Vacate order stopping workers strike, labour tells court

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have approached the National Industrial Court of Nigeria in Abuja asking it set aside its interim order restraining workers from going on strike.

Indeed, the two unions maintain that the industrial court does not have the jurisdiction to entertain the matter brought before it by the Federal Government.

In a motion on notice filed by Femi Falana, SAN, the NLC urged the court to vacate the interim order in the interest of justice for the Nigerian workers.

Justice O. Y. Anuwe on Monday directed workers not to proceed on strike following the removal of petroleum subsidy by the Federal Government.

President Bola Tinubu’s recent declaration ending fuel subsidy had resulted in petrol price hike as well as instant increase transportation cost across the country.

But the FG posited that the proposed strike was capable of disrupting economic activities, the health and the educational sectors.

The NLC and TUC stated in the court document, “This Honourable Court lacks the jurisdictional competence to hear and determine the case as it was filed in violation of Section 17 {2} of the Trade Disputes Act, which authorises the Minister of Labour and Employment to refer a trade dispute directly to the National Industrial Court.”

They therefore sought “an order of this honourable court setting aside, discharging and/or vacating the ex parte interim order of injunction restraining the Defendants/Respondents, their members, their agents, employees, workmen, servants, proxies or affiliates from embarking on the planned industrial action.”

Why Northerners don’t call Tinubu “Jagaban” – Farooq Kperogi

Southern Nigerians have asked me two trivial but persistent and important questions about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The first is why most Hausa-speaking northerners don’t call Tinubu “Jagaban” as a standalone title like southerners do. Since I am from Borgu, I’ve also been asked why Tinubu was knighted as the “Jagaban Borgu” or the “Jagaba of Borgu.” And what does the title mean, anyway?

I didn’t think the questions were worth a response, much less a column-length one, because, until now, Tinubu was either just a major, if unofficial, political player in the Buhari regime or a candidate for president. Now that he is president, I think these questions are deserving of a response in the interest of historical and political education.

Hausa-speaking northerners don’t say “jagaban” as a standalone word because it is ungrammatical in their language. The usual word is “jagaba.” When it transforms to “jagaban” it must be followed immediately by a place name because the additional “n” in the word is a preposition that signifies “of.” So, it is either “the Jagaba of Borgu” or “Jagaban Borgu.” If the title is not associated with a place, it’s simply “Jagaba,” not “Jagaban.”

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To say “Jabagan of Borgu” is to commit an ungainly interlingual prepositional tautology since “n” and “of” mean exactly the same thing. Of course, interlingual tautologies are not uncommon. For example, we say Aso Rock even when “aso” means “rock” in the Gbagyi language. We say “Lake Chad” even when “chad” means “lake” in Kanuri. And we say “Sahara Desert” even when “sahara” means “desert” in Arabic.

Since linguistic habits often form and evolve outside notions of correct usage, I won’t be surprised if even Hausa-speaking northerners start to call Tinubu “Jagaban”—or even “Jagaban of Borgu.” Nigeria’s southwest is, after all, the country’s sociolinguistic pacesetter because of the centrality of Lagos as the cultural capital.

So, what does “jagaba” mean? Well, it’s the Hausa word for chief warrior, warlord, frontrunner, or simply a brave man. It’s derived from “ja,” which means pull and “gaba,” which means front in the Hausa language. A jagaba is therefore someone who leads from the front, which is another way of describing a war commander. In other words, “Jagaban Borgu” or the “Jagaba of Borgu” means the Chief Warrior of Borgu.

The title was conferred on President Tinubu in February 2006 by the late Alhaji Haliru Dantoro who was Emir of Borgu in New Bussa from 2002 to 2015. Dantoro and Tinubu struck up an enduring, if unusual, friendship in 1992 when both of them served as senators in IBB’s abortive Third Republic. Dantoro was a senator on the platform of the National Republican Convention (NRC) and Tinubu was elected on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Although they belonged to different political parties, had diametrically opposed ideological temperaments, and Tinubu was much younger than Dantoro, they hit it off and sustained their friendship even after Sani Abacha dissolved the senate.

Why Northerners don’t call Tinubu “Jagaban” – Farooq Kperogi

Just in: CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele suspended

President Bola Tinubu has suspended Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The announcement came on Friday from the office of the secretary to the government of the federation.

Willie Bassey, director of information at the SGF office, in a statement said the suspension was with immediate effect.

The press release

The statement read, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended the Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, CFR, from office with immediate effect.

“This is sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.

“Mr Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), who will act as the Central Bank Governor pending the conclusion of investigation and the reforms.”