Against the background of overtures to labour by the Federal Government over the planned minimum wage nationwide-strike, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday said it has no deal with government over the matter, saying the labour has moved beyond the level of negotiation on the contentious issue.

To eliminate all doubts towards its seriousness to the course of the action, the congress announced a 12-member National Strike Committee (NSC) to organize, mobilize and ensure compliance with the strike scheduled to commence November 10 through 12, should government fail to initiate the process of payment of the N18, 000 new wage.

Chairman of the committee, Promise Adewusi, who is the deputy president of the NLC and national president of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), told newsmen that his committee had put preliminary measures on ground and deployed strike officers to coordinate the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) because the action would be total.

President of National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Mansur Musa, a member of the committee, whose union members were already aggrieved over perceived poor government handling of the privatization of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), declared that the entire nation would be thrown into darkness because the NUEE members had suffered untold hardship in the hand of government and were ready for full participation in the action.

Adewusi, explained that the congress was not unmindful of the antics of the government to politicize the strike but that the labour leaders would not fall cheaply for the government game. According to him, the labour had nothing to discuss with government over the new wage issue because the parties in the dispute had passed that stage of negotiation, warning that all that was required on the part of government was practical move to send the wage bill to the National Assembly for accelerated action.

He stated that sending the bill to the National Assembly by the executive would not just suffice but an assurance by the lawmakers that the bill would be expeditiously dealt with would be the only panacea to the impending action.

“The tendency is that government will in the eve of the action call for a meeting. I want to tell all Nigerians that we have passed the stage of negotiation. Negotiation has been concluded since April this year and we had expected that the president would do something by May, but that didn’t happen.

“In July, we formally presented the case and forwarded the resolutions of the tripartite committee, led by former chief justice of the federation, Alfa Belgore, to the government. On October 1, we had thought government would use the occasion of the National Day to do something concrete, but we were again disappointed.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/nov/05/national-05-11-2010-001.htm

What could have turned into bloody demonstrations were averted by the police in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State following the alleged killing yesterday morning, of a trader, Mr. Sunday Ani, a.k.a Wowo by the notorious Abia State Vigilante Service popularly known as Bakassi Boys.

As early as 8.00am, traders at the Ehere Modern Market in Obingwa Local Government Area had barricaded the Aba end of the Aba-Ikot Ekpene highway and prevented vehicles from entering Aba from that axis. They later took to the streets, chanting war songs in protest against the killing of one of their members inside the market allegedly by one of the Bakassi Boys said to have been stationed in the market by the state government.

Daily Sun gathered that early yesterday morning, some Bakassi Boys who had their offices inside Ehere Market had come out, as it had been their daily routine to extort money from the traders. They were said to have accosted a lorry that had just brought in some logs of wood from Akwa Ibom into the market and demanded N2,000 from the driver.

When the driver queried why he should part with the amount that morning, he was said to have been told by the Bakassi Boys that it was the routine that any vehicle which brings goods to the market normally ‘settles’ the security outfit. It was also gathered that as the arguments were still going on, one of the Bakassi Boys whose name was simply given as Solomon, allegedly pulled his gun, shot and killed Ani who was said to be returning from morning prayers and was coming to open his shop for the day’s business.

Ani, 33, who hailed from Akpugo in Nkanu Local Government of Enugu state was said to have concluded arrangements for his wedding this December before he met the untimely death. Speaking to Daily Sun over the incident, the Chairman of Forestry Association of Nigeria, Ehere Branch, Mr. Jeremiah Iheanacho bemoaned the activities of the Bakassi Boys querying the rationale behind their being stationed in the market.

“We don’t know what the Bakassi Boys are doing in the market. They don’t provide security for us because we have a team of 18 Hausa men who we pay monthly to provide security in the market.
“Each time we asked, they (Bakassi Boys) would always tell us they were stationed at the market by Abia State government and the purpose of why they are there is what nobody knows.”

Immediately the news of the incident got to the new Area Commander, Aba Area Command of the Nigeria Police, Alhaji Rabiu Dayi, he rushed to the market to sympathize with and pacify the traders. Describing the incident as unfortunate, Dayi said he visited the scene to ensure the situation did not get out of hand and promised that something would be done to prevent future occurrence.

Meanwhile, Governor Theodore Orji has called on residents of Aba to remain calm while the state government wades into the matter. Speaking through his special adviser on electronic media, Mr. Ugochukwu Emezue, Orji said he was pained the more that the incident happened when residents of the city were yet recovering from the menace of kidnappers and said his government would take all necessary steps to ensure that justice was done in the matter.

He said government would set up a probe into the incident and that anybody found to have been involved in the killing, would face the law.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/nov/05/national-05-11-2010-012.htm

Doctors in Federal Government-owned hospitals in Lagos State yesterday began a three-day strike to support their counterparts in the state.

Doctors in Lagos State hospitals had, on August 12, commenced the strike over the government’s refusal to pay the disputed Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS).

The Chairman, Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State branch, Dr Edamisan Temiye, said the strike was as a result of the government’s refusal to negotiate with the doctors.

He said: "We embarked on the strike as a form of solidarity with our counterparts in Lagos State."

He alleged that the government did not make any offer to the doctors, hence the strike that has lasted 12 weeks.

Temiye said: "We want the government to reach a compromise with the doctors. It has to prepare a document, which must be signed by both parties, otherwise the resolution will be distant."

http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/news/17957.html

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