

As far as the recession is concerned, everyone knows that Nigerians are going through hell that, ordinarily, shouldn’t be there. Since whatever has a beginning must have an end, it is better for Nigerians to believe that the recession will eventually end. But when or how soon that would happen, nobody can say for sure. That is where Osinbajo missed it.

Nigeria slipped into recession at the end of the second quarter of 2016, precisely in June. That was when the Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun, said that Nigeria was technically in recession. But it was obvious, at the time, based on the indicators that Nigeria was already in full blown recession. By August of 2016, Adeosun accepted that Nigeria was actually in recession.

What were the indicators? Millions were unemployed; industrial production declined; banks in dire straits leading to lay-offs; fall in GDP; reduction in the income of the average family; over 60 per cent of the population classified as poor, etc. These same indices characterised the Great Depression in America in the 1930s.

According to experts, seven factors were responsible for Nigeria’s economic recession. They were: Inability of the previous administration (led by Goodluck Jonathan) to save; Nigeria’s over-dependence on foreign products; economic policies of the present administration; the delay and controversies of the 2016 budget; the activities of militants and pipeline vandals; the existence of wasteful and abuse-prone subsidies and the different actions (or inactions) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in forestalling recession. To this list I must add epileptic power supply that killed many industries.

Therefore, before anybody could talk about the recession ending, there must be a thorough and unbiased assessment of the economic conditions that led to the recession to ascertain whether or not they have been resolved. Without such an honest assessment, any statement about the recession ending, would, at best, be propaganda.

Based on the foregoing, a cursory look at the issues will give some insight into whether or not the recession would end soon. The inability of the Jonathan administration to save is presented as a leading factor that led to the recession. The question is how far has this problem been solved? The Buhari administration is not earning enough money to neutralize the mistake of the past?

Government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), have not cut their huge spending. Politicians are still spending money as if all is well. Rather than earn substantial income, the administration is in debts, borrowing huge sums of money from within and without to augment its budget. The administration is running a deficit budget as the price of oil is still low and unpredictable.

Next is Nigeria’s overdependence on foreign products. Is Nigeria less dependent on imported goods now? Is the country producing much of her agricultural and industrial consumables? The answer to all this is no.

The economic policies of the present administration have been controversial; many Nigerians are not comfortable. Rather than improve the situation, the policies led to the collapse of the naira, scarcity of forex, high inflation and skyrocketing prices of all consumables.

The delays and controversies surrounding the 2016 budget may have been addressed since the same delays and controversies were not witnessed in 2017. The 2017 budget was passed faster than what transpired in 2016.

But the activities of the militants and pipeline vandals are yet to abate. The militants have not stopped blowing pipelines and issuing threats. Although, government is suing for peace with the visit of Osibanjo to the Niger Delta, it is yet to be seen how far those overtures and peace moves would go to assuage the militants.

Finally, the existence of wasteful and abuse-prone subsidies and the different actions (or inactions) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in forestalling recession have not been resolved. After it was thought that the subsidy regime ended after the pump price of petrol was jacked from N86. 50 to N145 per litre, government seems to have come back to subsidy as fuel importers face dire challenges due to forex scarcity.

To all of this must be added the lingering Boko Haram war that is sapping Nigeria financially. The unending epileptic power supply persists. The resolution of the power supply issue alone is enough to turnaround the economy through increased productivity. Dead industries would be revived thereby creating employment.

Based on the foregoing, I don’t see how Nigeria would exit the current recession soon when the economic realities remain bleak. Besides, the corrupt public officials who are reaping a windfall from the recession would not want it to end. They will sabotage every policy geared towards exiting.

Interestingly, Osibanjo made his declaration at a time Nigerians were protesting over the recession hardship. One thing Nigeria does not need at this critical time is controversy over the health of President Buhari. Plunging the country into such needless argument will derail whatever economic plans government has on the table.

The recession would end if the government is intact, without distraction and is committed to what it has mapped out to pull the country out of the recession.

Finally, America’s economy during the Great Depression was not confronted with insurgency/militancy and abrasive corruption and looting of the treasury as it is presently in Nigeria. Ours is a special case.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2l9SNQE

NLC cautions Ngige against no-work no-pay policy

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Members of Nigeria Labour congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) protesting in Abuja. PHOTO: LADIDI LUCY ELUKPO

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned that applying no work, no pay policy to resolve industrial disagreement would be counter-productive.

The General Secretary of NLC, Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, who stated this in Abuja, said the pronouncement by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige over the possible application of the law especially where workers issue warning strikes is antithetical to stemming industrial crises in the country.

Indeed, the Minister had said that warning strike is unknown to labour laws and that workers who embark on warning strike would forfeit their pay for the duration of such warning strike action.

The scribe of the NLC said: “We are taken aback by the claims of the Honourable Minister. Accordingly, we find it necessary to state that whether warning strike is in the corpus of the Nigerian Labour Laws or not, unions over the years across all climes use warning strike as a bargaining device to bring to the negotiating table, recalcitrant employers or social partners. In other words, it is a tradition that has acquired the force of law.”

Ozo-Eson insisted that the efficacy of warning strike cannot be in doubt as it is reason why the government, led by the Minister himself is now negotiating with Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) executives.

“In the annals of labour history, warning strikes have had the distinguishing feature of saving the parties to disputes the rigours, costs and pains of full-blown strikes.

“This, the Honourable Minister, a cerebral mind a former Union leader, very well knows,” he stated. The NLC scribe wondered why would the Labour Minister be canvassing a position that is at once extreme and intolerant of further dialogue, which is the mainstay of Labour-Government relations?

He stressed that labour finds it necessary to caution that a hasty resort to legalese as a basis for conflict resolution will not be helpful.

Ozo-Eson highlighted that the truth of the matter is that if strikes are guaranteed by the law, labour fails to see how warning strikes can be illegal.

He submitted that the NLC does not intend to resort to unnecessary pedantism, but quite often, a literal interpretation of the law falls short of the intendment of the law.

He insisted that warning strikes would continue to be part of labour’s engagement with all employers including government, when necessary, saying, “and we believe we are deserving of commendation for this thoughtfulness/discretion and not vilification.”

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kriQy7

DG tasks corps members on skills

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Members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) 2016 Batch ‘B’ Stream 2 cheering during their swearing-in and opening of the Orientation Course at Kubwa in Abuja on January 26, 2017. PHOTO: NAN

The Director General of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig-Gen. Sule Kazaure has urged Corps Members to pay more attention to skills acquisition programme for their own benefit during and after the service.

Kazaure gave the advised during his visit to 2016 batch ‘B’ corps members posted to Gombe State recently at Amada village in Akko local council area of the state.

He said presently the white-cola jobs are no longer available like before, hence the need for the corps members to attend the programme regularly to be well trained in various skills.

“What I want you to do is to pay attention to skills acquisition. Why I am saying this is that you are all aware that white-cola jobs are no longer available like before and I don’t want my children to be running around from one place to another looking for job that is not there”, he said.

He also advised them to respect culture and tradition of their host communities and to report any suspicious characters to security agencies. Kazaure called on them to avoid unnecessary journey and attending night party except in their lodge.

“When you are in your host community respect their culture and tradition; try and understand the do’s and don’ts of your host community and abide by it.

“If they don’t want to see you in miniskirts don’t wear that when you are going out, if they don’t want you to take alcohol outside so be it. If you want to take it, take it in your room”, he advised.

He further called on them to initiate projects that would add value to their host communities as part of the Community Development Service (CDS). State coordinator, NYSC, Gombe, Ibeh Chidube, thanked and appreciated the visit of the DG to Gombe.

He appealed to the DG to intervene in the provision of permanent orientation camp by the state government for effective running of the camp activities in the state.

He explained that the temporary site is secondary school and their activities are affecting the students while students sometime destroy some of the facilities before the next orientation programme.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2l9IA6Q

NAICOM to sanction underwriters for late submission of financial accounts

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NAICOM Building

Nigerian insurance firms, whose financial accounts are yet to be summited before March 31, 2017, would be barred from engaging in further business activities, industry regulator, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), has revealed.

The Commission affirmed that it would take action against officials responsible for financial reporting, as well as publish the compliance status of insurance firms on its website for public guidance.

NAICOM maintained that the decision to impose sanctions on such companies became necessary, as their default deprives the Commission, policyholders, insurance intermediaries, analysts and other stakeholders of the relevant information about their performance and financial conditions.

The insurance Act imposes a daily fine of N5,000 on firms that failed to meet the March 31st deadline for the submission of their accounts.

“The Commission is poised to implement relevant measures to discourage companies from filing late returns and sanction errant ones appropriately. Amongst others, this will include a detailed review of their accounting and financial reporting systems, restriction of certain activities until relevant returns are filed, action against officials accountable for financial reporting as well as publicising the compliance status of insurance institutions on our website for public guidance,” it said.

NAICOM also advised boards of companies to take interest in the timely filing of returns, which, incidentally, contain information they need to effectively perform their oversight function, adding that the non-rendition of returns is an indication of the failure of the Board.

It noted that to facilitate the timely rendition of returns, it will carry out a review of the current returns requirements and streamline them for more efficiency in preparation and submission.

It added that the transition to electronic submission will commence this year, and asked companies to send in their suggestions on areas for improvement not later than February 10th.

The Head, Corporate Affair and Human Resource Manager, Nigerian Insurer Association, the umbrella body of Insurance companies in Nigeria, Iyasere Davis, said that it is the duty of the Naicom to exercise authority over the insurance operators to do what is necessary as the time they should.

Davis, urged operators to also increase the level of their compliance of law in the sector that would drive success at the end of it all, he said.

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

Mutual Benefits promises seamless service delivery

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Akin Ogunbiyi

The Chairman of Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Akin Ogunbiyi has promised its customers to be the fastest growing insurance company through innovative product this year.

Speaking during the 21st yearly thanksgiving ceremony of the firm in Lagos, Ogunbiyi, explained that the goal of the new strategic thrust is to see the firm become the number one insurance company in Nigeria.

According to him, “At the company level, 2017 is the first year of our new five year strategic roadmap. The board and management have spent the last six months working with the firm of KPMG in crafting this five year vision for the organisation.”

He said: “Our strategic aspiration is anchored on the following which are to be the number one in customer service delivery; to lead the industry in efficiency and profitability.”

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2l5y4xj

Sense and sensibility

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Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja

Living in Nigeria pre-supposes that one is endowed with a tough skin, and a spirit of endurance or long suffering, if you will. Conditions are harsh, tough and mostly unforgiving. Perhaps this explains why we (Nigerians) can be seen in the most unbelievable places of the world, living with the trajectory associated with such places. But in all of these, we have learnt to survive by seeing the lighter and funnier side of it all.

But certain things or actions cannot be quantified in the comedic, they usually evolve from the realm of the mundane to that of the ridiculous, lacking in conscientious reason(s), and leaves one wondering what indices were used to arrive at this kind of decision.

The Minister of State for Aviation recently revealed the Federal Government’s plan to shut down the international airport at the nation’s capital for a period of six weeks. This, he stated, was necessitated by the fact that the Abuja runway is obsolete and needs to be replaced. He stated that “The Abuja runway was constructed in 1982, and had overshot its designed lifespan by 14 years resulting in a number of distressed and failed portions of the runway.” He thereafter recalled the experiences some airlines have had on these runway, which according to him forms part of the reason the entire airport must be shut down.”

The desire to repair the runway is commendable, but has the Minister taken a serious and considerate look into alternatives, and more importantly, has he considered the dehydrating, exhaustive and acutely inconvenient effect it would have on the multitudes who shuttle between Abuja and various other destinations in and out of the country?

I think not. The decision to use the Kaduna airport as an alternative is most insensitive. It has made me wonder if at all there is a thought process at work when government officials arrive at such decisions. The Abuja airport is the international airport of Nigeria’s capital otherwise known as the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. It is where the President receives foreign Heads of Government, or where foreign dignitaries are received. Abuja is also the hub of the Federal Government’s activities. All the ministries and government agencies are based there, so also are embassies and corporations. It is where the lifeline of the government is based.

This invariably means that unlike Lokoja, Anambra or Kaduna, different people from all works of life, from the West, East, South and North would without doubt be compelled to visit the FCT for one reason or the other. Judges attending seminars, business people seeking government permits, diplomats, students, security personnel, families meeting up for the weekend and a host of others who ply this route from different parts of the country everyday. Now, by virtue of this action, they would not only be subjected to the inconveniences of delayed flights which has now become the rule rather than the exception, they would also have to face the peril and obvious dangers of bad roads, armed robbery, and exasperation of travelling another three hours from Kaduna to Abuja, just because the entire ministry, including the Minister, who should as a matter of altruism, be thinking more of the negative and inundating effect this plan is going to have on the average traveler, cannot find a more conducive alternative to closing the airport.

Assuming the President wants to travel to Katsina or the Vice President to Ogun State, or anywhere within and out of the country as they are oft to do, it will simply mean that they would have to go all the way to Kaduna to board their flights. Or imagine a foreign Head of government has to come to Nigeria (ECOWAS for instance), the same routine would apply?

Also, what would happen to those government functionaries who attend the Federal Executive Council Meeting every Wednesday (Governors, former Presidents, former and current Chief Justices, ministers etc? Governance at the centre will literarily come to a stop. The road to and from Kaduna would be clogged with vehicles. Not to mention the volume of traffic that the airport would witness, a traffic it cannot contend with. There must have been a vacuum in the process that brought this idea to the fore.

The Abuja airport’s runway is 3,900 metres. As is the practice in saner and more sensitive climes, what the government ought to do is divide the airport’s runway into two, that is 2000 metres each, repair one while the other remains functional. I state without fear of contradiction that there is no airport within that proximity that can handle the volume of passengers or airplanes the Abuja airport handles. It continues to baffle a lot of well meaning Nigerians that the government would be willing to subject them to such an inhuman treatment of closing an airport, when there are better alternatives. As of today, flights are still arriving and departing the airport safely in spite of the so-called depressed portions of the runways. The Hon. Minister should let Nigerians know what would happen if a portion is closed and the other remains functional for the next seven weeks. The aim of this article is not just to criticize the callous decision to close down the FCT’s airport in spite of its status and importance in our national affairs, but more importantly, to show that the government did not or has not explored the alternate options available to it. Instead it has decided to take the easy street, which is filled with untold hardship and dangerous frustrations for travelers. Truly, inconsiderate.

Lastly, Section 14 subsections 1b of the 1999 Constitution provides that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.” Even if the government’s intentions are sanguine, must the people go through hell for that objective to be achieved? Particularly when there is an alternative? Have they imagined how ludicrous we would look when foreign dignitaries are directed to Kaduna because the airport in the nation’s capital is shut for runway repairs?

I am yet to find the funny side to this.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kYe7pG