Education

Strike: Call ASUU to order, FG tells NLC

Published

2 years ago

March 8, 2022

Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige

–Insists that ASUU strike is illegal

THE Federal Government has urged the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to advise its affiliate, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to abide by the provisions of the Trade Disputes Act and call off its ongoing strike.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2022 edition of the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) in Lagos on Monday, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige urged the Council to discuss as part of its agenda, a workable recipe that appropriately conciliates disputes with associations that are not properly registered as trade unions, to ensure that they fully abide by the provisions of the law.

The Minister in a statement by Mr.Charles Akpan, Deputy Director Press and Public Relations, said, “What will be the relationship with workers organizations that are not properly registered as trade unions? The labour Act is there and it says the Minister can discuss with them. But they don’t fully conform with legal provisions, especially in terms of style of negotiation and conciliation. NLAC should therefore come to the aid of the country here.

“Even though the Trade Disputes Act permits the Minister to apprehend and deal with these workers that have not been registered as unions, you can also see that when dealing with them, you encounter problems because they do not fully understand the nuisances or obey the labour laws as it should be.

“If you are a union, you give adequate notice before proceeding on strike. If you are a union too and your strike is apprehended, you go back to your work while the necessary adjustment is made to give you justice. NLAC is expected to get the workers’ side of the tripartite live up to their responsibilities in this regard.”

The Minister noted that some associations in critical sectors of health and education such as the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) are in actual fact, not properly unionized.

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“The Nigeria Medical Association is not a trade union, the National Association of Resident Doctors is not a trade union. They are an association of workers.

“The university teachers are registered under the Academic Staff Union of Universities and are affiliated to the Nigerian Labour Congress but that affiliation is only in name. It is not indeed, because they don’t obey the Labour Act as it concerns conciliation.

“For example, ASUU declared a month strike and called it a warning strike. It did not notify their employer, the Ministry of Education, neither did they notify me, the Minister of labour that there is a breakdown in negotiation. I know that they had some discussions which were in limbo but I should be notified properly so that I can arrest the breakdown and bring it forward for proper conciliation.

“Now, I apprehended the dispute in consonance with the Labour Act. They came for conciliation, only for them to go back and continue the strike. This is illegal. The law is that once a dispute is apprehended, everybody returns to status quo ante. The law also says that if I arrest a dispute and the party or parties are not ready to confirm, I should transfer the dispute within fourteen days to either the Industrial Arbitration Panel or to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria in line with section 17 of the Trade Disputes Act. But I’m concerned that if do this suo motu, this will not solve the problem of getting our children back to school outright

“So, I’m using this opportunity to plead with the NLC to which ASUU is affiliated, to call them to order, make them obey the law, to let them know what the Trade Disputes Act says and as university teachers who are even teaching industrial law, to abide by the law. They should call of that strike. That strike is not appropriately instituted. I have conciliated and made sure the issues in disputes have been decisively been dealt with.

Ngige recalled the numerous benefits of the Council especially as they relate to the review of the labour laws and adoption of the various conventions of the ILO and commended the Federal Government for moving ahead with global best practices even while working to adopt the conventions.

The Minister referred to Convention 102 which is on social security, listing the pillars to include comprehensive medical care, compensation for accidents at work, workers insurance and maternal health, saying the Employee Compensation Act 2010, National Health Insurance Scheme as well maternity and now paternity leave currently being accessed by public servants are in this direction. He restated the commitment of the Ministry to ensuring regular meetings of the council.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment and chairman of the Council, Peter Tarfa said the meeting was a demonstration of the Ministry’s commitment to regular meetings of the NLAC to strengthen the council in its role as the apex body, charged with the responsibility of ensuring industrial peace and harmony as well as sound labour administration practice.

He said “national industrial relation space” has remained turbulent despite the government’s effort, hence the need for the collective input of all stakeholders for a solution.

Education

Tinubu orders conduct of all schools, teachers census

Published

1 day ago

April 19, 2024

Trends Admin

Tinubu orders conduct of all schools, teachers census

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the conduct of a census in the education sector to aid proper planning.

The directive which came on Thursday is aimed at producing accurate data on all schools in Nigeria from primary to tertiary level, their present conditions and facilities, proximity to one another and infrastructure.

It is also know the number of teachers in the country, their qualifications, training support received; number of pupils and students in primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions, gender, and exam grades.

A statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity Bayo Onanuga said the policy DOTS, an acronym for Data Repository, Out-of-School Children Education, Teacher Training and Development, and Skill Development and Acquisition, will comprehensively overhaul the education sector.

This, he said, would improve learning and skill development, increase enrolment and ensure the academic security of the nation’s children.

According to the Presidency, the information that will be derived from the exercise will guide federal and state interventions for teachers’ training and development as well as overall support.

The statement read in part, “It will also provide data on gender ratio (boys and girls), their specific learning needs, and who is in school or who has dropped out based on daily monitoring with year-by-year reporting.

“There will be a dedicated portal/dashboard in the Federal Ministry of Education, offices of state governors, and local government chairpersons, which will host and disseminate this information for the federal government, states, and local governments to monitor in real time.

“This new data tracking architecture will enable the government to track the progress of students, thus having a clear data-driven mechanism for interventions, especially concerning out-of-school children, [especially] girls, and those with specific learning disabilities, among others.”

The Presidency also gave an update on out-of-school children’s education and training.

It said the Federal Ministry of Education was already implementing the government’s policy through the activities of four of its agencies, with about two million beneficiaries recorded thus far.

Education

22 Zamfara varsity students, staff members released after six months in captivity

Published

4 days ago

April 16, 2024

Trends Admin

22 Zamfara varsity students, staff members released after six months in captivity

Twenty-two abducted students and staff members of the Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, have finally been released after six months in captivity.

The victims, comprising 15 students and seven workers of the university, were abducted from the university in September 2023.

They were received on Monday April 15 in Abuja by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

The captives were released in three batches, with the last batch returning home on Sunday April 14.

Ribadu said the rescue operation was coordinated by the National Counter-Terrorism Centre.

He urged them not to allow their experience to break them, but should rather make them stronger.

He said, “On behalf of the President, I thank all those involved in the successful rescue of the victims without losing anyone of them or paying any ransom.

“This is yet again a success story in our efforts to free all those being unlawfully held in captivity.

“We have so far released over a thousand of such victims without noise and with complete respect to their privacy and safety.

“This occasion marks a final juncture in a series of rescues we have undertaken in the last few months, to free victims of recent cases of mass abductions.

“Going forward, we are strengthening law enforcement and security measures to prevent these abductions, and strengthen physical security across vulnerable communities.”

National Coordinator, NCTC, Maj.-Gen. Adamu Laka, recalled that those rescued were abducted from the school on September 22, 2023, at about 0230hrs.

He said the bandits armed with various weapons attacked three off-campus students’ hostels at Sabon Gida in Gusau and kidnapped a number of female students alongside some male artisans.

Others, he said, were a private security guard and a protocol officer of the university.

He added that the bandits ransacked the hostels, and carted away foodstuffs, mobile phones, laptops, ATM cards, cash and other valuables.

According to him, the abductees were subsequently herded on motorcycles and foot to a location through a town in the Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara.

Laka said, “Search and rescue was conducted by a combined team of law enforcement agencies and the abductees were subsequently released in three batches, after 207 days in captivity.

“The first batch was rescued on March 15 while the second batch was rescued on April 12 and the last batch was rescued on April 14.

“All the abductees were profiled at the NCTC while the ONSA Medical Team examined them and administered minor treatments on the bruises sustained by 3 of the abductees.”

Education

Oromoni’s death natural but avoidable, coroner rules

Published

4 days ago

April 15, 2024

Trends Admin

Oromoni’s death natural but avoidable, coroner rules

Sylvester Oromoni died of a natural cause and not due to any action by his school, Down College, or accused five students of the college.

This is the verdict of a coroner, Mikhail Kadiri, who presided over the matter on Monday during a seven-hour magistrate court sitting in Ogba, Lagos.

The judgement coming after a two-year inquiry, affirmed that the 12-year-old died of sepsis emanating from an infection of the lungs and kidney due to an ankle injury.

The coroner however said his death was an avoidable case of parents and medical team’s negligence.

Sylvester Oromoni Junior who was a student of Dowen College in Lekki, Lagos, died on November 30, 2021.

The coroner cleared the five students of the college accused in the case, ruling that they played no part in the death of Sylvester and should not have been involved in the matter.

He also advised parents not to take their children’s health with levity.

The magistrate also called for better cooperation between the police and medical team and that the police must exercise caution before making arrests in the future.