Oyerinde: Labour remembers Oshiomhole’s slain aide

A coalition of non-governmental organisations and civil society groups on Saturday held a candle light procession in memory of slain Principal Private Secretary to Governor Adams Oshiomhole, Olaitan Oyerinde, who was killed by yet to be identified gunmen in his Benin residence, a year ago.

The Nigerian Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, journalists, African Network for Environment and Economic Justice and the Yoruba Union in Edo State were among the mourners on the occasion.

The procession, which commenced around 6pm, started from NUJ centre in the Government Reservation Area, passed through Ring Road to the state House of Assembly complex and other areas of the city.

Executive Director of ANEEJ, Rev. David Ugolor, who was arrested and detained by the police over Oyerinde’s murder, lamented that the police are yet to find the true killers, a year after.

He alleged that, “One year after, the President of this country has failed again. It is becoming increasingly clear that it was the state, the police that killed Oyerinde. There is no doubt about it.”

In the same vein, a human right activist, Barrister Femi Falana (SAN), has called on the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, to publicly apologise to the Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, for the misleading statement that the office of the Attorney-General does not give legal advice to the police with regards to state offences.

During the first year anniversary of the murder of late Comrade Oyerinde, the human right activist said: “While the case of murder is a state offence, the constitutional duty to protect the lives of every person in Nigeria, Nigerians and foreigners alike, is binding on the Federal Government.”

He claimed that at a well attended ceremony in Benin on April 7, 2012, a powerful member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party openly threatened the life of the Edo State Commissioner for Information, Louis Odion, by telling that, ‘You will see what will happen to you,’ without any provocation.

He added that, “Mr. Odion quietly lodged a complaint with the police, but the complaint was treated in a cavalier manner as no charge was preferred against the criminal suspect who had threatened to violate the fundamental right of a citizen to life. Regrettably, the Edo State Government left the matter in the hands of the compromised security apparatus.

“With reference to the fellow who threatened the life of Mr. Louis Odion last year, you should have the case reopened to prove that the culture of impunity is not acceptable in the new Edo State.

“In the case of Edo State, the man who gave us a sign that people were going to be attacked should also be arrested and prosecuted. In the duty to defend the lives of our people, we must be prepared to end the culture of impunity and the official policy of granting amnesty to those who engage in violent crimes in the society, instead of relying on the police to investigate serious crimes. Edo State Government should be more proactive.

“Comrade, I advice that we should have a coroners law in Edo State for the investigation of unnatural deaths as it is the case in Lagos state. As we are marking the first anniversary of the assassination of our comrade, we should remember all those unarmed citizens who have been extra judicially murdered by the security agencies and other criminally minded individuals in the society,” he stated.

Falana said he has asked the Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, to re-open the case concerning the assassination of the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, who was killed in his home in Ibadan, Oyo State on December 23, 2001.

However, tears flowed freely as tributes poured in for the late Oyerinde, who was shot dead by assailants in his Benin City home on May 4, last year.

In his tributes, Comrade Oshiomhole said: “We have a duty to keep the memory of Olaitan alive. Olaitan is a man of uncommon vision and clarity. He was a very selfless worker.

“It is impossible for me to find a replacement. If there is anything happening in any section of the civil society, Olaitan would draw my attention and if possible he will suggest what is to be done. So it is impossible to find a replacement. If it is impossible for me to have a replacement, it is impossible for the children to have another father and for the wife to have another husband.

“I am happy that one year on, the fighting spirit is on and people have asked me why I talk in this way and manner. Some say I don’t talk like a governor when it comes to Olaitan’s matter. How is a man supposed to talk when a man is mourning? Is my office as important as the life of a Nigerian?

“I am conscious of the fact that my tenure at best could be eight years. The next position is ex. And we must continue to remind ourselves that today we are here and tomorrow we are no more. Some time I ask myself should we bother to talk about Olaitan’s investigation because as we have seen few weeks back the former Inspector General’s house was allegedly attacked.”

Comrade Oshiomhole said when you allow political influence to influence your professional duties, you will be contributing to the destruction of the rule of law, adding that: “Once the rule of law is no more enforceable, the law enforcement agencies are compromised. The celebration of democracy is basically the celebration of the rule of law. As central to the rule of law is the capacity of the state, through the security agencies, to identity and prosecute criminals regardless of their status.”

The governor appealed to the people of Edo State never to allow rascals to take over the reins of government, and noted that, “If we do that at all levels, Nigeria will change.”

The National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Abdul Waheed Umar, who was represented by Comrade Isa Aremu, said the cowardly murder of Olaitan is a big blow to the Edo State Government and labour organizations.

Umar said: “He was known for hard work, diligence and intelligence. His last support and unity was during the last delegates’ conference in Asaba. It is time all Nigerians rallied round to unravel the death of Olaitan.”

The National President of Trade Union Congress, Comrade Peter Esele, who described the late Olaitan as a man who makes things happen behind the scene, said: “We will continue to celebrate him every year because of his conviction and doggedness.”

Others who paid tributes were Comrade Didi Adodo, his former classmate, and Barrister Rufus Olanrewaju, amongst others.

His widow, in an emotion-laden speech, said her husband did not die and that his spirit lives on.

She said Olaitan’s killers will never know peace for depriving her children of their father.

Women group urges labour to fight abuse of job outsourcing

The Society of Women in Taxation has called on the organized labour unions in Nigeria to fight and correct the growing trend of abuse of job outsourcing commonly called ‘casualisation’ in the country.

Chairperson of the group, Justina Okoror, said job casualisation and importation of foreigners to do the job Nigerians are capable of doing has risen to new heights in recent years, saying the practice is inimical to the well being of indigenous Nigerian workers.

She said this on Wednesday in Abuja while addressing newsmen on the upcoming conference by the group in Tinapa, Calabar, Cross Rivers state.

Okoror said instead of embarking on strike and opposing government policies, labour union need to rise up to the challenge.

“I advise labour to handle their responsibility well. Beyond embarking on strikes, there are deeper labour related issues that the organized labour should tackle such as casualisation of workers in the oil and gas sector and banks.”

Okoror said the conference with the theme: ‘The Role of Women in Enhancing Revenue Generation and Utilisation for Economic Growth’ is meant to mainstream the ability of women to contribute positively in the economic development of the country. She said women have not been given their rightful place to contribute to the nation’s growth especially at the state level.

Assets management key to vision 2020- Signal Alliance

Efficient maintenance of infrastructures as well as good assets management culture has been identified as two major ways of driving the vision 20:2020.

Signal Alliance, a strategic partner to SAP in enterprise assets management solutions made the submission at a media parley in Lagos.

According to the firm, there is need for government to adopt technology that will help in maintaining its assets so as to ensure maximum value delivery from those infrastructures.

The Chief Corporate Adviser for Signal Alliance, Mr. Erabor Okogun, noted that achieving the vision 20:2020 requires functional infrastructure while stressing that effective maintenance of existing facilities and planning management of expected investments would go a long way in driving the goal.

He explained that as part of Signal Alliance to assist the government in addressing assets monitoring challenge in Nigeria, the company in conjunction with SAP will hold a forum on May 9 in Abuja to sensitize the government on the need to deploy Enterprise Asset Management Solutions.

He said: “It is important that government has a solution like this because achieving vision 20:2020 would require a lot of infrastructures and investments.”

Research workers suspend strike

Workers in Nigeria’s research institutes, who have been on industrial action for about 90 days, have suspended the action.

In an agreement signed in Abuja on April 30 by the leadership of the Trade Unions constituting the Joint Research and Allied Institutions Sector Unions (JORAISU) and government, it was agreed that the nine weeks is to allow a committee raised by government resolve all the issues in disagreement.

The issues in contention include one year arrears of salaries between July 2009 July 2010; demand for 65 years retirement age for non-teaching staff in research institutes; establishment of coordinating commission for research institutions; funding of research institutes; earned allowances and skipping of salary grade level 10.

While speaking to The Guardian on the suspension of the industrial action, the General Secretary of the Non Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), Peter Adeyemi, said the unions suspended the action owing to the approval of President Goodluck Jonathan of the settlement of all the issues in disagreement.

He said: “We were convinced as union leaders that we went on this strike because there was nothing concrete on the table. But now that we have seen actually that Mr. President who has final authority over this matter has approved most of our agitations, we have no choice other than reconsider our position hence the decision to suspend the strike for nine weeks to allow government put every machinery in motion towards the realization of the approved items.

“Our suspending the strike for nine weeks would also allow government to fail again rather than allowing a situation where the public will see us as people who don’t want to work. Even though government asked for 12 weeks, we thought that nine weeks was enough for them to kick-start the process because we consider the fact that these are senior government officials who have competing things to do.”

Adeyemi stated that while the memo signed by the President points the way forward for the resolution of the disputed issues, the payment of one-year salary arrears was not approved.

He said the withholding of the President’s approval was informed by a counter-memo presented by the Salaries, Income Wages Commission, which held that the workers were not entitled to the arrears because their negotiations did not end as at the time negotiations with the unions in the universities ended.

He explained: “But we have consistently faulted this position. Apart from positing that it is out to prevent waste and preserve government resources, the commission also observed that paying us the arrears may trigger off agitations in the sub-sector, Mr. President had no choice but to take a second look at the scenario.

“They also argued that if we were paid, it would then mean that our life span of the agreement government had with us would have begun a year earlier than the negotiated date. This position must have indeed appealed to Mr. President. However, attractive as this may seems, Mr. President has raised a committee to look at the entire thing and report back.

“The membership of this committee which is headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, includes the unions, Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ministers of Education, Labour and Productivity, Science and Technology and Agriculture and Salaries, Income and Wages Commission.”

Though Adeyemi admitted that nine weeks was not enough to accomplish all things set out in the agreement, he submitted that the period is good enough to lay a foundation for their accomplishment if government finds the will.

His words: “We do not expect all the approved items to be implemented in nine weeks, but government can put in place steps that will kick-start the process. For example, there is a draft bill in the National assembly on the proposed coordinating body for research institutions in the country.

 “The executive arm of government can initiate an accelerated process in the Assembly that can culminate in conducting a public hearing on the bill. This will show us that something concrete has begun. Indeed, we know that some of the items may not be conclusively dealt with within the period but actions can be taken that will reassure us of government seriousness within the nine weeks.”

Apart from NASU, other unions involved in the dispute include Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI) and Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI).

As a result the suspension of the strike, workers in the research sector resumed work yesterday (Monday).

 It was also agreed that there shall be no victimization of any worker arising from any act during the strike period.

Illoh raises committee on performance monitoring

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Clement Illoh, has inaugurated a committee on monitoring and evaluation to track performance management, transparency, increased productivity as well as service delivery in the ministry.

While raising the committee, Illoh argued that the step was aimed at achieving the objective of job creation for the teeming unemployed Nigerian youths.

He added: “What cannot be monitored or measured is not worthwhile, therefore the need to build a system of monitoring in other to track along the level of performance as well as challenges and solution became very compelling and that is why the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Committee is being inaugurated.”

Speaking further, the Permanent Secretary revealed that monitoring and evaluation committees in ministries are expected to provide information for accountability and monitoring framework to track the programmes and projects of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

“The purpose of monitoring and evaluation frame work in conducting government business today is to improve the availability, quality and dissemination of governance performance information for accountability and policy improvement, the M&E is a strategy developed to establish a system for tracking the progress and performance of MDA’s programmes and projects,” he explained.

Illoh added that the essence of monitoring and evaluation is not intended to punish workers, but to make sure that projects and programmes work out according to plan.

The permanent secretary urged members of the committee to see their appointment as an opportunity to contribute to national development.

In his remarks, the Director (M&E) National Planning Commission, Dr. Lawal Zakari, lauded the management of the Ministry of Labour and Productivity for their commitment to effective monitoring and evaluation framework, which is aimed at supporting the implementation of the transformation agenda of government and achieving the objective of job creation.

He stated: “You need a very strong political will in any organisation for M&E to succeed, and I am very glad that such type of leadership exist in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, otherwise what we are witnessing today would not have happened, thanks to the permanent secretary for his able leadership to ensure that we have effective monitoring and evaluation framework to support the implementation of the transformation agenda of the present administration and achieving the objective of job creation which is dear to Mr. President.”

The 17-man committee, which has the responsibility of tracking performance management in the ministry, has its members drawn from within the ministry and its agencies with Mr. Zacchaeus Atte, Director Planning Analysis Research and Statistic in the Ministry of Labour as chairman.