News
Dana Air Sacks Workers Without Paying Salary Backlogs ‘Amid Move To Shut Down Operations’
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Dana Air has sacked several workers without paying their salary backlogs, some of the affected workers have revealed.
Though the management of the airline recently blamed it on the ongoing operational audit by regulatory authorities, the affected employees said it is part of the move by the airline to shut down operations.
In April that the Nigerian government had directed the management of the airline to suspend its commercial operations over safety concerns.
This directive was given by the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo following an incident that happened at Murtala Muhammadu International Airport, Lagos State.
It was earlier reported how a commercial aircraft belonging to Dana Air skidded off the runway at the airport.
A photograph obtained by an online medium captured the moment after the aircraft skidded off the runway.
The passengers were evacuated safely and no casualty was recorded from the incident. However, the incident raised concerns regarding the fitness of Dana Air aircraft for domestic commercial operations in the country.
However, some of the workers accused the Group Managing Director/CEO of Dana Group of Companies, Jacky Hathiramani of causing the issues by “micromanaging every department of the company”.
Regarding the issues, one of the dismissed workers said, “What happened in April about the runway excursion happened and rightly so, the authorities were able to find out the root cause of all these problems, and it still stems from the fact that he micromanages every department and things they are supposed to buy, he won’t buy them.
Our warehouse for spares is practically empty because he doesn’t buy spares and he flies one of the oldest planes.
“That thing happened at the end of April and he didn’t say anything to the staff members. Five days later, they sent an email to staff members that he was putting all the staff on leave without pay.
“We have all these captured in our staff letter and even in law, if you are disengaging me, you pay me one month in lieu with notice. You would have also paid me salaries for the months I have worked.
“But now you owe me salaries. You are not paying me one month in lieu notice and you are asking me to leave. Aside from that, from inception since 2008, they have been deducting pensions from staff members but they have never remitted it. They don’t remit pension deductions, they don’t remit taxes.
“We are saying okay, you want to lay all of us off, fine. You have new investors and the new investors require that part of their condition will be to overhaul your staff and in your opinion, overhaul means sacking everybody, fine, pay us what is right to us.
“Pay us our benefits and all the deductions that you have made from our salaries for pensions and taxes and we will go. Is that a problem? It is your right to disengage us but it is our right to collect our benefits. Our people have worked in that airline for up to 15 years.”
The workers revealed that they were planning to collectively engage a senior lawyer who is a human rights activist to file a legal action against the company.
SaharaReporters
News
NECO accredits more foreign schools for SSCE, BECE
The National Examinations Council (NECO) has given accreditation to more foreign schools to write the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) and the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The Acting Director, Information and Public Relations, Mr. Azeez Sani, disclosed this in a statement.
The newly accredited schools are in Niger Republic and Equatorial Guinea.
“NECO Accreditation Team visited the Schools to assess their readiness to write the SSCE and BECE.
“The Accreditation Team inspected classrooms, laboratories, libraries, computer laboratories, workshops, examination halls and sport facilities to determine their adequacy and suitability for NECO Examinations.
“After a thorough evaluation and comprehensive assessment, the schools were granted full SSCE and full BECE accreditation status,” the statement said.
The statement added that the accreditation of additional foreign schools is a testament to NECO’s commitment to providing quality education and assessment beyond the shores of Nigeria.
“With its expanding global presence, NECO is poised to become a leading examination body in Africa, offering opportunities for students worldwide to benefits from its expertise, thus contributing to the advancement of education in Africa and beyond.”
In another development, the statement disclosed that candidates are participating in the on-going NECO SSCE External in Diffa, Niger Republic.
“The UNHCR School, Diffa, Niger Republic is the first NECO SSCE External Centre outside Nigeria.”
NECO examinations are now written by candidates in Benin Republic, Togo, Cote’ d’Ivoire, Niger Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Saudi Arabia.
News
Guardiola suffers worst defeat of career as Tottenham hammer Man City 4-0
Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, suffered the worst defeat of his managerial career as they lost 4-0 to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday night.
The Premier League champions were already on a run of four consecutive defeats ahead of the visit of the North London side.
James Maddison scored twice in the first half to set Spurs on their way to a sensational win.
Pedro Porro drilled in a third, before Brennan Johnson got on the scoresheet late in the game.
The result leaves City in second place with 23 points. They could go eight points behind Liverpool by the end of this Game Week.
Guardiola takes his men to Anfield next weekend.
News
FUOYE Re-Marks Exam Papers of Student Failed By Lecturer Over Sex-for-Grade Scandal, Secures Justice
The Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State, has cleared a female student, Ramota Olahanloye, to graduate following the re-marking of her final-year examination scripts.
Olahanloye had alleged that a lecturer, Dr. Anthony Agbegbedia, demanded sexual favours from her, and when she declined, he deliberately failed her in two final-year courses.
In a statement issued on Friday by the Special Adviser on Media to the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Wole Balogun, the university confirmed that Olahanloye’s allegations were investigated, and her scripts were re-marked.
“The young lady’s scripts were re-marked, and she performed fairly better than the scores initially awarded by Dr. Anthony Agbegbedia,” the statement read.
According to Balogun, the university management approved Olahanloye’s revised results, which qualified her for graduation.
“The university management has given executive approval for her results to be processed. She has since commenced her final clearance from relevant units of the university,” the statement added.
Balogun also disclosed that Agbegbedia had been sanctioned by the institution for his misconduct.
Olahanloye expressed her joy over the resolution of the case, saying, “I am happy that I have gotten justice, and I really appreciate the university Vice-Chancellor for setting up the committee that investigated the matter.
“I was shown my entire results, including the graduation list with my name on it. I have started my clearance as a graduating student of the university, and I am truly happy.”
Her father, Rasaki Olahanloye, also lauded the university for its commitment to justice.
“I can confirm to the world that FUOYE has served justice to my daughter. I was shown her upgraded results after her scripts were re-marked, and it is clear that she passed.
“The university fulfilled its promise to ensure fairness, and I appreciate the VC, Prof. Sunday Fasina, and the committee members for ensuring my daughter gets justice,” he said.
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