Withdraw State Pardon In National Interest - NLC

                                                                                                         14 March 2013

                                  Press Statement

                                      

We are alarmed by the decision of the National Council of States to pardon Mr.Diepreye Alamieyeseigha who was impeached as Governor of Bayelsa State and eventually convicted by a properly constituted court for stealing public funds; and Mr. Shetima Bulama a former Managing Director of the Bank of the North who was also convicted for misappropriating the bank’s funds.

While we appreciate that the Council of States does have a constitutional responsibility to pardon citizens who have obviously been convicted or punished in the past for offences, it is totally unacceptable that those who committed economic crimes in such magnitude that affected public interest be granted state pardon.

We still wonder what message the National Council of state is sending to Nigerians if at the height of unprecedented corruption in the country those who have been prosecuted and jailed for stealing public money are granted state pardon.

The Congress finds it incongruous the state pardon granted to the former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreiye Alamieyeseigha and Mr Bulama

While like other citizens, they may be entitled to state pardon, Congress believes that the crimes committed are too weighty for state pardon.

It is our view that state pardon remains an act of mercy or reprieve dispassionately exercised or granted by the highest authority in the land for and on behalf of the government and people,  and it should be a last act of mercy sparingly exercised for the good of the nation.  State pardon is recognized across the world not for its own sake but for its potential and capacity for redressing judicial guilt, rewarding penitence, or for initiating reconciliation, and in some instances, for ensuring restoration, but never losing sight of national interest.

We are surprised that eminent members of the National Council of States could not have deeper reflections on the list brought before them by the Presidency before giving their endorsement.

Congress believes that decisions as weighty as state pardon should be well thought-out, transparent and devoid of any ulterior motive and accordingly, call for a reversal of the decision.

We also wish to remind those who canvass the view that the decision is sacrosanct because the National Council of States approved of it that the buck stops at Mr President’s table.  And in any case the role of the Council of State is strictly advisory.

Congress in the light of the foregoing wishes to advise Mr President to make ample use of the machinery of state for wider and more qualitative consultation before taking weighty decisions.

Congress also holds the view that the confidence any government enjoys is to a large extent determined by the quality of advice it takes in the interest of the people

If the anti corruption battle must be won, the Presidency must lead by its actions.

Abdulwahed Omar

President

Comrade Ali Chiroma is a hero of Nigerian workers - NLC

                                                                                                  3rd  March 2013

Press Statement

The former President of Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Ali Chiroma OON, mni, clocked the enviable age of 80 on Wednesday, February 27, 2013 and is still waxing strong.

Comrade Chiroma is an indefatigable, humble and caring leader, who started his trade union career in 1950, and rose to be President of the Rural Health Workers Union in 1960.  By 1978, he had become Deputy President of the Medical and Health Workers Union after the voluntary merger of the 17 unions in the health sector.  He was also the State Council Chairman of the Borno State Council of Nigeria Labour Congress from 1978 to1981.

From 1981 to 1984, he was the first Deputy National President of the NLC, assuming full Presidency from 1984 to 1988 as the second President after the tenure of Comrade Hassan Sunmonu.

Comrade Chiroma represented workers on the governing board of the International Labour Organisation, ILO from 1984 to 1990.  Earlier in 1983, he attended Course 5 of the prestigious National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru.

Comrade Chiroma was also a member of the Constitutional Conference Commission from 1995 to 1998 and was at various times an ILO Consultant on Workers’ Education in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra-Leone, the Gambia, Uganda and Eritrea.

Comrade Chiroma was President of the Congress in one of the most turbulent periods in Nigeria’s history and confronted the military dictatorships of Generals Mohammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida, for which he suffered harassment, arrests and detentions.

During his tenure as President of the NLC, he developed an organisational alliance with the students movement and was a strong voice in defence of the rights of Nigerian students as well as the right of all Nigerians to affordable education. When students were violently attacked with several of the students murdered by the Nigeria Police at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria the NLC under Comrade Ali Chiroma’s leadership stood strongly by the students.

We will continue to regard this tireless, forthright, committed and very thorough comrade as a living hero of not just the struggles of the Nigerian workers but an indispensable patriot and hero of the Nigerian people who committed himself to the struggle for democracy, as well as to the promotion of trade union and human rights in Nigeria and the African continent.

On behalf of Nigerian workers, we salute this man of courage, exemplary self discipline and committed patriot and wish him many more years of good health.

Abdulwahed Omar            

President                                                       

 

DO NOT TURN OUR CAMPUSES INTO GRAVE YARD! - NLC

                                                                                                                                  27 February 2013

PRESS RELEASE

The cold-blooded murder of four students of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi by a detachment of the army drafted to the school to quell a peaceful protest by students over continued non-availability of water is shocking, unacceptable and reprehensible.

These avoidable killings of young and defenseless people leave a sour taste in the mouth. This brutal and murderous tactics by soldiers is a throw-back to the past we would be better off without.

The right to dissent or protest is a constitutional right and not a privilege to be given by any god-head. What the students were doing therefore was in the exercise of that right from which not only them would benefit. If however, it was the considered opinion of the law enforcement agents that the students had crossed the red line in the exercise of that right, the professional and proper thing was to have been guided by the rules of engagement and not to have engaged in a senseless slaughter.

It is bad enough that our utilities on which huge sums of money are spent do not work. To kill those who insist that they work, which in our view, is ensuring accountability, is double jeopardy. We want to be emphatic; no amount of cruelty or mindless violence visited on the weak and the defenseless will stop protests in our land. Our students were part of the struggle that restored democracy in our land, and should not be treated as irritants who do not know the difference between right and wrong. Those who invited the soldiers, those who carried out these killings and those under whose watch the killings were carried out should be held accountable. The government should fish them out immediately and prosecute them in line with the laws of the land.

And except this is done timorously, the government would have succeeded in sending out one clear message, that when it comes to terror there is no difference between the state and terrorists.

This crude impunity and descent into the abyss, we must warn, should be arrested for the sake of all of us. It is trite knowledge that violence breeds violence, particularly in societies where the state no longer has monopoly of weapons of destruction.

We should move from this quick-fix strategy to something much more durable and reasonable. We should re-discover our values and inspire our younger generation instead of this orgy of violence that will ultimately consume us.

School authorities should exercise utmost restraint in dealing with student protests, for they lose control as soon as they externalize them. Quite often, nipping in the bud such protests is a safer option as we know that students when taken into confidence could be reasonable.

And in the event of an inevitable situation necessitating externalization, only law enforcement agents with the needed temperament, education and training relevant to students’ psychology should be deployed to campuses. Above all this, they should be thoroughly versed in the art of internal security maintenance and rules of engagement. This, in our view, makes necessary here and now the retraining of our security forces to deal with students and other civil protests.

Finally, our hearts go to the parents, friends and compatriots of the fallen students. May God give them the fortitude to bear these painful losses. It is sad, ever so sad as our campuses are being turned into grave yards.

Abdulwahed I. Omar

President

The Super Eagles have set the pace! - NLC

                                                                                                           11 February 2013

                                           Press Statement

On behalf of the Nigerian workers we congratulate the Super Eagles of Nigeria on its victory at the just concluded African Cup of Nations tournament’s final match which was played at the National Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa, thirteen years after Nigeria last won the trophy.

We see in this victory a bright future for Nigerian football, if we are able to put the right people in the management of sports in general and soccer in particular.

Some of the Nigerian players are from Nigeria based teams and with their performance at this tournament, it is clear that given the right facilities, managers and priority attention, soccer will return as a major sector and home to our teeming unemployed youths who have the skill and interest in the sport.

We therefore call on government to review the lackluster attention sports has received so far by reforming the sector in other to reposition the sport Industry to conform with contemporary times.

Specifically, we urge the Nigeria Football Federation to urgently reorganize the Nigerian Football League by providing adequate resources and facilities that will identify young people from primary schools up to tertiary educational institutions for consistent trainings, community and inter school competitions where future national players are identified and engaged by both the Federal and State Sports Ministries.

The private sector must also renew their interests in the sports industry by encouraging home based clubs with modern facilities, sustainable remunerations and exposure to national and international trainings and competitions. We shouldn’t wait until the next international tournament before assembling players.

The Head Coach of the Super Eagles, Mr. Stephen Okechukwu Keshi and all the players must be commended for their dexterity, focus and patriotic pride which clearly showed in the way he calmly played all the matches. The Coach and all the players’ professional qualities facilitated the victory we now celebrate. All the players displayed their commitment and worked as a team determined to rescue Nigeria from the abyss we have been left for nearly two decades. They all showed patriotism and must be commended and honoured not just by government but by all Nigerians.

Government and all stakeholders in the sporting industry must ensure we sustain this victory and prepare the entire industry for more victories at home and abroad.

This way, we will rekindle the interests of Nigerian football fans who have since been lost to the European League and other foreign leagues.

Indeed, if the industry is not rescued quickly, we will not only lose football fans; we will lose more players to foreign clubs and leagues. We must not allow what happened to the manufacturing industry, majority of which have been lost to other countries, to happen to sports, being another industry with prospect of engaging thousands of our unemployed youths.

Abdulwahed Omar

President

Don’t truncate the will of the Nigerian people - NLC warns Nigeria's National Assembly

                                                                                                         3 February 2013

                                             Press Statement

The signals coming from the National Assembly, particularly the House of Representatives on the review of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is quite disturbing.

We recall that a public session was to hold last Thursday, 31^st January 2013 which was abruptly postponed by the Honourable Speaker of the House after members of the public had waited for about two hours for the session to commence.

While we hope that the National Assembly is not yielding to pressure from some quarters, particularly the Governors Forum who has been widely reported to be against some popular proposals on critical sections of the constitution most Nigerians advocated should be included in the new constitution, we reiterate our position that the new constitution provides for full local government autonomy as expected in a federation.

The Local Governments are closer to the mass of our people and its only when they are fully independent that the Nigerian people can enjoy the benefits of democracy.

Rather than continue to tie the local governments to the whims and caprices of state governments, the constitution should ensure funds meant for local governments go directly to them and all funds and other resources generated by the local governments should be managed by the local governments and not the state governments.

This is one way we can deepen democracy in Nigeria and ensure a working federal system that will benefit the Nigerian people.

The Nigerian people were united on this during the public sessions held last year in all the 360 constituencies where the Peoples’ Public Sessions were held by the House of Representatives in collaboration with labour and civil society groups in the country.

The Nigerian people were also united that labour and industrial relations matters must remain in the exclusive list as it is in the 1999 constitution and must not be tampered with as it is in the interest of industrial peace and the principles of tripartism which promotes transparency, fairness, and result oriented collective bargaining.

We warn, that the National Assembly should not allow itself to be used to impose tenure elongation for any political office, including the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Office of Governor etc, as Nigerians have consistently opposed this since it was fraudulently introduced to public discourse and legislative attention during the Obasanjo administration. We remain opposed to it and will resist any attempt to smuggle it into the report because Nigerians have consistently been opposed to it.

We took interest in the proceedings of the People’s Public Sessions because we believed the leadership of the House who promised the Nigerian people that our shared views and presentations would not be supplanted with views and interests of a few politicians who wish that the resources and political direction of the country remain their exclusive preserve.

The National Assembly, particularly the House of Representatives should not allow itself to be held hostage by any political group or interest to mutilate the views and collective interests of the Nigerian people in the final report of the sessions held nationwide on the constitution amendment.

The National Assembly should know that their commitment is to the Nigerian people as a whole and not the self interests of a few people or groups. This attitude of subjugating our collective interests have not been helpful in the delivery of good governance and anyone advocating for the sustenance of retrogressive and anti people provisions in the constitution must be regarded and treated as an enemy of the Nigerian people.

The leadership of the House should be firm in its determination to promote democratic ideals and good governance, which the 7^th House of Representatives have been able to demonstrate so far.

We therefore demand that the house make the report of the Peoples’ Public Sessions held nationwide public immediately.

Abdulwahed Omar

President

Convicted Pension Thief Must be Retried - NLC

                                                                                                          29 January 2013

                                               Press Statement

We are startled at the judgement by an Abuja High court yesterday which convicted a man who already admitted stealing N23billion out of over N40billion found to have been stolen from the coffers of the Nigeria Police Pension Fund between January 2008 and June 2011 to just two years in prison with an option of fine in the sum of N750, 000.

That Justice Abubakar Talba could only convict such a high profile thief who has enriched himself with money reserved for people who have served this country honestly and have retired into abject poverty and penury to a scandalous two years imprisonment with an option of fine in the ridiculous sum of N750, 000, shows clearly that the Nigerian judiciary is being compromised and obviously encouraging corruption in a country that has lost most of her earnings to a few individuals who have used their public offices to corruptly enrich themselves.

It becomes more alarming that the pension thief’s counsel had urged the court to be lenient on his client as he has ailing aged parents and responsibility to pay the school fees of his children.

These reasons are as irresponsible, callous just as the offence he committed in the first place. The money he stole has left thousands of families in hunger, perpetual pains and in some cases, even death. This thief didn’t deserve any leniency.

This judgement is not in the public interest and cannot be acceptable to Nigerians who are continuously worried about their future in retirement should the judiciary continue to encourage those caught with public funds with convictions that are clearly not punitive enough for the convict to be remorseful, the judiciary will be encouraging the Nigerian people to opt for jungle justice and treat these high profile criminals the same way pick pockets are treated.

This particular judgement is not only unpatriotic but clearly against national interest as our people are united against corruption which has brought our collective image to global ridicule and our national economy to near collapse.

We urge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to immediately appeal against this judgement or call for a retrial, while we call on the National Judicial Council to investigate both the judge and the entire case.

Given our commitment to the anti corruption crusade, which we believe members of the National Assembly must also be committed to, we urge the National Assembly to review our judicial system to make it more patriotic and function in the interest of democracy which will be threatened should this type of ridiculous judgement be allowed.

This judgement lacks moral values and has not demonstrated that laws and judicial institutions are capable of protecting the interest of ordinary people as well as safeguard national interests. And this portends danger for democracy anywhere in the world.

This judgement, if allowed to stay will be a direct encouragement to corruption and corrupt officials who will not mind deepening their stealing zeal knowing that the punishment they will face would be soft and harmless.

Kiri Mohammed

Acting President

These attacks are destructive to our economy - NLC Scribe

                                                                                                          21 January 2013

                                             

                                 Press Statement

The attack on the convoy of the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero a few days ago, has once again questioned the security of the country and brings to the fore the urgent need for the reorganization of Nigeria’s internal security system as violent militant activities seem to be growing in strength by the day.

These attacks seem to expose the lie in the claim by the Federal Government that its security agencies have been able to curtail the activities of violent extremists.

Kano, being a major industrial city in the northern part of the country is very strategic to the Nigerian economy and polity, and should therefore not be allowed to be held hostage by violent groups.

The Emir of Kano is the highest traditional office holders, and a leading traditional voice in the country.  If he can be so brazenly attacked, ordinary citizens will continue to live in fear and consequently the atmosphere of insecurity in the state and the country in general will grow deeper.

This will certainly affect the free movement of persons and workers to their workplaces with grave consequences on freedom of movement and commercial activities.

While condemning these incessant attacks, we reiterate our commitment to dialogue, national peace and unity, and call on those responsible for these spate of violence and spectre of fear to reflect on the monumental and devastating damages their attacks have inflicted on the economy and ultimately the devastating impact on our collective future.

We commiserate with the families of the aides of the Emir who lost their lives during the attack defending the life of the Emir of Kano.

We also condole with workers and the people of Kano State and urge them not to despair or allow these attacks discourage them in the pursuit of peaceful coexistence and commerce as they have always been despite the challenges of a clear state of insecurity, which is intended to engender anarchy.

We urge the security agencies to improve their intelligence to protecting lives and property, and to ensure that subsequent attacks are detected and apprehended before they are carried out.

Chris Antigha Uyot

Acting General Secretary