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Minimum Wage: Nationwide Strike Disrupts Electricity Supply, Others

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Disconnect Electricity Supply

By Adedapo Adesanya

Organised labour in Nigeria commenced a nationwide strike as planned on Monday, disrupting electricity supply in the country as well as public school education.

The workers refused to resume work today after the meeting between their leaders and the federal government ended in a deadlock. The last-minute attempt by the National Assembly to avert the industrial action was futile on Sunday night.

Yesterday, Mr Festus Osifo, the President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC); and his counterpart in the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Joe Ajaero; met with Senate President, Mr Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Tajudeen Abbas. in Abuja.

The meeting was part of efforts by the legislators to persuade aggrieved workers to shelve their planned industrial action for a new minimum wage and reversal of the recent hike in electricity tariff.

However, there was no resolution at the meeting and the labour leaders declared afterwards that, “The strike will kick off as we take their (National Assembly) plea asking us to call off the strike to our various organs.”

The labour unions had said the current minimum wage of N30,000 could no longer cater to the wellbeing of an average Nigerian worker considering the removal of fuel subsidy and its ripple effect.

The unions also lamented that not all governors were paying the current wage award which expired in April 2024, five years after the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 was signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The demand for a new wage was put at around N490,000 but certain quarters, including the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), defended the government’s inability to pay it.

According to stipulations, the Act should be reviewed every five years to meet the contemporary economic demands of workers.

The unions handed the federal government a May 31 deadline for the new minimum wage and declared a nationwide strike beginning from Monday, June 3, 2024, over the government committee’s inability to agree on a new minimum wage and reversal of electricity tariff hike.

Business Post observed that electricity workers have already joined the strike with several people reporting power outages by 2 am on Monday, while public school students in Lagos as well as other states were told to return home.

Adedapo Adesanya is a journalist, polymath, and connoisseur of everything art. When he is not writing, he has his nose buried in one of the many books or articles he has bookmarked or simply listening to good music with a bottle of beer or wine. He supports the greatest club in the world, Manchester United F.C.

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Adelabu Calls for Calm After 100 Days of UCH Power Outage

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UCH Power Outage

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Minister of Power, Mr Bayo Adelabu, on Monday addressed students of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan who are staging a peaceful protest on the lingering power cut at the school.

Business Post reports that the outage has lasted over 100 days, with Monday making it 101 days since the hospital was disconnected from the grid in October 2024 by Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) over an outstanding debt of about N500 million.

The Student Union of the University of Ibadan in conjunction with the College of Medicine staged a peaceful protest to draw the attention of the Federal Government to the development but nothing has been done to the effect.

The protesters demanded an immediate reconnection of UCH and the implementation of a 50 per cent tariff reduction they claim the Minister promised the hospital.

Meanwhile, Mr Adelabu appealed to the students to allow for dialogue while proposing a truce between the IBEDC and UCH.

The students carried placards with different inscriptions such as +100 Days of Darkness: Save UCH; Save ABH Hall; Save Falade Hall; Give Us Light; This Is Not How We Want To Live; Medical School Is Hard Enough—Give Us Light; All We Are Saying, Give Us Light, among others.

The students had protested on January 26, 2025, to the State and Federal Secretariats, Agodi, Ibadan, with the hope that the management would fix the issue, but with the 100-day milestone, the new protest hopes there will be resolution

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Regional Imbalance: CNPP Proposes Creation of Five States

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Conference of Nigeria Political Parties CNPP

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The National Assembly has been advised to consider the creation of five additional states to address regional imbalance in the number of states in the country’s six geopolitical zones to ensure equity, fairness, and justice in the distribution of resources and opportunities among various regions.

Over the weekend, the nation was busy with proposal from some Nigerians on the creation of additional 31 states to bring the total to 67 states.

Reacting to this, the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) submitted that instead of creating almost double of what the country currently has, five fresh states should be created from four regions.

In a statement signed by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr James Ezema, the CNPP argued that, “Democracy does not support injustice. The basic principles of democracy derive from free, fair, justice, and equitable distribution of resources, and the rule of law.”

The group emphasized that addressing the imbalance in the number of states in each geopolitical zone was crucial for promoting unity, stability, and progress in Nigeria.

“The CNPP proposes that each of the six geopolitical zones should have seven states each, based on economic viability and other relevant factors for the new states to be created.

“Specifically, the North Central and North West zones already have seven states, while the rest of the zones have six states each, except the South East region with only five states.

“There is the need to create one additional state each for the South West, North East, and South-South zones and two additional states should be created in the South East zone.

“Once this is achieved, the National Assembly can consider creating additional states in each of the six geopolitical zones.

“The CNPP believes that this is a necessary step towards ensuring that every region in Nigeria has an equal opportunity to develop and contribute to the growth and prosperity of the nation.

“We urge the National Assembly to take this matter seriously and work towards creating a more just and equitable society for all Nigerians.

“The CNPP has consistently advocated for good governance, transparency, and accountability in Nigeria. The CNPP as the umbrella body of all registered political parties and political associations in Nigeria remains committed to promoting the principles of democracy and ensuring that the rights and interests of all Nigerians are protected and advanced,” it noted.

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Nigeria, Bahrain to Strengthen Trade, Investment Ties

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virtual free trade zones

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria and Bahrain are working to strengthen diplomatic ties, focusing on trade, investment, and oil and gas cooperation.

The two countries recently engaged in bilateral discussions aimed at facilitating foreign direct investment, enhancing trade and investment opportunities and equally fostering cooperation in the oil and gas sectors.

A statement on Sunday by the spokesman of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Alkasim AbdulKadir, said his boss, Mr Yusuf Tuggar, recently visited Manama in the Kingdom of Bahrain and engaged in bilateral discussions with his Bahraini counterpart, Mr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani.

It was revealed that the meeting focused on strengthening diplomatic relations, facilitating foreign direct investment from Bahrain, enhancing trade and investment opportunities, and fostering cooperation in the oil and gas sectors, with particular emphasis on onshore projects and the development of the 8th train LNG.

Train 8 is part of efforts for Nigeria to boost its Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) capacity but it hasn’t been able to do so because of low investments and insecurity with its energy infrastructure.

The Ministry also said the both parties also deliberated on the training of Nigerian diplomats and collaboration within multilateral forums.

He disclosed that both ministers signed a Joint Communiqué, officially establishing diplomatic relations between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Kingdom of Bahrain, noting that this agreement marks a significant milestone in fostering closer ties and mutual cooperation between the two nations.

He said this development aligns with Bahrain’s ongoing efforts to strengthen international partnerships, stating that recently, Mr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, chaired the third meeting of the national committee for monitoring the implementation of the outcomes of the Bahrain Summit Initiatives, underscoring the kingdom’s commitment to global collaboration.

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