News

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

Published

4 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

Ecoparl: Speaker Ibrahima Reaffirms Parliament’s Dedication to Regional Unity

Published

4 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Gloria Ikibah

By Gloria Ikibah

The Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Rt. Honourable Memounatou Ibrahima, restated that the parliament remains committed to ensuring the unity and integration of the people within the subregion.

According to Speaker Ibrahima, the Parliament will continue to use parliamentary diplomacy to engage countries that are considering leaving the bloc due to political challenges, such as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, as a result of military coups they experienced.

The Speaker stated this when she led a delegation of the ECOWAS Parliament on a working visit to the President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday in Abuja.

She highlighted that while countries may break formal cooperation, the people of the region remain interconnected, adding that the Parliament, as representatives of these people, will work to maintain the unity.

Ibrahima expressed gratitude to the Nigerian Senate for supporting ECOWAS by providing necessary facilities for their plenary sessions, even as she discussed the socio-political challenges facing the region, as well as how parliamentarians can contribute more to address these issues.

She said: “We strengthen parliamentary diplomacy, because we know that the countries might break cooperation but we cannot separate the population. The population always live together and we as representatives of the people, we are doing our best so that this living together will continue to be reality and even made better.

“We came to thank him for all the facilities that the senate has been providing to the ECOWAS Parliament to facilitate the holding of our sessions here in Abuja. We also discussed on the socio-political situation in the community. We also discussed on the ways parliamentarians can make more contributions on the various issues and the challenges that we are experiencing in ECOWAS”.

The President of the Senate,

Senator Akpabio, who was represented by his Deputy, Senator Barau Jubril, commended Ibrahima’s leadership and her efforts in using parliamentary diplomacy to foster cooperation within ECOWAS, especially in light of the challenges posed by countries considering an exit from the bloc.

He noted that since Speaker Meimounatou assumed office, she has deployed enormous parliamentary diplomacy to bear not only on the level of cooperation with institutions in the region but also on those that have expressed the wish to quit the regional block.

Naijablitznews.com reports that Senator Jubril is the First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament.

He said: “Since she was elected the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, she has been up and doing in terms of giving leadership to the parliament. It is in that regard that she is here trying to chart a better course for the parliament to make sure that she brings parliamentary diplomacy to bear in terms of our cooperation not only with those who are within the community as we speak but also even those who are attempting to leave the community.

“It is in that respect that she is here, and what she is doing is commendable. She has come to strengthen her idea and initiative of making the parliament stronger and more effective”.

News

Air Force Begins Moving Electoral Materials For Edo Guber Election

Published

6 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has began airlifting the sensitive election materials for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to Benin, Edo State, ahead of the upcoming governorship election scheduled for September 21, 2024.

This was disclosed on Wednesday by the Deputy Director, Public Relations and Information, Group Captain Kabiru Ali.

The operation is part of the NAF’s efforts to ensure the timely and secure delivery of materials necessary for a smooth electoral process.

This development reinforces the collaboration between NAF and INEC to facilitate logistics and ensure a peaceful election in Edo State.

The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Bala Abubakar, had previously reiterated NAF’s commitment to providing airlift support for the swift movement of electoral materials during a meeting with INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu.

This airlift operation is a crucial aspect of NAF’s constitutional responsibility to provide Military Aid to Civil Authority, underscoring the force’s dedication to supporting democratic processes in Nigeria. With the election just days away, the NAF’s timely intervention will help ensure the successful conduct of the governorship elections in Edo State.

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State had earlier accused the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, of working with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to hunt the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members and supporters in the state and force them into hiding ahead of September 21 governorship election.

Obaseki, who made the allegation when a delegation led by the former Head of State, Abdusalam Abubakar, met with him to get the governor and his party to sign peace accord, said that the IGP had made nonsense of his (Obaseki’s) role as the chief security officer of the state.

The governor had said that the police chief obtained a warrant to arrest 60 members and supporters of PDP in Edo and that the IGP sent an armed “gang” of policemen who invaded the state, attacked PDP members, shot at a local government chairman and arrested 10 persons who are currently being detained in Abuja without charges.

Asked by the former head of state if his party would sign the peace accord, Obaseki said, “The person who is supposed to enforce the peace accord is now an active participant in creating a destructive environment.

“We are now in a situation where from the Inspector General’s office, there are armed gang policemen who came into Edo State, invaded, arrested and took away PDP members.

News

“Dancing gives me abundant joy and peace of mind”-Gov Adeleke

Published

6 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, has given reasons why he loves dancing.

The ‘Dancing Governor’, as he is fondly called, revealed this on Wednesday while responding to a tweet on X.

An X user, @Iwogoke, while praising the governor, stated that Adeleke has been busy fulfilling his electoral promises to the people of Osun State, while his political opponents believe he is only good at dancing.

Iwogoke tweeted, “I’m not flattering you, Your Excellency, your opponents think you can only dance but while they are busy shouting and calling you ‘Dancing Governor’, you are busy fulfilling your electoral promises to the people.”

Responding to the tweet via his verified X account, Adeleke explained that he loves dancing because it brings him joy.

Speaking further on his love for dancing, Adeleke highlighted that while dancing brings him immense happiness, his greater fulfilment comes from delivering the dividends of democracy to the people of Osun.

Outlining his administration’s efforts to enhance the state’s infrastructure, he noted that primary health centre rehabilitation is underway in at least 200 out of the 332 wards across Osun State, adding that road construction projects are also progressing in every local government area.

He wrote, “Dancing gives me joy, but delivering on my electoral promises and providing the dividends of democracy to the good people of Osun gives me even greater joy. Rehabilitation of primary health centers is ongoing in at least 200 out of 332 wards, and road construction is progressing in every Local Government!”