Connect with us

News

Organised Labour Oppose Move to Place Labour Matters on Concurrent List

Published

on

ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad
…as women support more seats in NASS, State Assembly 
 
…traditional rulers advocate constitutional roles 
 
By Gloria Ikibah 
 
The Organised Labour has rejected the proposed amendment to transfer Labour related issues from the ‘Exclusive List to ‘Concurrent List’ in the Constitution.
 
Representative of the Organised Labour South East Zone, Comrade Uche Chikemedu, gave their position at the South East Zonal Public hearing on the review of the 1999 Constitution for Imo and Abia States held in Owerri on Saturday. 
 
Chikemedu said that they are against the amendment of the 1999 Constitution, to alter the Prohibition of Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to transfer labour, industrial relations, industrial goods, and minimum wage from the exclusive list to the concurrent list, and other labour-related matters. 
 
He said, “We are here to reject it, even with more buoyancy than the last constitution of amendment. And if you may permit, we have reasons to that effect. One, the history of labour matter being on the exclusive list is rich. It was a product of administrative potency and confidence. 
 
“Labour initiative derives potentially from International Labour Organisation protocols and recommendations. The International Labour Organisation established in 1919 to oversee and regulate labour matters across member countries and sub-regions. 
 
“This explains the near uniformity of labour laws across nations. 17 days after our independence, in 1960 Nigeria adopted the ILO Convention, 89 and 98. This adoption was as a result of the recognised sovereignty of Nigeria as a country. Nigeria, and of course, established her membership of the ILO. 
 
“This means that members of ILO, is absolutely contingent and sovereignty. Therefore, the regulated labour to state will create problems as states are not sovereign entities. This may lead to a very serious judicial dismay in this country. 
 
“Your Excellency, my Honorable Sir, moving labour matters from the exclusive list to the concurrent list is becoming the real correct decimal of national relationship discourse. During the last cycle of the Constitutional Amendment, the Nigeria Labour Congress rejected violently, and today, we are here to do the same”.
 
On the the National Industrial Court, Chikemedu said that, in the act establishing it, is completely exclusive national court with juridictions over persons across length and breadth of the nation on labour and related matters. 
 
“This is a deep respect of the uniqueness of labour. Labour matters being retained on the exclusive list. 
 
“The number three is the National Minimum Wage. We all know that the National Minimum Wage serves as a primary social protection scheme that provides a minimum income flow to safeguard a low-income lineage of workers. Therefore, the relegation of labour means destroying the National Minimum Wage. 
 
“Also note, sir, the National Minimum Wage is a global standard established by international labour organisations, ILO, through a binding law. Nigeria signed into on the 16th of June, 1961. This law was established through a minimum wage fixed in Missionary Convention 026 of 1928 and the scheme is seen in many democracies practising federalism. Already, some states have started violating the law enacted by the National Assembly of Minimum Wage if labour is deregulated”, he added..
 
Women groups also supported the proposal to provide additional seats for women in the National and States Assemblies, as they say it will help increase women participation in politics and governance as well as its accompanying advantages to the nation.
 
Speaking on behalf of the women Groups, Hon.Dr. Blessing Nwabala said, “The time has come for Nigerian women to reflect on the whole face of democracy. And democracy is incomplete when half of the population is missing from the table.
 
“Sir, by supporting this bill, you have not only answered the cry of Nigerian women, you have answered the call of history. This is not just a women’s bill, it is a people’s bill. The bill seeks to contain the Constitution to resolve, to establish 182 seats in the National Assembly. These are not only seats…They are tools for justice and national progress. 
 
“Being a small, we started living in rural areas, schools, markets, churches and what we needed. Give us a voice…They said, give us a voice. Give our daughters a future. We have waited long enough. This was what we heard. Very too slow, they said. We are tired of carrying this burden alone.
 
“Let our women lead us. In Abia, the people embraced us. The message was the grassroots. The message from the grassroots to the educated, self-denied was the same. Power will build and Nigeria will rise again. Inclusion is not available to these people. Let us declare. 
 
“Women are not asking for papers. We are asking for a safe climate. We are not asking for soft landing. We are demanding what is right. What is fair. And what is overdue. Women lead nation’s pride”.
 
Also the South East Council of Traditional Rulers have called for the adoption of proposals to provide traditional rulers with assigned Constitutional roles to help government in addressing the challenges of insecurity, provide social cohesion for the overall development of Nigeria.
 
In his presentation, Chairman, Imo State Council of Tradition Rulers, Eze C. Okeke stated that, the Council, had after several meetings, reached a historical agreement and presented their position to the National Assembly through the House of Representatives Committee on 1999 Constitutional Amendment for the review of the status of the traditional institutions in the new Nigerian Constitution. 
 
According to him, they proposed for the 1999 Constitution to be amended for the establishment of a new body comprising of members of the National Council of Chiefs that will strengthen them with a clear cut Constitutional roles. 
 
“It is therefore to say that the order recommends that the traditional school shall be represented by three traditional rulers of each of the six geopolitical zones, who shall be the chairmen and the members of the State Council of Chiefs. 
 
“Such representation in the Council of Chiefs shall be left to the discretion of each member. The National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria shall establish a National Council of Traditional Rules at the federal level. 
 
“The chairman of the Council shall be the President. The National Council of Traditional Rulers shall comprise the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, chairman of State Council of Traditional Rules and two others from each state of the Federation, and the chairman of FCT, Council of Traditional Rules”, he said.
 
On its function, the proposed amendment states that, “The Council shall have the following function. To give general advice to the federal government. To advise on religions and traditional matters. To promote and advise on art and culture. To deliberate and express opinion on any matter which is still fit to be of importance to their own country, on which may be referred to each like the federal government. To assist the government in resolving conflicts to call for communal clashes and conflicts. 
 
“To assist in the mobilization of human and material resources to host self-realization and the welfare of the people of Nigeria, to ensure community, nations and the stability of the people. To carry out such other functions as legal and constitutional. To take a stand on the federal republic, on the ideal plan of the future”.
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Warning: Undefined variable $user_ID in /home/naijuinz/public_html/wp-content/themes/zox-news/comments.php on line 49

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

News

Jehovah’s Witnesses announce fresh adjustment to blood transfusion policy

Published

on

ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad

The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has announced that members can now decide whether to accept or donate the four main components of blood based on their personal conscience.

The organisation made this known in a statement issued by its World Headquarters in Warwick, New York and made available on its website on Friday.

According to the statement, “the decision to accept red cells, white cells, plasma or platelets from another person’s blood is a matter of personal conscience.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses announce adjustment to blood transfusion policy
It added that “each Witness must decide whether or not to donate blood for the clearly expressed purpose of providing components or fractions for use by another person.”

Advertisement

However, the organisation said its position on whole-blood transfusion had not changed.

“The long-standing refusal of whole-blood transfusions on religious grounds, a core teaching based on the command to ‘abstain from blood’ (Acts 15:20), is unchanged,” the statement said.

International spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses at the organisation’s World Headquarters, Paul Gillies, said, “Blood remains sacred to Jehovah’s Witnesses, who continue to regard life and blood as precious gifts from God.

“We recognise that medical decisions involving blood components are a matter of conscience between each Witness and their God, Jehovah.”

Advertisement

The organisation said the adjustment “follows earlier updates regarding blood fractions and the use of one’s own blood during medical procedures.”

It added, “Since the Bible does not comment on such decisions, they are a matter of individual conscience. That same reasoning has now been extended to the four main components of blood.”

On medical care, the statement said, “Jehovah’s Witnesses love life and want the best available medical care. They do not practise faith healing, and they seek out doctors who can provide effective treatment in accord with their wishes, values and beliefs.”

Gillies said local congregations would not interfere in members’ personal decisions.

Advertisement

“Congregations do not involve themselves in personal decisions that rest with the individual conscience. We will continue to respect and support the personal decisions of our fellow believers.

“We are grateful, too, for the many skilled and compassionate physicians who provide quality medical care that respects our personal wishes regarding blood,” he said.

The organisation said Jehovah’s Witnesses number “over nine million worldwide, in congregations across more than 200 lands.”

Recall that the religious group had clarified its position on the use of a member’s own blood during surgery and other medical procedures.

Advertisement

The clarification allowed individual Witnesses to decide whether their blood could be removed, stored and returned to them during medical treatment, while the organisation maintained its position against receiving blood from another person.

Punch

Continue Reading

News

Army speaks on Boko Haram, ISWAP attack alert as fake

Published

on

ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad

The Nigerian Army has dismissed as fake and unverified a purported intelligence alert warning of planned Boko Haram and ISWAP attacks on schools, churches, mosques, NYSC orientation camps and other public institutions across the country.

Anele said the Army was aware of the circulation and had heightened vigilance across its formations and commands to prevent attacks on vulnerable facilities.

She described the purported intelligence as speculation and urged the public not to treat the document as an official Army security alert.

The response followed the circulation of a document purportedly signed by one A.M. Sodiq, which claimed that Boko Haram and ISWAP were planning coordinated attacks across several parts of the country.

Advertisement

The document listed churches, schools, NYSC orientation camps and other vulnerable locations as possible targets and alleged that suspected ISWAP operatives had begun surveillance of selected locations.

It further claimed that the alleged attacks could coincide with the resumption of the 2026/2027 academic session.

However, the Army disowned the document, maintaining that it did not originate from the institution.

The Army assured Nigerians that security formations remained on heightened alert and were taking necessary measures to protect schools, places of worship and other vulnerable public facilities.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

News

Police Allegedly Shoot Engine Oil Seller During Minna Protest

Published

on

ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad

MINNA, Niger State — An engine oil seller in Minna, the Niger State capital, has reportedly sustained serious injuries after allegedly being shot during a police operation to disperse protesters.

The victim, identified as Ibrahim Mohammed Dada, was reportedly standing outside his shop at Tunga Market when he was struck by a bullet.

Ibrahim’s brother, Yakubu Dada Mohammed, said the victim was not part of the protest and was attending to customers at his engine oil stall when the incident occurred.

According to him, Ibrahim was simply trying to earn a living and support his family when a police officer allegedly fired a shot that hit him in the head and severely injured his face.

Advertisement

«“He was not among those protesting. He was standing in front of his shop selling engine oil when one of the police officers fired a bullet that struck his head and badly injured his face,” Yakubu said.»

Ibrahim is currently receiving treatment at Minna General Hospital, where his condition was reportedly described as critical.

The incident occurred amid protests in Minna over the reported deaths of 37 miners who were allegedly in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

Reports indicate that 65 miners were arrested on September 15 and 16, with 37 subsequently reported dead while in security custody.

Advertisement

The protests, which began on Thursday, continued into Friday as security personnel moved to disperse demonstrators. Security forces were reportedly accused of using tear gas and live ammunition during the operation.

However, the circumstances surrounding Ibrahim’s shooting have not been independently established.

The Niger State Police Command spokesperson, SP Wasiu Abiodun, appealed for calm and said the incident would be investigated.

The case has since heightened concerns over the conduct of security personnel during the ongoing protests.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 Naija Blitz News