Labour
5000 Jobless Youths Chase 500 Vacancies at Fair
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
No fewer than 5,000 unemployed youths, mostly graduates on Thursday, besieged the International Conference Center in Abuja, venue of the “Abuja Job Fair 2019”, seeking to secure about 500 job vacancies declared by the organizers.
The one day event was organized by the German Cooperation (GIZ), in collaboration with the Nigerian-German Center for Jobs, Migration and Integration and the Federal Ministry of Labour & Employment at the M&M Event Center.
About 110 participating companies and organizations including UBA Plc, NPC, ECOWAS, ILO, Access Bank and Abuja Chamber of Commerce took up stands at the Fair which was declared open by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige.
Speaking, the Minister said it was a worrisome situation, statistics showing that 20 percent of Nigeria’s 200 million population was unemployed.
He said the Federal Government, determined to arrest the scourge, has laid greater emphasis on job creation in the 2020 Budget.
Ngige pointed out that “youth unemployment is a pressing scourge which all should join hands to address”.
He commended the organizers for the initiative stressing that it was illegal migration that “prompted friendly countries like Germany to come to our rescue”.
Earlier, the Deputy Head of German Mission in Nigeria, Mr Helmut Kulitz said his country was proud to be involved in the Employment sector as there is a strong link between job, job creation and migration.
Cluster Coordinator, Sustainable Economic Development and Head of Programme, German Skills Development for Youth EmploymentMr Hans-Ludwig Bruns in his remarks said the objective of the Job Fair is to reduce unemployment among youths by matching them with potential employers.
He said the German Ministry of Economic Development strongly supports this objective through the GIZ which advises young Nigerians on application procedures like writing of curriculum vitae, etc.
He disclosed that a similar Job Fair will be held in Lagos in March, next year, followed by another one in Benin city subsequently.
According to information obtained from the organizers, the objective of the Job Fair “is to reduce unemployment especially among Nigerian youths by providing a platform to bring together employers offering vacant positions with job seekers that have a matching qualification for the purpose of recruitme
Labour
Tribute to Chief Frank Kokori
By Joe Ajaero
We at the Nigeria Labour Congress are deeply saddened by the passing away of Chief Frank Kokori at 80. Our hearts are with his biological family and the NUPENG family where he was General Secretary. To them and other associates, we offer our condolences.
Chief Frank Kokori was Executive Secretary of OMPADEC which later metamorphosed into NDDC among other national appointments held by him.
He was announced as Chairman of the board of NSITF but denied that role by some of the powers that be. He instead chaired the board of Michael Imoudou National Institute of Labour Studies (MINILS) where he made his impact. This was his last national assignment.Chief Frank Kokori will be remembered for many things but top on that list was being among the Labour leaders that gave their all in order for our country to have democracy.
For his stoic and heroic struggle for the enthronement of democracy, he was arrested and detained by the military alongside other Labour leaders for spells of time under inhumane conditions.
Before his arrest and detention by the Abacha -government, Kokori was in the vanguard of Labour leaders who fashioned an alliance with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on the understanding that then Congress President, Comrade Pascal Bafyau (now of blessed memory) would be vice president to Chief Abiola. Although Chief Abiola (due to circumstances) beyond his control) did not keep that part of the bargain, organised labour gave him their generous and unflinching support. This, coupled with Chief Abiola’ s own credentials gave him coast to coast victory at the polls in the freest election in the history of the country.
Nigeria Labour Congress was similarly in the vanguard of national resistance when the military scuttled Chief Abiola’ s election or victory. It was in execution of that resistance that Chief Kokori among other Labour leaders was arrested and incarcerated while others were hounded out of the country. The “lucky” ones were only put on the security watch list and were routinely harassed at their homes, airports and at public functions considered by the State to be subversive. At the risk of sounding immodest, among those arrested and incarcerated at such functions at Ilorin were Comrades Joe Ajaero and Chris Uyot, Deputy General of Congress. There were several others who suffered differing indignities for fighting for democracy.
Even while some of its leaders were in detention with Chief Abiola, Labour leaders did not give up on their struggle for enthronement of popular democracy.
For their “obduracy”, the organised labour paid a heavy price. The Nigeria Labour Congress and NUPENG for instance, were illegally dissolved by the military and their assets seized. Sole Administrators were appointed to oversee their affairs until 1999!
It is in light of this that we find it a big irony that those who collaborated with the military yesterday while Labour was in the trenches would have the audacity to say today that Labour has no business in politics. It is a shame they are allowed to eat their cake and have it because quite a number of them through the roof or the back door are in government or positions of influence. And clearly, the dilemmna in which we have found ourselves as a people and as a nation cannot be divorced from this syndrome of opportunism and messiah complex…same faces, same cases, same places ( Akinola Aguda).
Chief Kokori, a dogged and fearless fighter has played his role and gone, history has the next chapter.
Meanwhile, while the wheel of history turns, we urge the federal government and the Government of Delta State to immortalise him, for what is good for the goose is good for the gander.
Comrade Joe Ajaero is President, Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC)
President
Aviation
Passengers Stranded as NLC Locks Down Abuja Airport
By Idris Umar Feta Abuja
Many air travellers were left stranded following the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Thursday.
A combined team of NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) blocked both the entry and exit ways of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
The protest was part of the series of actions that the two labour unions say they would zero in on Imo, following the attack on the NLC president, Joe Ajaero.
The NLC and TUC had on Tuesday, declared a nationwide strike, which will commence on Tuesday, November 14, due to the face-off with the Imo State Government.
COVER
Strike: FG Okays 30 Days Implementation of MoU with Labour
The Federal Executive Council, FEC, on Wednesday approved a 30 day implementation plan for the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU between the Federal Government and the Organized Labour.
The government also is taking a decision against any external interference in unions activities by external bodies.
This is as the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong alongside the Minister of State, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha have met with the factional leaderships of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW.
Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, presided over by President Bola Tinubu, at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, Lalong said a Memorandum was presented to the council on the implementation of the agreement with labour.
He said, “We presented a memo from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment and the memo was basically on the agreement between government and the labour. You are already aware that 15 items are parts of the agreement.
“But we went beyond mere agreement, we told them that something different this time is happening because one, part of the agreement is to file it in the court of law which we have set the process already.
“And the other one was the presidential approval. There cannot be any presidential approval more than the Federal Executive Council. So we presented them to the Federal Executive Council. We analyzed each and every aspect of the agreement and to show the genuineness and also provide for harmonious and good industrial relationship and that was why it was presented and it was approved for implementation.
“It was agreed that within 30 days, there must be evidence of implementation and that was the basis of presenting to the Federal Executive Council the memo and the Federal Executive Council also approved it and within this 30 days, we will go on with the implementation of the agreement between labour and government.”
Fielding on the item six of the MoU which was the government alleged interference in the activities of the democratically elected leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW and the mandate to him (Lalong) to resolve the crisis in the union on or before October 13, the Minister said he had already met with the various factions
He said, “Item six in the MoU is about interference specifically with issues that were about road transport workers. Immediately the next day, we embarked on meetings between the two organisations.
“As of today, they have already reached out and have concluded that of Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN, today they are making a report to the ministry about their agreement because they went into agreement too and we are also going to get back to their parent association.
“The next one is the NURTW. Last week we were with them. Of course if some of you were there, you knew why we postponed it, I reminded them that we are keeping to the date of the agreement but they said they cannot strictly keep to the date because it is very important to them that we realized the aim. So we shifted the meeting till tomorrow. Today, we are going to get the report, by tomorrow we will fix a meeting.
“The reason why we presented these items to the Federal Executive Council is for them to note and approve that after these things we will not want to be tolerating interference into union activities.”But those that are pending are within the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment. Our own is to dispense with conflicts and we are going to continue to do that and these two items we have mentioned, were really the particular things they hammered on when we met. By God’s grace in the next few days, those ones are going to be sorted out.”