AKwa Ibom State GOVERNOR, Pastor Umo Eno has relieved Dr Bassey P. Okon from the State Executive Council with the Immediate effect

The Southern Pos

1min read

According to the press release, in is effort to reposition the administration, in line with the Arise Agenda Governor of Akwa Ibom State, His Excellency Pastor Umo Eno has relieved Dr Bassey P. Okon, the Honorable Commissioner for Special Duties as Commissioner from the State Executive Council with immediate effect.

South-West governors in closed-door meeting in Lagos

Photos: South-West governors in closed-door meeting in Lagos

The six governors of the South-West geo-political zone are currently in a crucial closed-door meeting in Lagos.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is hosting them.

By 12 noon, all the governors had arrived and then went in for the meeting.

Dikko Radda: Each state government should be allowed to set its minimum wage

Dikko Radda, governor of Katsina, says each state government in the country should be allowed to set its own minimum wage.

Speaking on Sunday when he appeared on a programme on Television Continental (TVC), the governor said only Nigeria has one single minimum wage for workers across all states.

The minimum wage is currently on the exclusive-legislative list, which gives power to only the federal government to determine it.

The organised labour has been demanding higher wages following the removal of subsidy on premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol.

While the federal government has offered N62,000 as the minimum wage, labour is proposing N250,000.

“It is only in Nigeria that we have one single minimum wage for laborers across all states. In other countries, different states have different minimum wages based on sustainability and affordability,” Radda said.

“What is the need for the state government to agree to pay N100,000 if they can’t implement it?”

The governor said there is a need for the country to embrace ranching because it is more profitable.

“There is a need for us to encourage ranching. I am not supporting or opposing, but I’m saying there is a need for us to embrace ranching because it is more profitable,” he said.

"We cannot take the herders off the streets in a very short time. We need to give people time to be enlightened.

“There will be a lot of sensitisation and encouragement for people to go into ranching because it is more profitable and more secure.”

Radda said 90 per cent of the arable land in Katsina is being cultivated despite the challenges with security.

Woman Arrested For Stǝþþiηg Her Husband To Dεǝth Over 'Yǝh∞ Yǝh∞' Proceed In Imo

 Operatives of the Imo State Police Command have arrested a 27-year-old young lady, named Oluchi Nzemechi, of Uzoagba in Ikeduru LGA of Imo State, for stabbing her husband, Kelechi Nzemechi, 31yrs, to death.

A statement released by the command's spokesperson, ASP Henry Okoye, says when interrogated, the suspect confessed to the crime, admitting that her lover lured her into internet fraud aka ‘yahoo yahoo’. 

Okoye said Oluchi confessed that on  June 2, she had a heated argument with the deceased for failing to give her a cut of an alleged 250 Million Rupiah they fraudulently obtained from a victim in Indonesia, during which she used a kitchen knife to stab him on the upper part of his body.

‘’The suspect further revealed that in a bid to cover up her criminal acts, she swiftly wrote on a piece of paper; ‘you think you can eat my money and go free, I am baba for the boys, I am coming for your wife and your child including your family’ and placed it on the lifeless body of the victim and ran away from the house. She also stated that she has been living with the victim since 2019 and has a child for him.''he said

Okoye said efforts are being made to recover the alleged 250 million Indonesia Rupiah for a possible return to the owner. He added that the suspect is currently undergoing an investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Department and will certainly be arraigned in court.

Labour Rejects ₦62,000, ₦100,000 ‘Starvation Wage’, May Resume Strike Tuesday

The Southern Post

By News desk

3min read

The Organised Labour said the one-week grace period given to the Federal Government last Tuesday, June 4, 2024, would expire by the midnight of Tuesday, June 11, 2024.

Labour said should the Federal Government and National Assembly fail to act on the demands of workers by tomorrow (Tuesday), the organs of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) would meet to decide on the resumption of the nationwide industrial action relaxed last week.

Chris Onyeka, an Assistant General Secretary of the NLC, stated this on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief show on Monday.

The NLC Official said, “The Federal Government and the National Assembly have the call now. It is not our call. Our demand is there for them (the government) to look at and send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, and for the National Assembly to look at what we have demanded, the various fact of the law, and then come up with a National Minimum Act that meets our demands.

If that does not meet our demand, we have given the Federal Government a one-week notice to look at the issues and that one week expires tomorrow (Tuesday). If after tomorrow, we have not seen any tangible response from the government, the organs of the Organised Labour will meet to decide on what next.”

When asked what the decision of Labour would be should the government insists on ₦62,000, he said, “It was clear what we said. We said we are relaxing a nationwide indefinite strike. It’s like putting a pause on it. So, if you put a pause on something and that organs that govern us as trade unions decide that we should remove that pause, it means that we go back to what was in existence before.”

Starvation Wage’

He said Labour won’t accept any ₦62,000 or ₦100,000 “starvation wage” as the minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

He insisted on ₦250,000, labour’s latest demand at the last meeting of the Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage on Friday, as the living wage for an average Nigerian worker.

He said labour won’t accept the latest government’s offer of ₦62,000 and the ₦100,000 proposal by some individuals and economists.

Onyeka said, “We have never considered accepting ₦62,000 or any other wage that we know is below what we know is able to take Nigerian workers home. We will not negotiate a starvation wage.

“We have never contemplated ₦100,000 let alone of ₦62,000. We are still at ₦250,000, that is where we are, and that is what we considered enough concession to the government and the other social partners in this particular situation. We are not just driven by frivolities but the realities of the market place; realities of things we buy every day: bag of rice, yam, garri, and all of that.”

Protracted Deadlock

After weeks of failed talks on a new minimum wage for workers in the country, Labour declared an indefinite industrial action on Monday, June 3, 2024. Businesses were paralysed as labour shut down airports, hospitals, national grid, banks, National Assembly and state assemblies’ complexes.

The labour unions said the current minimum wage of ₦30,000 can no longer cater to the wellbeing of an average Nigerian worker, saying government should offer workers something economically realistic in tandem with current inflationary pressures, attendant effects of the twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of the forex windows of the current administration.

The labour unions also lamented that not all governors are paying the current wage award which expired in April 2024, five years after the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 was signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari. The Act should be reviewed every five years to meet up with contemporary economic demands of workers.

In January 2024, President Bola Tinubu inaugurated a tripartite committee to negotiate a new minimum wage for the country.

At the start of negotiations, Labour presented ₦615,000 as the new minimum wage but saw reasons to drop their demand to ₦497,000, and then to ₦494,000.

Also, in the beginning, the government and the Organised Private Sector proposed ₦48,000, ₦54,000, ₦57,000, and later ₦60,000, all four offers were rejected by Labour, prompting the strike.

In the heat of the impasse and the attendant consequences of the strike last Monday, June 3, 2024, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, said the President was committed to a wage above ₦60,000, and that the government side of the tripartite committee would meet with labour for one week to agree on a wage.

Persuaded, labour “relaxed” its industrial action on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, some 24 hours after the strike. Both TUC and NLC leadership subsequently resumed talks with the representatives of the Federal Government, states, Organised Private Sector.

The President also directed Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present a template for a new minimum wage. Before the directive, the minister described as “unaffordable, the demands of labour. Also, the 36 state governors said labour’s demands was not sustainable.

However, on Friday, June 7, 2024, the two sides (labour and the government) failed to reach an agreement. While labour dropped again its demand from ₦494,000 to ₦250,000, the government added ₦2,000 to its initial ₦60,000 and offered workers ₦62,000.

Both sides submitted their reports to the President who is expected to make a decision and send an executive bill to the National Assembly to pass a new minimum wage bill to be signed into law by the President.

Minimum wage: President, NASS to determine our next action — Labour

 Govs, senators, Reps should also earn N62,000 minimum wage — Mbaka

By Victor AhiumaYoung, Udeme Akpan, Peter Egwuatu and Nkiruka Nnorom

Organised Labour weekend said President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly, NASS, will determine its next line of action, following last Friday’s stalemated negotiations on a new national minimum wage, NNMW.

This is even as industry experts and financial analysts have noted that the economy is on a tough road to recovery and that the minimum wage agitation and return of fuel subsidy will further complicate the process and prospect of early recovery.

Contrary to expectations, the Federal Government negotiating team added N2,000 to its earlier offer of N60,000, leading to the deadlock that forced labour to declare a nationwide strike.

As  a result of the deadlock, the committee resolved to take both the N62,000 offer by the Federal Government team which has the backing of the OPS and N250,000 now demanded by organised labour to President Bola Tinubu for further action.

One of the members of Labour’s negotiating team told Vanguard that President Tinubu and the National Assembly will determine the next step organised labour would take.

Here is a list of all Chinua Achebe's works, including novels, short stories, essays, and poetry collections, along with their publication years:

 T H E  G O A T!! ♥️ I N S P I R I N G💯

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is a list of all Chinua Achebe's works, including novels, short stories, essays, and poetry collections, along with their publication years:

●Novels

Things Fall Apart (1958)

No Longer at Ease (1960)

Arrow of God (1964)

A Man of the People (1966)

Anthills of the Savannah (1987)

●Short Story Collections

Girls At War (1972)

Beware, Soul Brother (1972)

How the Leopard Got His Claws (1973)

Christmas in Biafra (1973)

●Poetry Collections

Beware, Soul Brother and Other Poems (1971)

Collected Poems (2004)

●Essays

Morning Yet on Creation Day (1975)

The Trouble with Nigeria (1984)

Hopes and Impediments (1988)

Home and Exile (2000)

The Education of a British-Protected Child (2009)

There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra (2012)

●Anthologies

Winds of Change (Edited by Chinua Achebe) (1977)

African Short Stories (Edited by Chinua Achebe) (1987)

The Heinemann Book of Contemporary African Short Stories (Edited by Chinua Achebe and Lynn Innes) (1992)

●Children's Books

Chike and the River (1966)

●Non-Fiction

Another Africa (1998)

●Autobiographical Works

There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra (2012)

●Other Works

Critical Insights: Things Fall Apart (2012)

An Image of Africa / The Trouble With Nigeria (2010)

This list includes all the notable works of Chinua Achebe, covering various genres and themes.

#obiakulancelotifeanyi

TROOPS SECURE MAJOR VICTORIES IN COUNTER TERRORISM OPERATIONS ACROSS ,KADUNA, ZAMFARA, ABIA STATES

 TROOPS SECURE MAJOR VICTORIES IN COUNTER TERRORISM  OPERATIONS ACROSS ,KADUNA, ZAMFARA, ABIA  STATES 

By News desk

2min reads

Published June 08 2024

THE SOUTHERN POST

Troops of the Nigerian Army deployed for counter terrorism operations across the country have achieved major successes in the ongoing fight against terrorism and insurgency in Kaduna, Zamfara and Abia states, demonstrating their unwavering commitment to national security and the safety of citizens. 

The Southern Post online reported a significant development that was tweeted on X.com by the @HQNigerianArmy.

In Kaduna State, troops in a decisive operation conducted a two-day fighting patrol to Kajuru and Kachia Local Government Areas, during which they engaged and neutralized five terrorists in a fierce combat at Dantarau. After defeating the terrorists, the gallant troops recovered a cache of arms, including 2 AK-47 rifles, one fabricated submachine gun (SMG), 9 AK 47 magazines, 250 rounds of 7.62mm (special) ammunition, 2 motorcycles, and two handheld radios.

 This victory significantly disrupted terrorists' activities along the Maro-Enugu community axis, bolstering security in the general area.

Relatedly in Zamfara State, troops deployed along the Gusau-Tsafe-Funtua road, responding to a distress call successfully thwarted a kidnap attempt in the Angwan Chida area of Tsafe Local Government Area.  During  the rescue operation, troops engaged the  terrorists attempting to abduct occupants of a Toyota Corolla in a fierce shootout, neutralizing two terrorists and rescuing four passengers  The operation resulted in the recovery of two AK-47 rifles, three magazines, 31 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, one motorcycle, and the vehicle involved in the attempted abduction. 

In Abia State, troops conducted a successful raid operation to an identified  IPOB/ESN enclave  located in Igboro Forest, in Arochukwu Local Government Area.  Despite encountering three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted by the terrorists, troops successfully recovered three locally fabricated Rocket-Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and a locally fabricated Artillery Gun.  The terrorists were forced to flee, as they succumbed to the superior fire power of the troops. One soldier who sustained a minor injury from shrapnel is receiving medical attention  and recuperating. The destruction of this camp represents a significant blow to the terrorist elements operating in the area.

These successful operations underscore the Nigerian Army's unwavering dedication to combating terrorists' activities.  The effective raids and fighting patrols have not only disrupted the activities of the terrorists, but also restored a sense of security and confidence among the affected communities.  The Nigerian Army remains committed to ensuring the safety and security of its citizens and continues to make substantial  progress in the fight against terrorism.