The Nigerian Governors under the aegis of Nigerian Governors Forum have said that they cannot pay the N60,000 minimum wage earlier agreed by the Federal Government to offer labour let alone the proposed N105,000 as said to have been submitted by the Ministry of Finance.
This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen as read in part:
“The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) is in agreement that a new minimum wage is due. The Forum also sympathises with labour unions in their push for higher wages.
“However, the Forum urges all parties to consider the fact that the minimum wage negotiations also involve consequential adjustments across all cadres, including pensioners. The NGF cautions parties in this important discussion to look beyond just signing a document for the sake of it; any agreement to be signed should be sustainable and realistic.
“All things considered, the NGF holds that the N60,000 minimum wage proposal is not sustainable and can not fly. It will simply mean that many states will spend all their FAAC allocations on just paying salaries with nothing left for development purposes. In fact, a few states will end up borrowing to pay workers every month. We do not think this will be in the collective interest of the country, including workers.
“We appeal that all parties involved, especially the labour unions, consider all the socioeconomic variables and settle for an agreement that is sustainable, durable, and fair to all other segments of the society who have legitimate claim to public resources”.
The Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress APC in Ogun State, Alhaji Sola Lawal has been reportedly dead. This was made known today by the State APC chapter in a statement made available to newsmen to mourn the departed soul.
The Statement according to the party described the late Publicity Secretary as a good servant of the party. It reads thus:
“The news of the death of Alhaji Sola Lawal, former Ogun State Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), came as a very sad one to our party, which he served so diligently in various capacities while alive.
“Anyone who came across Sola Lawal while alive will attest to the fact that he was a burst of energy, amiable and jovial. He was a very dedicated party man who diligently carried out his assigned tasks effectively and efficiently to the best of his ability.
“On behalf of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ogun State, we mourn the departed party chieftain, who has since been buried according to Islamic rites; we sympathise with the families, relatives, associates and friends of the deceased and pray that God will grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss, while praying that the late politician will be granted Aljanah Fridaus”.
Governors from across the 36 states in Nigeria have said that a minimum wage higher than N70,000 is not affordable or sustainable for the states.
The governors made the remarks when they met under the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), to discuss the economic situation and the ongoing debate around the minimum wage.
They considered options ranging from N60,000, which was offered to Labour by the Federal Government before the strike, to N70,000, which is currently being paid by the Edo State Government.
Despite their efforts, they were unable to reach a consensus on a uniform amount and have instead set up a committee headed by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma to review the options and make recommendations.
According to sources at the meeting, the governors are in agreement that a minimum wage of N100,000 is not feasible, and some states are still struggling to pay the current minimum wage of N30,000, which came into effect in 2019.
“Records available to us indicated that some states are still paying N18,000 because they are unable to afford N30,000 (which came into effect in 2019). Only a state has adopted a N70,000 wage,” the source said.
The governors’ position is in line with a previous statement made by the Chairman of NGF and Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who stated that states will only agree to a minimum wage that is “affordable and sustainable”.
Meanwhile, the Presidency on Thursday denied reports that the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, submitted a proposal for a new minimum wage of N105,000 to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described the reports as false, stating that the minister had not proposed any such amount.
Two men, whose identities could not be immediately confirmed, working at a construction site in Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Thursday, were brought out dead from a well after they drowned while attempting to retrieve a bucket being used to fetch water.
It was learnt that the incident happened around 1:09 pm at a construction site located opposite Ilesa Motor Park along the Ife-Ilesa expressway in Ile-Ife.
Two sources near the scene of the incident, who preferred anonymity to avoid being targeted, while speaking at different times, said the fetcher that the two labourers were used to fetch water dropped inside the well.
They said one of the two men had entered the well in an attempt to retrieve the fetcher but did not come out.
The sources further said the second labourer, having sensed that his partner was drowned, who also entered into the well to rescue him, also got stuck inside, leading to tension as people present were said to have contacted operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, as well as officials of Federal Fire Services for assistance.
When contacted, the spokesperson of NSCDC, Osun State Command, Kehinde Adeleke, told our correspondent that operatives of the Corps and men of Federal Fire Service retrieved the corpses of the labourers from the well.
Adeleke further said, “A tragic incident happened today Thursday 6th June 2024 Opposite Ilesa Motor Park along Ife-Ilesa road, Ile-Ife around 1309hours. Two middle-aged men from Iwo were engaged as workmen on a building project opposite Ilesa Motor Park, Ile-Ife. “The unfortunate incident happened when the two workmen were fetching water from a deep well and the fetcher accidentally fell into the well.
“According to eyewitness accounts, one of the workmen, in an attempt to retrieve the fetcher, entered the well, but unfortunately, he got trapped and drowned.
“An attempt at rescue made by the second workman got him drowned inside the deep well also. Corpses of the two men were retrieved through the joint efforts of NSCDC and Federal Fire Service operatives.”
Lagos State Governor, Mr Sanwo-Olu, has awarded Olaniyi Mubaraq Olawale, the overall best graduating student of Lagos State University (LASU), a sum of Ten Million Naira (10,000,000).
Olawale graduated with a remarkable CGPA of 4.98 in Accounting Education, making him a standout among his peers.
The deserving recipient, Olaniyi Olawale, who graduated with a remarkable CGPA of 4.98 in Accounting Education, received the prestigious award in a grand ceremony honoring his exceptional achievements.
Governor Sanwo-Olu commended Olawale for his outstanding dedication to his studies and exemplary academic performance throughout his time at LASU.
The governor emphasized the importance of education and the need to support and reward exceptional students who demonstrate excellence and commitment to their academic pursuits.
The Ogun State Police Command has initiated a manhunt for a hit-and-run driver who struck two pedestrians on the Benin-Sagamu Expressway, resulting in the death of 22-year-old Elizabeth James and serious injury to an unidentified male victim. The tragic incident occurred on Sunday at approximately 9:40 a.m. near a filling station in Sagamu.
According to eyewitness reports, the vehicle, which was traveling at high speed from the Ijebu-Ode area towards the interchange, hit the pedestrians as they waited for a commercial bus on the sidewalk. The driver fled the scene immediately after the accident.
A police document obtained on Monday detailed the accident: “There occurred a hit-and-run fatal pedestrian accident involving male and female victims. An unidentified vehicle rammed into the pedestrians, leaving them with varying degrees of injuries. Having realized what had happened, the suspected driver was said to have sped off.”
The victims were rushed to the hospital, but despite efforts to save her, Elizabeth James was pronounced dead upon arrival. Her body has been taken to the Fakoya Mortuary in Sagamu.
State Police Command spokesperson Omolola Odutola confirmed the incident and announced that an investigation is underway. “James was confirmed dead when they got to the hospital. Her corpse had been removed and deposited at the Fakoya Mortuary in Sagamu. Our men at the division have visited the scene of the accident. An investigation is underway,” she stated.
A landlord named Apeh Benjamin has been reported dead after a heated argument with his tenant in Aribabu village, Sotubo, Ogun State.
The argument was triggered by the tenant’s unpaid rent.
The tenant, simply identified as Emmanuel, had in the process, threatened to kill the landlord.
The Ogun State police command on Monday, said the landlord slumped and died at about 6:30 am on Sunday.
Omolola Odutola, the command’s spokesman, assured that investigations were on to ascertain the actual cause of the death.
“One Apeh Benjamin of Aribabu village, Sotubo Ogun State a landlord slumped, and died at about 0630hrs on 2nd of June, over a heated argument with one Emmanuel his tenant who threatened to kill his landlord, over indebted rent.
…..As W.O.R.K.S Feasts 100 Indigent Children in Iseyin
The Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Sefiu Olawale Oyebola Adeyeri 111, Ajirotutu 1, has charged Nigerians to show genuine love to children from poor homes to create a just society.
The call was made on Sunday at the 2024 Children’s Day programme, organized by Women’s Organization for Resources, Knowledge & Skills (W.O.R.K.S) at the Aseyin’s palace in Iseyin, Oyo State.
The monarch said the absence of communal love for children that are orphaned or from less-privileged homes has led to a disorganized society, where the rich care only for their own children while the poor ones are forced into early marriage, illicit drugs consumption, child trafficking and criminal activities.
He advised that people should return to the old communal ways of caring for children from extended family whereby a privileged family member will sponsor sons and daughters of relatives to have good education and job opportunities.
“We now live in a society where everyone only cares for his or her own children, leaving the children of the less-privileged to suffer the consequences of global and national economic crises; this has led to these indigent children to be forced into early marriage, turned them into easy target for children trafficking, make them join bad gang to take illicit drugs and engage in criminalities.
“Why can’t we take on children of our relatives who have little or nothing to cater for their education and wellbeing? That is what used to be when our uncles who were teachers and earning averagely well would take into custody, children of their brothers and sisters that have little or nothing to send their children to school, it is what made many billionaires of today.
“If we continue to shut these indigent children out of opportunities, we are creating a horde of enemies for our own children that have every opportunity today; they will envy our children for having it all and hatred will grow. Therefore let us work towards having a just society,” Aseyin admonished.
The Founder of Women’s Organization for Resources, Knowledge & Skills (W.O.R.K.S), Mrs Titilayomi Ahmadu, who also is an indigene of the town charged the children to see the challenge of coming from poor homes as a leverage to strive more to achieve success in life.
She said the programme was meant to support the Oyo State government’s agenda to provide succor for children from less-privileged homes, adding that it will also extend to the entire Oke-Ogun region, whereby women and children would be given skills and other empowerment opportunities to overcome poverty.
Ahmadu said the organization also provides free sanitary towels for many female public school students annually around Nigeria, to mark the World Menstruation Day, calling on all girl children to live a hygienic life by using quality sanitary pads to ward off infections.
She urged philanthropists in Oke-Ogun area to join hands with the NGO to lift the standard of families in the zone.
Another indigene of Iseyin who took the children on health education session, Dr. (Mrs) Sinmisola Soyebo explained the importance of basic hygiene and need for the children to avoid drug abuse.
Highlights of the event include a tour of the palace by the children, quiz competition, dancing competition and distribution of special gifts, which was anchored by the wife of Aseyin of Iseyin, Olori Mariam Oyebola.
