₦airaland Forum

The 16th Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, is currently holding Sallah durbar.

The Emir had earlier led Eid prayer and sermon at the Kofar Mata Jumu’at mosque.

The Eid prayer was observed at the Kofar Mata Jumu’at mosque due to heavy rain that flooded the premises of the Eid ground which could not be used.

Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and other cabinet members observed prayer with the Emir.

The Army, Police, Civil defence and others provided security.

Emir Sanusi took the usual route back home and casually stopping along the way to receive greetings and homage from individuals and groups riding on a horse.

Daily Trust reports that the Kano Police command had announced a ban on Sallah durbar after a joint security meeting in the State.

However, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf expressed dissatisfaction with the decision, faulting how the police arrived at such without consulting him as the Chief Security Officer of the State.

Meanwhile, the 15th Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero observed his Eid prayer at the Nassarawa mini palace as earlier announced.

The embattled Emir had also announced cancellation of durbar activities during the Eid-el-Kabir festivities.

New minimum wage bill will be watertight, must be obeyed by all – Senate

Labour hails NASS, OPS asks N’Assembly to create good environment for businesses

The National Assembly has resolved to ensure that states, local governments, and the Organised Private Sector stop defaulting in the payment of the approved minimum wage.

The National Assembly may even consider seizing allocations of states and local governments that fail to comply with the new minimum wage, says a source who spoke anonymously with Saturday PUNCH, because he was not authorised to speak on the matter.

This is as the National Assembly announced plans to include a clause that will provide clear sanctions for defaulters of the new minimum wage bill that will be passed after receiving the Wage Award Bill from President Bola Tinubu.

This was made known by the Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, who explained that lawmakers would expedite the passage of the Wage Award Bill once President Tinubu sent it.

He also hinted that the President would send the bill after the National Assembly resumed from the Sallah recess on July 2.

In his Democracy Day broadcast on Wednesday, the President had promised to forward a bill on the new minimum wage to the National Assembly soon.

The Federal Government and labour unions have been at odds over the new minimum wage, with union leaders demanding N250,000. Meanwhile, the Federal Government and the OPS countered with an offer of N62,000, while state governors maintained that they could not sustain a minimum wage higher than N60,000.

Labour unions have repeatedly dismissed the government’s offer, labelling it a “starvation wage”.

The Assistant General Secretary of the NLC, Chris Onyeka, stated that Organised Labour would not accept the latest offer of N62,000 or the N100,000 proposal suggested by some individuals and economists.

Expressing concern over the labour leaders’ demands and the potential economic repercussions, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated on Wednesday that the N250,000 minimum wage proposal could destabilise the economy, lead to mass layoffs, and jeopardise the welfare of Nigerians.

Despite labour’s firm stance on the N250,000 minimum wage, the President emphasised that the government would pay workers what it could afford.

Addressing concerns about compliance, especially given that some states still pay the old N18,000 minimum wage, while others comply with the current N30,000, Adaramodu assured that the new bill will be “watertight”.

He added, “We will ensure it is strictly adhered to as law. The bill will include provisions for sanctions against non-compliance.”

"We are going to produce a watertight bill that we are proposing for the President to sign to ensure that it is strictly adhered to as law. For now, let’s not speculate on the details that the Federal Government will include in the bill to be submitted to the National Assembly.

"But, when it comes, whatever is there and whatever is not, we will ensure that it’s watertight and obeyed by all,” Adaramodu emphasised.

He added, “When we talk about the minimum wage, is it just about the Federal Government? It seems like it’s a fight between the Federal Government and labour. That’s the way everybody is looking at it. We keep mentioning the Federal Government, President Tinubu, and labour. We don’t even talk about the Organised Private Sector or the sub-nationals. The NLC, which recognises the workers in the organised private sector and the sub-nationals, needs to advocate for them.”

"The issue of some states still paying N18,000, though I don’t know because I don’t suspect that to be happening. If some states are paying that, what have the labour unions in those states done to ensure compliance with the N30,000 minimum wage? We need to ask them too. But, like I said, the National Assembly will make this law seriously watertight, with sanctions for non-compliance, whether at the state, sub-national, or organised private sector level,” Adaramodu stated.

The Senate spokesperson added that if such measures were not taken in the past, the 10th Assembly would ensure sanctions for defaulters of the newly agreed minimum wage. “That’s how it’s going to be done this time around. But the labour centres also need to protect the welfare of their members, not only with the Federal Government,” Adaramodu reiterated.

Speaking on the possibility of sanctioning state governors, Adaramodu noted that the National Assembly makes laws for the entire country. “The National Assembly makes laws for Nigeria, not just for President Tinubu,” he stated.

President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present the cost implications for a new minimum wage within two days.

Tinubu gave the order at a meeting with the government negotiation team led by the Secretary to Government of the Federation, George Akume, at the presidential villa in Abuja.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this in an interview with correspondents after the closed-door meeting on Tuesday.

Idris said the President had a meeting with the representatives of the Federal Government in the negotiation with the labour on the minimum wage.

He noted, “The president has just summoned a meeting of all those who negotiated on behalf of the federal government led by the secretary to the government of the federation, the minister of finance was there, the minister of budget planning, the minister of information, the minister of budget and national planning, the minister of labour, and the NNPCL GMD.

“We were all there to look at all issues and the president has directed the minister of finance to do the numbers and get back to him between today and tomorrow so that we can have figures ready for negotiation with labour.”

Reinstated Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, on Saturday called on parents to be relentless in moulding their children for a prosperous future.

Lamido Sanusi, also known as Mahammadu Sanusi II, spoke through the Wazirin Kano, Sa’adu Gidado, at the main palace when he received Interim Management Committee chairmen, Local Governments Councils, District Heads, Village and Wards heads and imams of 15 local government areas that make up Kano Central Senatorial district.

The visitors were on homage (allegiance) and blessing seeking visit.

The Emir told his guests that parents have enormous task in ensuring proper upbringing of their wards, urging them to remain vigilant and proactive towards curtailing drug abuse and other unwanted attitudes by the youth in the state.

He also tasked them to be just, with the fear of God in their undertakings.

Dahiru Lawan, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Kano State Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, in a statement, added that the State Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), and Interim Management Chairman of Tarauni Local Government, Abdullahi Maikano said they visited the Emir to register their homage and unflinching support.


Alhaji Maikano added that “having Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as Emir of Kano is a divine gift which, if fully utilised, would be of immense benefit to the state in view of the Lamido’s influence globally.

The local government chairmen commended Governor Abba Yusuf for assenting to the Repeal Law 2024 that paved the way for the reinstatement of Emir Sanusi, adding that the development is happily welcomed by well-wishers of the state.

The Kogi State Police Command has disclosed that 14 of the abducted students of the Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, Okene, have been rescued.

Some bandits abducted the students who were reading for their upcoming examination on Thursday night.

The bandits reportedly came in through the bush, went into three lecture halls, and began to shoot into the air to scare the students.

However, when contacted via a telephone call by our correspondent on Sunday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, William Aya said, “So far, 14 of them have been rescued, Our men are in the bush trying to find the rest.”

Meanwhile, the state government, through a statement issued earlier on Sunday by the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, said some of the abducted students had been rescued.

While the number of rescued students wasn’t stated, the government attributed the rescue operation to the dominant show of firepower by security operatives and local vigilante men over the kidnappers.

The statement read, “This is to inform the general public that some of the students abducted by gunmen at the Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, have been rescued safely by local hunters and other security agents.

"Local vigilante men and security agents engaged the kidnappers in a fierce shootout and the kidnappers succumbed to superior firepower and escaped with gun wounds, leaving the kidnapped students who also ran in different directions to avoid being caught up in the fire exchange.

"Many of the students kidnapped and even other people in captivity have been rescued and taken to medical facilities for proper attention, while many others were also rescued in the early hours of today.”

The commissioner noted that “in the sporadic gun battle to rescue our dear students, a local hunter and a DSS operative sustained injuries and they are currently receiving medical attention.”

"The success recorded so far is a clear testament to the readiness of Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo to ensure adequate and uncompromising security for the people of Kogi State. We urge residents to report anyone with gun wounds found in their communities to law enforcement agents,” Fanwo added.

However, in a statement on Friday, Ododo had assured the safe return of the abducted students, adding that the government had “activated the security architecture to track the kidnappers and ensure the abducted students are rescued and the abductors apprehended.”

On his visit to the school campus, Ododo alleged there was an insider collaboration in the abduction of the nine students.

He said, “We installed CCTV cameras in all the classrooms and the entire perimeter of the university campus yet on the day of the attack, our investigation so far revealed that all the cameras were switched off and this can only be attributed to sabotage by internal collaborators.”

A man, Babatunde Olaoluwa, who specialises in stealing of phones from worship centers has been apprehended by the men of the Ekiti State Police Command.

Olaoluwa was arrested on Saturday after he allegedly stole seven different phones belonging to members of Christ Apostolic Church, Ayegbaju-Ekiti in Oye local government area of the state.

The suspect, it was gathered, had gone to the church pretending to be one of their members and made away with the seven phones while the worshippers were in praises euphoria.

Ekiti Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Sunday Abutu, in a statement said that the suspect has during interrogation, confessed to have been operating around Oye and Ayegbaju-Ekiti with churches as his targets.

Abutu said that the suspect further confessed to have stolen a lot of phones from the Redeemed Christian Church of God and New Reality Christian Center, all in Oye-Ekiti.

“Investigation revealed that the suspect, after meeting his victims, normally send the stolen phones through motor park to Lagos where his friend will assist him to sell them and send the proceeds back to him through online transfer,” the police spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the seven stolen phones during his last operation have been recovered from him and some of victims of his atrocities have showed up to identify the suspect and their phones.

He said that the suspect will be arraigned immediately after the conclusion of investigation.

Immediate past deputy governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, bares his mind to ADEYINKA ADEDIPE, on his impeachment, and his next move ahead of the forthcoming governorship election, among other issues

When you accepted to be Governor Godwin Obaseki’s running mate, did you envisage that things could end this way?

I envisaged that things would end this way and that things were not going to be fine. That was why I was the last person within our group to accept Obaseki when Comrade Adams Oshiomhole put him forward. Out of respect for Oshiomhole, I accepted. We were also told that he was coming in with private-sector ideas and that there was likely going to be a recession which we would need Obaseki to help us battle. But I warned that this man was going to destroy the house, and it eventually happened.

When I was nominated to be Obaseki’s running mate, I was not interested but people in our team like Chris Okaeben, Washington Osifo, Larry Aghedo, Andrew Momodu, and Abbas Braimoh and other young people came to talk to me to accept the offer. They said if I refused the offer, we (the young people) would not have a representative in the government. I accepted reluctantly but I told them that I see a fight in the future. The first year was full of tension but Comrade (Oshiomhole) and his former deputy, Pius Odubu, told me that the government had just started and that I had no choice. Comrade told me I had to be loyal to the governor and that I was at his mercy. That was when I knew something would go wrong.

How did you think you could navigate the impending problem you predicted?

First, I told my wife that we were not going to live in the Government House but in our private residence so that when there was a fight, I wouldn’t be told to pack my things out of the Government House because it would be disgraceful. She asked me why I felt that way, and I told her I had a premonition that all would not be well. My wife said we should pray about it, but seven years later, what I predicted happened. [/b]Imagine looking for vehicles to pack our belongings out of the Government House. My office was relocated out of the Government House which was the only thing connecting the governor and me. I am happy that my office was only relocated out of the Government House.

[b]Your alliance with the Legacy Group looks strong. Are you hoping to join another party soon?

First, I am not ready to support the governorship candidate of the party, Asue Ighodalo, and until the PDP does the needful, I may not be able to answer the question. I cannot support him because he didn’t open up to me about his ambition despite asking him several times, including at my house. The last time I asked was in November. So, I was taken aback when he spoke on TV that he was being pushed to run.

I called him and asked who was pushing him to run, but he told me to ignore the report and that it was a social media thing. But his younger brother, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, said that the move to make his elder brother the governor of Edo State started two years ago. Edo State needs a “homeboy” to govern them, not people who will rent houses during their tenure and leave as soon as it ends. We need people who we can relate to and understand the challenges of the people.

A Nigerian bride recounted how her pastor told her to remove her lashes during her church wedding.

Jessica Okah, the bride, disclosed this incident on TikTok, mentioning that the pastor had raised the issue of her eyelashes before the wedding day.

However, she said she had completely forgotten about it and thought it would be overlooked during the wedding.

She said, “What would you do if your pastor asked you to remove your lashes in the middle of your wedding ceremony? It was like a movie, but it was happening for real.

"After my husband’s family accepted me, that’s when my pastor realised that he told me the day before that I wasn’t supposed to wear lashes to the wedding ceremony.

"Let me not lie, I didn’t have a problem with it anyway, but truthfully, I forgot.

"He said before the service had to continue, I had to go and remove the lashes.”

She shared a video that captured the moment her pastor stopped the wedding proceedings over her eyelashes and resumed the ceremony after she had taken them off.