News
Labour Ready for War, to Shut Nigeria over Sale of National Assets
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC); Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC); the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG); and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), so-called organised labour, said that they will shut down Nigeria if the federal government go ahead to sell national assets.
According to them, the revolt and civil unrest will be worse than the anti-SAP riots of 1989.
But, Mr. Femi Adesina, spokesman to the President in a reply to the text message sent to him by the Vanguard, said “no comment.”
NUPENG and PENGASSAN have however threatened to shut Nigeria over the planned sale, which they argued, would not profit the nation but a few privileged Nigerians.
According to PENGASSAN, the planned sale of national assets is a self-destructive move that would further impoverish Nigerians.
The union said the plan, meant to solve short term financial obligations, was targeted at handing over Nigerians’ collective commonwealth to a few individuals and further impoverish the rest of the people.
According to the Vanguard, PENGASSAN, advised that instead of selling assets, government should look for other ways of increasing the revenue base of the country, while plugging loopholes and leakages in public finances.
PENGASSAN noted that governments at all levels should reflate the economy through execution of capital projects and payment of workers’ salaries.
It stated: “Any attempt to sell these national assets will be met with stiff resistance from the Association, as PENGASSAN will galvanize every support, including that of our sister union and labour centres, to shut down this country by ensuring that every activity in the oil and gas sector is brought to a complete halt.
“Some opportunists in the cloak of businessmen and short-sighted politicians had earlier advocated the sale of public assets such as the NLNG, four state-owned refineries, Nigeria’s stakes in Africa Finance Corporation, AFC, the nation’s airports and reduction of government’s shares in upstream oil joint venture operations and this was approved by the National Economic Council, NEC.”
Comrade Emmanuel Ojugbana, PENGASSAN national public relations officer, said such sales would further compound the economic and security problems in Nigeria.
He expressed surprise as to why anybody would plan to sell the assets, such as the NLNG and shares in the upstream oil and gas JV operations, which had been generating revenue for the country to date.
But Udoma Udo Udoma, minister of budget and planning, said in a statement on Saturday that the Federal Government would not sell critical national assets to shore up its foreign reserves as well as have funds to retool the economy against the current downward plunge.
According to him, government plans to source immediate funds to reflate the economy and implement capital projects in the 2016 budget.
Elsewhere, NUPENG, said: “We will resist the sale with all our might. It is not in the best interest of Nigerians. It will only compound the unemployment in the country. It will also compound the restiveness and agitation in the Niger Delta. There is no way we are going to accept it. If the President is really a patriot as claimed, he should not yield to the pressure because enemies of the country are at work.
Mr. Joseph Ogbebor, general secretary, NUPENG said that “However, our organs will meet either as NUPENG or jointly with PENGASSAN to deal with it. Certainly, it is unacceptable, unpatriotic, anti-Nigeria and must be rejected and resisted by all. We call on Mr. President to declare a state of emergency on the economy and summon an all-encompassing stakeholders meeting to brainstorm on how the present economic challenges can be quickly addressed. “NUPENG is of the view that Nigeria is a big market and certain measures should be put in place to reflate the economy so that it will be an investors’ destination.”
NUPENG also said it was disturbed and worried about the drop in oil production, occasioned by the bombing of oil and power installations in the Niger Delta.
On its part, NLC through, Joe Ajaero, factional president, said the battle would be to save President Buhari from economic hawks, who were out to bring the government down, noting the President meant well for the nation.
He said: “The nation’s assets do not belong to the National Economic Council. Some of them were not born when these assets were set up. For members to approve the sale is just being prodigal. I cannot remember any of the assets in question that was set up by them.
“They cannot tell us, Nigerian people, whose taxes were used to set up these assets, that whatever they say, we must obey them. They did not consult and they seem not to realise how it is pinching us. The question you should ask them is of all the national assets sold, how much did they make from them?
”How much did government make from the sale of PHCN? How much did government make from the sale of NITEL? How much was the proceed from Nigerian Airways? What impact did sale of those assets have on Nigerians?
“If they have their security report, they should know this is not the time to toy with things like these because Nigerians are angry and they are prepared to vent their anger on the oppressors.
“I will advise these people to play back what happened during the anti-SAP riots. The way we are going to resist this one will be worse than the anti-SAP crisis.
The problem is that these people are not connected with the people.” We’ll resist it — TUC Also declaring its opposition,
TUC, through Simeso Amachree, acting secretary general, said: “We are not going to accept it and we will resist appropriately. As it was done before, it is an attempt to take over the national assets. “Like we stated earlier, the idea should be dropped or they will incur the wrath of workers. “It is our thinking that if those clamouring for the sales pay their appropriate taxes, there would be enough money to bring the country out of the woods without sacrificing our national assets.
“Truly, we appreciate the concern of some sincere people in government, especially President Muhammadu Buhari, who is working tirelessly to fix the economy. But we get worried when people suggest we sell investments like NLNG which provided the money for the bailout of states when they could not pay salaries or concession our airports. On what grounds?
“The Congress will mobilise and resist any further sale or concession of our national assets under whatever guise.”
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday said that banks in the country lost over N8 billion to internet fraud, otherwise known as Yahoo-Yahoo Boys, in 2022.
Ola Olukoyede, chairman of the commission, also disclosed how Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi state allegedly moved a staggering $720,000 from the state account to pay his child’s school fees.
Olukoyede, who made the disclosure during an interactive session with media executives in Abuja, narrated how cyber crime has hurt the companies and its negative effects in attracting direct foreign investment for the country. He lamented that no fewer than 71 percent of companies operating in Nigeria were victims of cybercrime in 2022 even as he argued that the Commission’s war against internet fraud is about safeguarding the country’s future.
“In 2022 alone, I’m waiting for the report of 2023, we discovered that more than 71 percent of Nigerian industries, companies and firms fell victim to cyber crime. Now, which country or company would thrive with this kind of thing? “You want to attract foreign direct investment; the moment you come in, Yahoo boys will attack your platform. You start losing money and you think they would stay?
“Is that not what we are seeing? We are rescuing the future of Nigeria by going into this cyber crime investigation and prosecution.
“Now, within that period, the Nigerian economy lost $706 million (via) these companies through cyber crime, to the activities of these Yahoo Yahoo boys because we don’t take them seriously now, not knowing that we are sitting on a keg of gunpowder.
“The alarming statistics continued with Nigerian banks losing over N8 billion to electronic transfer fraud in the first nine months of 2022.
“A system lost over N8 billion to a particular scheme of fraud and you are asking EFCC to close its eyes to that kind of situation. Are we even fair to ourselves?”
He said the agency is prosecuting two of its operatives for violating the agency’s code of conduct.
He said the commission has made some reforms to enhance its fight against corruption, including the creation of the directorate of fraud risk assessment/control and ethics/integrity.
Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has said that students in tertiary institutions and approved vocational centres would start repayment of the loan two years after graduation.
However, NELFUND management specifically stated that the repayment of the loan would commence if the students secured a job or went into business.
Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, managing director, NELFUND, said the Act specify a moratorium of two years after graduation for the students to begin repayment of the loan.
Sawyerr said if the students start work, his employer would be expected to remit 10 percent into NELFUND dedicated account.
He added: “The loan does not have a specified repayment tenure. It makes it easy for students to apply for the loan. NELFUND would pay according to the documents provided by the institutions. We cannot put tenure on the loan; some will die, drop out, ‘Japa’ or refuse to pay. While those who went into business would pay into same account.
“It is a revolving a loan. We will not put students under pressure to get the loan and we are not going to state a tenure because it is not a commercial loan.’’
According to him, the loan is meant for students in public universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and vocational institutes, who apply via NELFUND portal and are expected to present their JAMB admission letter, NIN and BVN.
He explained that non-students would not have access to the loan and that NELFUND has put the necessary machinery in place to ensure that beneficiaries can be reached when the need arises.
His words: “We are using technology to run the new system. The process of application is online through our dedicated portal and we are limiting human contact as much as possible. Once you have a Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identification Number (NIN), which are parts of the requirements, we will have access to your data and all your accounts. This will also help us to know if you are qualified or not,” Sawyerr stated.
The MD disclosed that students already in institution are eligible to apply for the loan at any level of their study and must be at the beginning of each academic session.
He noted that such students would have to provide their admission and matriculation details in addition to BVN and NIN.
Sawyerr added that about 1.2 million Nigerian students in tertiary institutions and government-recognized vocational centres would be among the first batch of beneficiaries and that the figure would increase as time goes on.
The NELFUND boss disclosed that the scheme would be funded from one per cent of the total annual revenue by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which would amount to N194 billion if the agency meets its projection.
Sawyerr observed that the loan would be paid in two segments, the first, being the school fees, which would be paid directly to the institutions while stipend would be paid into students’ account for their day-to-day upkeep.
He added that the amount individual students would access varies because of the course of study, school fees and geographical location of the institutions.
“You don’t start paying back the loan until two years after your National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme and you have secured a job or business. A beneficiary can defer repayment if he has not secured a job, but if after due diligence, he/she defaulted, then the student becomes a criminal and we will work with government agency that can help us get the money back, for example, EFCC, ICPC,” Sawyerr stated.
Global Prolife Alliance (GPA), global health organization, has told the National Assembly that the intended malaria vaccine currently proposed by Bill Gates, American billionaire, for Nigeria can trigger meningitis in the populace.
Dr. Philip Njemanze, chairman of GPA, gave the warning in a statement released to newsmen in Owerri, the Imo state capital.
Njemanze, known for being pro-health in the Catholic church, charged the national assembly not to be in a hurry to succumb to the pressure of the bill currently before the house.
He said the vaccine may trigger the deaths of millions of Nigerian children prone to cerebral meningitis, especially in the northern part of the country.
Part of the letter read “Among the side effects is a tenfold increase in cerebral meningitis. Nigeria is endemic for cerebral meningitis. A tenfold increase could cause the deaths of millions of children, especially in northern Nigeria.
“Please intervene and call for a public hearing, for an open public discussion on the pros and cons with expert opinions from both sides. This will help the Nigerian people to be better informed about granting or withholding consent for the vaccination.
“Your intervention could save millions of lives, especially in northern Nigeria, where meningitis is most endemic, particularly at this time of serious insecurity,” Njemanze warned.
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