News

JUST IN: Labour Unions In NiMet Suspend Planned Strike As Reps Intervene

Published

9 months ago

May 20, 2024

Gloria Ikibah

…give 4 weeks to pay all arrears, grant other requests

By Gloria Ikibah

Labour Unions in the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) have suspended the planned strike scheduled to commence on Monday 20th May, 2024.

This was after an agreement and resolution reached on Sunday, 19th May, 2024, at a special interactive session organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation and Technology.

Naijablitznews.com reports that the meeting which lasted for about 9 hours started by 2pm lasted till 9: 35.pm.

Rep. Abiodun Akinlade Ishaq who read the communique to suspend the planned industrial action at the end of the interactive Session with the NiMET management and it’s labour Unions, stated that within four weeks the issues raised by NiMeT Labour Unions will be resolved and outstanding areas will be paid.

The communique reads: “Today 19th May 2024, the House of representatives committee on Aviation technology met with labour union and management team of Nigerian Metrological Agency, Abuja led by it’s Director General, Professor Charles Anosike to discuss the proposed industrial strike by the NiMET staff on the failure of government to pay forty five months areas of minimum wage consequential adjustmen.

“After more than eight hours Meeting, deliberation, discussion, the following resolutions were reached:

“That NiMET will by tomorrow, Monday 20th set up a committee on the review of conditions of service of NiMET staff. This committee will draw two members from the labour union.

“Two, that the house of representatives committee on Aviation technology will set up Sub-committee to be chaired by the deputy chairman, house Committee on technology to liase with the ministry of finance, budget Office, IPPIS and other relevant agencies to ensure the prompt payment of areas of NiMeT staff.

“Three, that the NiMeT staff salary scale be reviewed by the national income salary and wages commission.

“That within four weeks of this meeting this matter will be resolved with the payment by paying the outstanding areas to the NiMET staff.

“That NiMeT staff should suspend planned strike action for now pending the payment of the areas between now and four weeks.

“And that the labour union has agreed to work in harmonies with the DG and management of NiMeT in carrying out their day to day activities.

“That this committee thanks the management of the NiMeT for all the efforts they have taken to ensure that the welfare of NiMeT staff are taken care. This committee also appreciates and salute the efforts of the various Union that have been part of this meeting for over 9 hours. So, we thank you all, God bless you”.

Earlier in his remarks, the Committee Chairman, said the parliament has a duty to intervene on the impending strike by the labour unions in NiMeT to provide solution and maintain peace in the country.

“we have all gathered here today to look at the situation and the way out on the impending crisis that may likely going to happen tomorrow so ( Monday). We don’t have any country to call our home than Nigeria. Because if there is peace in our working place, there will be peace in our homes.

“That’s why the parliament has decided to intervene and see how we can provide a solution. To find a win- win solution to the crisis. We don’t see it as a crisis, we see it as family matter. We don’t need to pretend that there is a tension in the country. Why the government is trying to put a lot of things in place, the masses are suffering and they are crying and crying to us and their crying reach our ears.

“And we need to ensure that we don’t add to the already tension in the country. And that’s why we have called this meeting. The meeting was called at the instance of the media reports that the Union had planned to go on strike on Monday based on the outstanding issues that concern the welfare of the NiMeT staff. It was based on the that we reacted swiftly by sending message to the Union that if we could meet today ( Sunday) to prevent tomorrow ( Monday ) strike”.

Other members of the committee took turn to make comments and appealed that the aggrieved Union take easy with government, even as they assured that the issues of concern will be looked into within the grace period as agreed.

In his response, the Secretary General, Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees ( AUPCTRE), Comrade Sikiru Waheed who spoke on behalf of the Unions ( ANAP, NUATE and SSASGOG) at the meeting commended the committee for their timely intervention.

He said “Nobody is interested in disturbing the peace at the working place if the right thing is done. This issue has lingered for about four years now. And honestly speaking, Nimet staff have been one of the very patient staff among Nigerians workere I have ever seen.

“Because several times there will be agitations. We would talk to them. They will just respect us and then we would move on. That’s why the thing has lingered on up to forty five months unpaid consequential adjustment of salary. In Nigeria’, we all go to same market to purchase the same commodity, the same food.

“But this group of people have been denied their consequential adjustment of salary for this lengthy period. We have been on this case as I told. We have had series of meetings. They have formed committees for us to look at how this thing will be done. At a time, we needed to pity the management of NiMET. We felt it not their fault. We felt that we should come in to see what we can do jointly.

“We have gone to that level, committees were formed and met with the board all those things. At a time, the issue was on a serious burner. We were invited by then honourable minister of labour, Dr Chris Ngige February 7th 2022 and it was clear in that meeting that the payment will be made from wide service vote. That we should go and rest that they will start paying. And we told the management of NiMET to pursue that issue as at that time.

“Expectedly, if there are issues affecting workers in your environment, you should have called the Union that are there to jointly to see what you can do to solve the problem but it has not happened. Even the main issue May Day and those simple things that should be done ordinarily by management, were not done, were not given to the management of the NiMET Union. The management hasn’t been labour friendly since they came on board.

“The main issue now is 45 unpaid consequential adjustment salary.As at the time we wanted to go on strike early this year, they told us that they were going to pay. Since they have an IGR which can take care of the payment. As at that time, they said that may be they only needed an approval from the ministry. So, based on that,we also relaxed on the matter.

“And what they did was to pay only three months by reducing it from forty five to forty two months and they stopped. And since that time, all appeals, every other things we have been talking to them have failed. As it is now, the workers of NiMET have been pushed to the wall. The workers are seriously agitated. We as leaders, we know the amount of pelting, appeals and other things that we have been doing to them to maintain peace as at now.Despite all these, we are not even appreciated with what we are doing. So, the issue of protest or strike tomorrow (Monday) is not something we are just doing now. We have been done before, we have been trying to do it but there have been intervention but all interventions have failed.

“Because they would give promise and that promise has never been fulfilled. It has always been this type of approach we have been having all of the years. Any time we are trying to go on strike, we will be invited for a discussion to stop the strike. We have witnessed that not once, twice or thrice. And they once beaten, twice shy. Despite all the meetings nothing has really happened.if our demands are met, there is no need to go on strike.We have three major demands: the outstanding forty two arrears of consequential adjustment of salary should be fully liquidated. We are not going to take stories now. We are not happy with the operation of funny salary structure for NiMET called CONIMET.

“I must tell you sincerely that all in the aviation industry in Nigeria. NiMET is the poorest paid workers in the whole of aviation industry. The fact can be checked. And if you look at the function we perform now, it is so enormous. For flight to go, they need to get weather reports from NiMET other information for them to fly. That’s how important our service is in the aviation industry. NiMET workers are not even enjoying recent thirty five percent increment. They will pay to others, they will not pay us. We don’t want CONIMET salary structure. It is only unique to NiMET. It is an impediment to the NiMET workers”.

“The Union wants better condition of service.Our condition of service is outdated and obsolete. As a result of this, the Union wants committee to be set up immediately to discuss the issues of condition of service of NiMET workers”.

On his part, the Director General, NiMeT, Professor Charles Anosike who appreciated the committee chairman and the members for preventing the planned strike, said the management was doing its best to ensure the payment of the outstanding areas of the NiMET staff saying the importance of the workforce can not be over emphasized.

“Prof. Anosike explained “Immediately we came in January there was a threat of strike,and importantly, I was a director in NiMET for two years before being appointed as DG. In the course of that two year, I never attended any meeting. I don’t know anything about this issue of forty five months. I am not saying it’s Union’s fault. But it’s something that has been lingering for four years. During my time as a director, I never sat in any meeting about this issue.

“When we resumed office, because entire management is new, within one month, there was a threat of strike. We immediately swung into action, I was surprised the secretary said there was no meeting. We called the meeting. It was a very productive management meeting between January and March. Entire management and directors are aware of this issue. All of us are working together on this issue. No one can claim ignorance of this forty five months unpaid consequential adjustment salary and efforts we have been making.

“Within four months, the entire management has seen the effects of what this management has been doing and I am very confident that the money will be paid. And another point to note is that it is not a NiMet problem, to say that NiMeT will pay from IGR, it like boxing NiMeT management and this can put us in trouble. It is a federal government issue and we the management have to lead because it’s the course of our workforce. It is a terrible thing to happen.

“We all had a meeting and we all resolved and signed agreements. There was a different between resolution and agreements.They were trying to box me into agreements and I said no, I am new here. That I have to interact with relevant stakeholders with NiMeT staff. That we have to make that process transparent. That was actually the objective of that meeting”.

While speaking on the effects taken so far to secure the payment of the NiMET workers, the Director of Finance and Administration NiMET, Akoji Yusuf said the outstanding four years salary adjustment for forty five months is totalling eight hundred and seventeen million, two hundred eighty seven thousand, one hundred and sixty four naira (N817,287,164,81).

He said : “This has been approved, the management wrote through the ministry, budget Office, and there was a presidential committee on salary which was chaired by minister of finance and this request was approved that this amount should be paid. Based on that approval we swang into action to follow up and ensure that this money is being paid.

“Upon our resumption January this, we got to know that the Union wanted to go on strike. When we investigated, we found out that it was as a result of something less. The DG and myself, Director of HR alongside the GM budget. The four have been on ground before we came. And we have been trying to see how it is going to be resolved. We went back to the drawing board. We also went to the ministry of labour who advised us that we should laise with the budget office and the IPPIS to see how we can resolved it. That is because the DG told us that the workforce is his priority and to ensure that this is resolved. That’s where we are”.

News

Canada deports more people, particularly those rejected for refugee status

Published

8 minutes ago

February 27, 2025

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Canada deported more people last year to hit its highest annual level of removals in about a decade, overwhelmingly deporting people whose refugee claims were rejected, data obtained by Reuters showed.

By late November, Canada’s removal numbers had reached their highest point since at least 2015, when the governing Liberals led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to power

The government has also budgeted more money for deportations this year.

Trudeau’s government, now in its final days, has sought to show Canadians it is getting tough on immigration amid a rising backlog of refugee claims and a backlash against immigrants over concerns that immigration is exacerbating a housing shortage.

Canada’s border agency said the spike in deportations is tied to a “significant increase” in the number of people applying for asylum since 2020, prompting it “to enforce removal orders in a more efficient and timely manner.”

Reuters requested border agency data on deportations, excluding people who left of their own accord and those sent back to the United States as part of a bilateral agreement under which would-be asylum-seekers are turned back.

The remaining total shows Canada deported 7,300 people between January 1 and November 19, 2024, an 8.4% increase over all of 2023 and a 95% increase over 2022.

The border agency did not provide equivalent figures for all of 2024. This week, it posted data online from 2019 to 2024 that do not break down deportations excluding returns to the US under that bilateral agreement. This data also showed an increase in the number of deportations.

About 79% of the 7,300 people deported in the first 11 months of last year were deported because their claim for refugee status had been rejected. That is up from about 75% in 2023 and 66% in 2022.

About 11% of the people deported last year through November 19 were removed for non-compliance with the conditions of their stay in Canada unrelated to a refugee claim, for example, for overstaying a visa. About 7% were deported because they had committed a crime either in Canada or elsewhere.

A spokesperson for Public Safety Minister David McGuinty did not immediately respond to questions about the deportations.

A spokesperson for the border agency said in an email that removal numbers fluctuate.

“The number of removals of those who received a negative asylum determination have increased each year since emerging from the pandemic,” wrote the spokesperson, Luke Reimer.

“These efforts are essential in maintaining the integrity of Canada’s asylum system.”

Canada has been dealing with record numbers of refugee claims, although the monthly totals dropped to 11,838 in January from 19,821 in July. There were 278,457 claims pending as of last month – the highest pending total in decades.

A campaign flag for US President Donald Trump flutters from a private residence between the Canada and US border in Mooers Forks, New York, US, Feb 4, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

MORE MONEY FOR DEPORTATIONS

One concern with these removals, especially those targeting failed refugee claimants, is that people can be deported while still appealing decisions about the risk they face if returned to their home countries, said Aisling Bondy, president of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers.

“They could be removed even if there is significant error in the risk determination,” she said, worrying people are being deported to places they will face persecution.

Reimer said in an email that the agency “only actions a removal order once all legal avenues of recourse that can stay a removal have been exhausted.”

The rise in refugee claimant deportations speaks to the government’s priorities, including a tough stance on migration, said University of Toronto law professor and Human Rights Chair Audrey Macklin.

“You can decide that you want to make a show of how many people you are deporting to show that you are effective at policing the border,” Macklin said. “Then you go with people who are easier to find and remove, and those are going to be, often, refugee claimants.”

he prospect of deportation could also deter would-be refugee claimants, she said.

Canada is on track to deport even more people in the coming years: Late last year, the government pledged C$30.5 million ($21.3 million) over three years to increase deportations.

Canada Border Services Agency spent C$65.8 million on removals in 2023-24, up from C$56 million the year before.

At the same time, Canada has pledged C$1.3 billion toward border security to appease US President Donald Trump as he threatens sweeping tariffs on Canadian imports.

The ranks of those eligible for deportation could grow.

Canada is slashing temporary and permanent immigrant numbers and part of its plan relies on more than 1.2 million temporary residents, including workers and students, leaving the country next year, and another 1.1 million leaving the following year, according to government figures.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller has said Canada will deport people who do not leave on their own.

“It is people’s choice not to leave, and if they don’t, they face the consequences – including, after due process, deportation,” he told Reuters last year.

News

UNIVERSITY OF BUCKINGHAM (UOB) INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMA OF EDUCATION (IDE)

Published

13 minutes ago

February 27, 2025

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency in partnership with The University of Buckingham will be sponsoring 150 classroom teachers in Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency for the University of Buckingham (UoB) International Diploma of Education (iDE) January cohort of the 2025-2026 session.

Interested primary and secondary school teachers residing in Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency are expected to fill out the form below for the constituency selection process.

Form: https://forms.gle/rbjWgMk8oBRwqxgf7

For enquiries: Call or WhatsApp Marvin Chinda on:- +2348068581032

The minimum academic requirement is an O’level / WASSCE with 5 credits (Inclusive of Mathematics and English) and currently a classroom teacher.

Kenneth George-Oparati
(Administrator),
Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency Office
Port Harcourt, Rivers State

News

NAHCON endorses four Islamic banks for Hajj savings scheme

Published

21 minutes ago

February 27, 2025

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria has endorsed four banks to support and implement the Hajj Savings Scheme.

An official in the Information and Publications Division of NAHCON, Abdulbasit Abba, announced the development in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.

Abba stated, “A significant milestone for the Hajj Savings Scheme, three new Islamic banks—Taj Bank, Alternative Bank, and Lotus Bank—have officially joined the initiative to support Nigerian pilgrims.

“These banks will operate alongside Ja’iz Bank, bringing the total number of participating financial institutions to four

The official signing and acknowledgment of the appointment letters took place at Hajj House in Abuja, where representatives from the three new banks received their official letters from the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).

“The Commissioner for Policy, Personnel, Management, and Finance, Prince Abdullazak Aliu, presented the letters on behalf of the Chairman/CEO, Prof. Abdullahi Usman.

“This expansion marks a new era for the Hajj Savings Scheme, ensuring a more robust financial structure to facilitate pilgrimage arrangements for Nigerian Muslims.”