Category: Metro

Strike

By Salisu Sani-Idris

Abuja, June 3, 2024 (NAN) The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), has cautioned the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), against disrupting the ongoing transportation of Nigeria pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.

The Assistant Director, Public Affairs, NAHCON, Mrs Fatima Usara, gave the advice in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

Usara also empahaised the need for the NLC to respect the sensitivity of “this divine devotion and not to encroach on its movement”.

“Information reaching NAHCON indicates that there are plans by a section of the NLC to disrupt the ongoing Hajj operations.

“This is coming in spite of the initial understanding that Hajj flights would not be affected.

“The commission appreciates concern of the NLC over the welfare of its members, however, NAHCON wants it to respect the sanctity of Hajj as a religious obligation which Muslims do not take lightly.

“The commission advises NLC to apply caution and not to tamper with the Hajj conveyance as a courtesy to the Muslim faith.

“Disruptive action against the smoothness of the operation will deprive intending muslims their fundamental right to worship considering the limited time left before closure of Jeddah and Madinah airports for the pilgrimage,” the statement added.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that no fewer than 65,500 Nigerians are expected to perform the 2024 pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

NAHCON records indicate that the commission has so far transported 38,805 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia in 92 flights. (NAN)

SSI/ETS

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Olumba Olumba hails Nigeria’s reversion to old anthem

Anthem

By Uchenna Eletuo

Lagos, June 3, 2024 (NAN) The Brotherhood of the Cross and Star (BCS) on Monday  halied  Nigeria’s reversion to its old National Anthem, saying that the old anthem  preached  love, peace, justice and faith.

BCS, also known as Olumba Olumba Obu, made the commendation during a  courtesy visit to the Lagos Office of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The Leader of the team, Prof. David Irerin, said that the reversion was God’s will.

He said, “Part of it that says ‘In Brotherhood we Stand’ is in total submission to will of God in mapping out the area known as Nigeria.”

Irerin said that peace, love, justice  and forgiveness were necessary for societal growth.

He called on Nigerians to respect, honour and love one anther irrespective of tribe and religion.

“The reversion to the former anthem has divine a connotation with the vision of God for Nigeria, Nigeria’s development and her influence on the comity of nations,” he said.

A member of the team, Archbishop Okey Asoluka, said that BCS was committed to preaching love,  holiness and justice to  eliminate wickedness, corruption, idolatry, oppression, greed and other sinful acts.

He said that any  society obeying God would develop.

He added that the reversion to the old anthem would do Nigeria good.

“With the infusion of the brotherhood into our national life, a re-orientation is coming,” he said.

Asoluka said that there was the need for the citizens to pray for their leaders.

“It is our obligation as citizens to continue to pray for our leaders to be consciously linked to God  to remain on track.

“Respect all persons regardless of social status; love all, for it is God you are seeing in others,” he said.

Earlier, while receiving the team, the Head of Lagos Office of NAN, Mr Adeleye Ajayi, said that the agency  was a leading news purveyor with global reach.

Ajayi said that the agency provided timely,  balanced and accurate news and news material to diverse clientele.

NAN reports that President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, signed the National Anthem Bill 2024 into law, reinstating Nigeria’s old National Anthem:  “Nigeria, We Hail Thee”.(NAN)

EUC/IGO

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Edited by Ijeoma Popoola

Airlines

By Itohan Abara-Laserian

Lagos, June 3, 2024 (NAN) The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said that 40 airlines have signed an agreement to contribute their schedules data to the IATA Schedule Data Exchange Programme.

The Director-General of IATA, Mr Willie Walsh, made this known  in a statement made available to newmen in Lagos on Monday.

He said  that additional 40 airlines were  preparing to join.

Walsh noted that work on the programme began in October 2023 with the first release planned in March 2025.

He said: “The early and strong support for the IATA Schedule Data Exchange Programme bodes well for its success.

“Coverage is growing with each new airline that comes on board, and we encourage all airlines, IATA members and non-members, to join this strategic industry effort.

“The Schedule Data Exchange Programme will collect schedules, capacity and minimum connecting time  data used in several IATA products and services, supporting network development, revenue management, slot coordination and interline agreements.

“IATA is not creating a commercial product aimed at replacing or competing with entities currently distributing schedule data. Participating airlines will have access to the data on a give-to-get principle,” he said.

Walsh also said that the programme was open to both IATA and non IATA-member airlines.

He added that participating airlines would submit their data to IATA with the same format, frequency and transmission method they used to distribute their schedules.

He said that the data sharing principles and data release policy of the programme were determined by an advisory group comprising participating carriers.

“The IATA Board of Governors had set a strategic priority for IATA to be the most authoritative source of industry data across a wide range of topics.

“There is also an industry interest in ensuring that industry data has the potential to be provided through several sources.

“Airlines are all too familiar with the detrimental impacts of having limited competition in their supplier communities,” Walsh said.

In another development, Walsh announced that Mr Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive Officer of IndiGo, has assumed  duties as the Chair of the IATA Board of Governors.

He said that Elbers’s one-year term began at the conclusion of the 80th IATA Annual General Meeting in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Monday. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

ITM/CHOM/IGO

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Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Ijeoma Popoola

 Shehu Osidi, Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (3rd from left); Ms Chinenye Anosike, Executive Director, Business Development and Portfolio Management, FMBN (4th from left), and Mr Muhammed Abdu, Executive Director, Loans and Mortgage Services, FMBN (5th from left) with some of the chairmen of the seven Task Teams inaugurated by the bank to recover all the company’s delinquent loans.  

Loan

By Angela Atabo

Abuja. June 3, 2024 (NAN) The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) on Monday inaugurated seven specialised task teams to recover all the bank’s Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) nationwide.

While inaugurating the teams in Abuja, Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of the bank, Shehu Osidi, said the move was to reduce non-performing loans.

Osidi said the move became expedient to safeguard the bank’s financial interests and sustain its lending operations.

He said that over the years, FMBN had played a crucial role in providing affordable housing finance to Nigerians, hence contributing significantly to advancing the national housing agenda and promoting the home ownership scheme.

“However, the sustainability of these efforts hinges on our ability to recover loans effectively and reinvest them in future projects; unfortunately, the bank has performed poorly in this regard.

“Loan recovery is a critical component of our financial management strategy.

“This is to ensure that funds are available for disbursement to new beneficiaries while maintaining the integrity of our lending operations.

“Regardless of the successes recorded in our home delivery efforts, we must acknowledge the enormous challenges we face with our non-performing loans.

“While some of the non-performing loans are due to infractions from external parties and factors, a huge chunk of blame also lies with us as internal stakeholders hand-in-hand with glaring administrative and operational inefficiencies.’’

Osidi said henceforth, staff would be held accountable for the outcome of credit decisions over which they had played critical roles.

 He said the strategy adopted by FMBN in the loan recovery endeavour was to follow a different path by challenging, “ourselves to deliver tangible results in pursuance and defense of our common destiny.

“The inauguration of these task teams marks a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to enhance the financial stability and operational efficiency of the bank,’’ he said.

Osidi added that part of the assignment of the task teams includes conducting desk reviews of assigned loan portfolios, including the history of loans, houses available, state of collaterals, outstanding balances, and personalities behind the loans.

He explained that the teams are expected to look at the segmentation of the loans and the chances of recovery, develop an overreaching recovery strategy, engage relevant stakeholders, and use both conventional and informal, but acceptable strategies to carry out the recoveries.

He said in case the teams resorted to security agencies or the court, such action should not be made without the Executive Management’s approval.

Osidi observed that the team will be required to render regular updates and progress reports to the executive management and monitor and track the progress of debt recovery efforts.

He added that they will also implement measures aimed at preventing NPLs, developing risk mitigation strategies, and enhancing the credit assessment process, among others.

He said the teams were segmented along geo-political zones and each team would handle all delinquent loans within its jurisdiction.

He said Team One (FCT) would be led by Dr Kabir  Yagboyaju as Chairman, Mr Jibo Ibrahim Chairman of Team Two (North-West), TLG Elayo, Chairman of Team Three (North-Central), and Mr Gbenga Babade, Chairman of Team Four (South-West).

Others included: Ms Oby Nwokedi, Chairperson of Team Five (South-East), Mr Nafada Ibrahim, Chairman of Team Six (North-East,); and Ms Felicia Aningo, Chairperson of Team Seven (South-South).

“Speed is of the essence because each team has only 10 weeks to complete this assignment and deliver results.

“That is two weeks for desk review and eight weeks for the assignment,” he said.

Ms Chinenye Anosike, Executive Director, Business Development and Portfolio Management, FMBN, congratulated the members of the task teams.

She told the teams that they were carefully selected to deliver on the mandate.

Anosike, therefore, urged them not to pay lip service to the loan recovery task but to work hard and use their expertise to deliver good results within the expected timeframe.

Mr Muhammed Abdu, Executive Director, Loans and Mortgage Services, FMBN, said the loan recovery task given to the teams was an onerous responsibility and an epoch-making exercise aimed at reinventing the growth, development, and future of the bank.

Abdu then assured the bank’s management of the team’s commitment to working in synergy, to be selfless, objective, time-conscious, and passionate about the job, to make the bank very proud and bigger at the end of the day. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

ATAB/CHOM/YEE

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(Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Emmanuel Yashim)

Unionists barricading Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja

Strike
By Reporters
Lagos, June 3, 2024 (NAN) The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday barricaded all entrances into Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, stopping workers from  entering into the premises.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) had directed Nigerians workers to begin an indefinite strike following inconclusiveness of discussions on a new minimum wage.

The labour unions had given the Federal Government May 31 deadline to approve and implement a new minimum wage.

NAN reports that last minute intervention on Sunday night by the National Assembly to prevent the nationwide strike was futile.

The Federal Government  has proposed N60,000 as the new minimum wage, while labour is demanding N495,000.

At the Lagos  State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, where almost all the state ministries are located, workers were locked outside  the gates by labour union leaders.

There was police presence.

NAN reports that the strike affected business activities in and around the secretariat, as some shops around the secretariat were not opened while the others were doing skeletal bbusineses.

At the Lagos State Television (LTV ) at Agidingbi, Ikeja, unionists also sent most workers back home.

A staff of LTV, who pleaded anonymity, said that only senior staff of the organisation were allowed into the premises.

The Lagos State Chairman of the NLC, Mr Funmi Sessi, who addressed workers at the secretariat, said that the union was determined to ensure compliance with the strike directive.

In Katsina, the state chapter of the NLC  vowed to ensure total compliance with the directive.

The state  Chairman of the NLC, Mr Husaini Hamisu, told newsmen that an NLC monitoring team would continue to go round  government and private organisations to sensitise  workers about  the need to join the strike.

“We are not going to engage them in a forceful manner but in a mature way so they will understand the importance of the strike.

“I want to assure you that this indefinite strike will continue until workers’ demands are met by the Federal Government,” he said.

NAN reports that at the federal and state secretariats in Katsina,  workers were seen walking around, while some management staff were working secretly.

Also,  schools  were closed while  normal activities continued at markets, fuel stations and motor parks. (NAN)

LAW/FOG/AABS/CEO

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Edited by Chidi Opara/Ijeoma Popoola

Tinubu completing ongoing projects to make residents comfortable – Wike

Projects

By Philip Yatai

Abuja, June 3, 2024 (NAN) The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, says President Bola Tinubu is completing all ongoing projects to make Abuja residents comfortable.

Wike stated this in Abuja on Monday, during the inauguration of the Outer Southern Expressway (OSEX) from the Villa Round about to Ring Road I (Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway), by Tinubu.

Tinubu was represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the inauguration, the fourth in a row to celebrate his one year in office.

The minister said that the project was awarded in 2013 at N39.8 billion but revised to N59.9 billion in 2021, adding that it was partly funded by SUKUK.

“This is 11 years that we have been battling on how to make life easy for our people.

“That is why the whole essence of the Renewed Hope Agenda is that we will make people feel comfortable; we will bring back your hope and this is what we are doing today.

“Mr. President said every uncompleted project must be completed and I thank God almighty that we are doing that today,” he said.

Wike thanked Tinubu and his team, the leadership of the National Assembly, and Area Councils’ Chairmen for all the necessary support which contributed to the achievements so far.

He added that under the Tinubu-led administration, the FCT Administration was also intervening in the education sector to ensure total rehabilitation of all schools that were not in good condition.

He equally said that the health sector was also receiving due attention, including rural roads across the six Area Councils of the FCT.

Wike said: “Why people are having their hope back is because, before they only heard about the government, but they did not see the impact of the government.

“But with the renewed hope agenda, governments exist, and they can feel the pulse of government. That is the essence of the renewed hope agenda.

“For those who think it is a mere talk, if you come to Abuja, you will know that it is a reality.”

The minister also attributed the success being recorded so far to teamwork, and advised the Mandate Secretaries against delay of files.

“You have to make sure that files don’t remain in your office for a certain number of days, if I see, I will transfer you to a place where there is no work,” he warned.

On her part, the FCT Minister of State, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, said that the increased accessibility provided by the OSEX would facilitate economic growth and development in the nation’s capital city.

“The benefits of city road expansion are manifold, ranging from improved traffic flow and economic growth to enhanced quality of life for residents,” Mahmoud added.

Earlier, Mr Shehu Ahmad, Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority, explained that the OSEX was one of the boundary roads defining the Federal Capital City on the southern flank.

Ahmad said that the OSEX extended to about 67 kilometres, from the Villa Roundabout up to the Gwagwalada to link with the Federal Highway.

He explained that the development was in phases which began in the early 1980s.

He added that as a segment of the 67-kilometre expressway, the FCTA had completed about 6.7 kilometres, representing 10 per cent, from the Villa Roundabout to Apo Roundabout.

“It is a 10-lane expressway, made up of two service carriageways, totalling four, and two main carriage ways of four lanes.

“The road intercepted five roads named after five former Presidents of Nigeria – Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Way, Yakubu Gowon Way, Muhammadu Buhari Way, and Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway.

“It also has four interchanges at the point of interception of the road and four pedestrian bridges,” Ahmad said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

FDY/AMM

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Edited by Abiemwense Moru

Nigerians

By Salisu Sani-Idris

Abuja, May 3, 2024 (NAN) President Bola Tinubu on Monday in Abuja reaffirmed his administration’s dedication to enhancing the quality of lives for all Nigerians.

Represented by the Vice-President Kashim Shettima, Tinubu stated this at the commissioning of the Expansion of the Outer Southern Expressway (OSEX) from the Villa Roundabout to Ring Road 1 (RRI).

He said that the expansion of the outer southern motorway would not only alleviate traffic congestion and improve transportation but would also stimulate economic growth and create opportunities for prosperity.

Tinubu said, “What is unfolding in our capital city is a testament to what can be achieved with our government Renewed Hope Agenda, quality transformation of the Federal Capital Territory and indeed Nigeria.

“This ambitious undertaken holds profound significance for the FCT and its residence. With additional interchanges we are enhancing connectivity and accessibility.

“Making it easier for residence and visitors alike to navigate our beautiful capital city.”

The President, therefore, commended the FCT Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike and his remarkable team in the territory, for their visionary leadership and tireless dedication to the upliftment of the capital city.

“Wike is redefining the meaning and concepts of modern leadership in Nigeria.

“The President is mightily proud of you for your dedication, for your persistent, for your courage and the will to do well.”

Tinubu, who asked Wike to stand and take a bow, noted that under Wike’s leadership, FCT had witnessed remarkable strive in infrastructural development, urban planning and sustainable growth in the nation’s capital.

“Under Wike, we have proven to the world that what counts is leadership, and what this nation needs is quality leadership.

“The completion of this motorway expansion is not merely a field of engineering but a testament to the power of collaboration and partnership.

“It is a shining example of what we can accomplish when we work together, towards a common goal transcending political divide and personal interest for the greater good of our nation.” (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

SSI/AMM

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Edited by Abiemwense Moru

Wage
By Joan Nwagwu
Abuja, June 3, 2024 (NAN) The Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage (TCNMW), says it will hold its 8th meeting on June 4 to continue negotiations.

Mr Ekpo Nta, member and Secretary of the committee said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

According to Nta, I respectfully invite you to attend the 8th meeting of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage.

“The meeting is scheduled to hold on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, at Nicon Luxury Hotel, Area 11, Abuja at 10.00 a.m. prompt,’’ he said.

He said that he minutes of the 7th meeting, the draft agenda for the 8th meeting, and the Zoom Link for virtual attendance will be forwarded in due course.

Nta called on the chairman of the committee, members and observers to take note.

It would be recalled that Organised Labour at the 7th TCNMW meeting had expressed disappointment that no governor was present at the last meeting.

Labour had also complained that ministers were absent except the minister of State for Labour and Employment who also doubles as a conciliator.

Labour said that there was none present on the side of the government with appropriate authority to commit them to any outcome.

Meanwhile, labour has begun an indefinite nationwide strike following the Federal Government’s failure to meet their demand on the new minimum wage.

It would be recall that the Federal government was offering N60, 000 as the new national minimum wage for workers in the country while Labour is demanding for N470, 000. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
JAN/EEE
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Edited by Ese E. Eniola Williams