Some terrorists have abducted eight members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) along a highway in Zamfara State. The corps members were traveling with AKTC bus from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, to Sokoto State en route Zamfara State, to take part in the mandatory national youth service when their vehicle was intercepted along a highway in Zamfara on Saturday. A source in the transport company confirmed the incident yesterday morning.

The source, who did not want his name mentioned in the report because he was not authorised to speak on the incident, said the corps members were 11 in number, but that three escaped from the gunmen. Apart from the eight corps members, the driver of the bus was also abducted, he said. “The corps members were offloaded (from the bus) and taken into the bush,” he said. “The police have recovered the bus.” “They left here (Uyo) on Friday, and slept over in Abuja.

It was when they were proceeding to Sokoto that they were kidnapped,” he said. He said the incident had been reported to government authorities and security agencies. A Facebook user, Malachy Blessed, at about 9:14 a.m. on Sunday disclosed in a Facebook post the identity of one of the abducted corps members as Emmanuel Esudue, a graduate of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Akwa Ibom State University.

He said the corps member’s phone number has been unreachable since Thursday. Another victim has been identified as Betty Udofia. Another Facebook user, Edidiong Richard, said the kidnappers have contacted Ms Udofia’s parents, and that they were demanding N4 million ransom. When the police spokesperson in Zamfara State was contacted by journalists yesterday morning, he said he was going to verify the incident and get back. This newspaper could not immediately reach the NYSC spokesperson, Eddy Megwa for comment.

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said the price of fuel surged by 215.95 per cent in one year, as that of diesel also increased by 2.60 per cent. The bureau said Nigerians paid an average price of N794.48 for a litre of diesel in July 2023 compared to N774.38 per litre recorded in the corresponding period last year, while the surge indicated a 215.95 per cent increase in fuel price when compared to the value recorded in July 2022 (N190.01). In its latest report on the automotive gas oil (AGO) price watch for July 2023, the NBS said there was a decline in the price of the product during the period examined, compared to the previous month. “On a month-on-month basis, a decrease of -2.62 per cent was recorded from N815.83 in the preceding month of June to an average of N794.48 in July 2023,” the report said. “Looking at the variations in the state prices, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 indicates that the N193.99 billion received from the Federation account as 13 per cent derivation revenue by oil producing states in the first six months of 2023, is, however, N73.99 billion (27.61 per cent) less than the N267.98 billionthe states got in the corresponding period of last year.

Nigeria’s constitution stipulates payment of 13 per cent of oil revenue from the Federation Account to oil producing states as derivation Fund that would be used for the exclusive benefit of their oil/gas producing communities, as such areas are usually negatively impacted by oil and gas exploration and production activities. For instance, at the end of its meeting last month the FAAC issued a communiqué, stating that it shared N907.05 billion among the three tiers of government for June 2023, of which oilproducing states received N47.48 billion as derivation revenue from the 13 percent mineral Fund. The communique said: “The N907.05 billion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N301.50 billion, distributable Value Added Tax revenue of N273.23 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy revenue of N11.44 billion and Exchange Difference revenue of N320.89 billion.”

It added that from the total distributable revenue of N907.054 billion, the Federal Government received N345.564 billion, the State Governments received N295.948 billion, the Local Government Councils received N218.064 billion, while a total sum of N47.478 billion was shared to the relevant States as 13per cent derivation revenue. Further analysis of data obtained from the NBS shows that nine oil producing states-Delta, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Rivers, Edo, Ondo, Imo, Abia and Anambra, shared N970.20 billion from the Federation account through the 13 percent derivation formula in 2022. A breakdown of the data shows that Delta state received the highest allocation, totalling N296.63 billion, representing 31 percent of the total revenue from the derivation account. Delta is followed by Akwa Ibom, which got N222.52 billion, representing 19 per cent of the total disbursement during the period. the top three states with the highest average price of the product in July 2023 include Niger State (N892.50), Abia State (N890.63) and Enugu State (N872.73).”

NBS said the top three lowest prices were recorded in Bayelsa (N683.20), Anambra/Bauchi (N700.00), and Ondo (N701.58). Explaining the price comparison by zones, the agency said the North Central sold at the highest price. “The zonal representation of average price of automotive gas oil (diesel) shows that the North Central zone has the highest price of N863.10 while the South West has the lowest price (of) N759.45 when compared with other zones,” it added. Recently, there have been reports of a significant increase in the price of diesel in some states. Oil suppliers had said the frequent fluctuation in the foreign exchange market rate was a major crisis facing the industry. In another report, entitled ‘Premium Motor Spirit price watch for July 2023′, released yesterday, the bureau said Nigerians paid an average price of N600.35 for a litre of fuel compared to N190.01 in the same month last year. NBS said the surge indicated a 215.95 per cent increase when compared to the value recorded in July 2022 (N190.01).

“Likewise, comparing the average price value with the previous month (ie, June 2023), the average retail price increased by 9.99 per cent from N545.83,” the report reads. “On state profile analysis, Borno had the highest average retail price forfuel, at N657.27; Abia and Gombe states were next, with N643.13 and N642.22, respectively. “On the other hand, Edo, Kwara, and Benue states had the lowest average retail prices for petrol at N530.00, N535.44 and N537.00, respectively. “Lastly, on zonal profile, the north-east zone had the highest average retail price of N630.13, while the north-central zone had the lowest price of N551.58.” Last week, President Bola Tinubu said there would be no more hikes in the pump prices of petroleum motor spirit (PMS) otherwise known as fuel.

A chieftain of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, has urged the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, not to play a second fiddle.

He said the best person for Obi to open talks with is President Bola Tinubu and not the duo of his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP).

Isiguzoro warned that Obi will lose support from Nigerians if he plays second fiddle in the future and urged him to pull out of the alliance talks.

The Ohanaeze chieftain in a statement signed by him and made available to LEADERSHIP insisted that though the ongoing reported talks between the opposition political parties leaders might be viewed as a welcome development as it will put the APC led federal government on her toes to ensure that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration delivers all the campaign promises to Nigerians.

He maintained that anything contrary to the expectations of the average Nigerians are regarded as inconsiderate pursuits of drowning politicians whose aims are mischievous and laughable.

He said Ohanaeze Ndigbo has observed that there is the possibility of a collapse in their talks because Nigerians will not accept Atiku or Kwankwaso as the leader of the alliance.

“Nigerians know that the uncharitable disposition and desperation of Atiku Abubakar of PDP will never allow him to support Peter Obi to be the leader of the Nigerian opposition, the ill-fated journey of Atiku/Obi/Kwankwaso will crumble in the future.

“Nigerians are warning the presidential candidate of the Labour Party to be wary of failed politicians whose interests are looking for a way to exploit the credibility and popularity of Peter Obi to see how to depose President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from power.

“Nigerians are watching keenly the latest attempt of other politicians to use Obi to wrestle power from APC in the future or possible Rerun, the indelible stain of such alliance talks between Atiku, Kwankwaso, and Obi will destroy Peter Obi if he decides to play a second fiddle.

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo caution the Labour Party candidate Peter Obi that the association with Atiku and Kwankwaso will destroy him except if the two will support him to lead the unified opposition political parties, which is unlikely,” he said.

Tahir Mamman, Minister of Education, took office following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inauguration.

Recall that the president swore in 45 Ministers at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday.

Flanked by the Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, said:

I am going to work like a bricklayer.

Explaining how a bricklayer works, he said:

He goes to the sites every day and he is faced with hundreds of blocks to lay and by the end of day he wants to see that the building has come up to a certain level everyday so by three to six months the house is done.

While being welcomed by the Permanent Secretary, David Adejo, he stated that education is the foundation of all other sectors and the basis for everything they can do to help the country develop.

The new minister stated that he had spent ample time working with both the government and the private sector, admitting that there are constraints but promising to do what is best for the sector.

Sununu stated that he has been in the education field for a long time because all of his courses are education-related from beginning to end.

He said:

We will overcome all the challenges and make history. We are going to respect constituted orders as well.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary welcomed the ministers and pleaded with the staff to help them deliver service to Nigerians.

The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Public Affairs, Ajuri Ngelale, has said that Nigeria spends about $10 billion a year on foreign exchange earnings to the refiners and partners to get crude refined to fuel. He also said during an interview on TVC News, said that more refineries in Nigeria would not lead to lower fuel prices. He stated that people often say that if Nigeria’s refineries were working, fuel pump prices would be cheap.

He, however, added that nothing could be farther from the truth. Ngelale said: “That is a myth, it does not happen anywhere in the world, even if we had the most refineries producing the most PMS in the world, you would find that the most prolific PMS producers with their refineries do not charge different from the countries without refineries. I am not saying that we should not have refineries, but there are benefits to having working refineries. “This is why phase one of our Port Harcourt Refinery is coming on stream in December 2023 and phase two by the end of 2024. Dangote Refinery is already up and is going to start dishing out products very soon. “BUA 200,000 bpd refinery is coming up in Akwa Ibom, we are going to have an excess supply that we can export internationally.

“The point I am making on this is that the reason why the price at the pump will not go down irrespective of what our refining capacity is as a country is that nobody spends tens of billions of dollars on building a refinery because of charity or corporate social responsibility, they do it to make money.” He added: “So that is why you find that no matter how many oil marketers you have, bringing the product into the country, no matter how many refineries you have producing mass amount of PMS (fuel), the price is dependent on an international benchmark of what the crude oil per barrel is. What the cost is. When the oil prices are high, the prices of the pump will go up and when the oil prices go down, the prices of the pump will go down.

“These are market fundamentals that are determined, not in one country but on the international stage. The benefit of having refineries in the country is not that you will have cheap fuel. No. The benefit is that you would have saved the country millions of dollars in transportation and logistics costs that we are spending on an annual basis of having to put refined PMS from an international refinery on the water to come to Nigeria’s shores we will have to offload and send to our distribution centres. You save that money.

“In addition to that, you save about $10bn per year on foreign exchange earnings that we are having to pay out to our refiners and partners to get that product exchanged from crude to refined PMS. We saved all that money within the Central Bank as a result of having a local refinery. So there are benefits, big benefits but one of them is not having cheap fuel.

THE Organised Labour, under the aegis of the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Products Employees, NUCFRLANMPE, yesterday, urged the Federal Government to come up with policies to cushion the removal of subsidy on petrol, saying Nigerians, especially workers are suffering.

The union urged the Federal Government to create local policies that would improve the economy and lives of citizens.

President of NUCFRLANMPE, Mr Babatunde Olatunji, who spoke at the opening ceremony of its 31st annual industrial relations seminar with the theme ‘Social Dialogue as a Vehicle for Promoting Decent Work and Industrial Harmony’, lamented that the removal of fuel subsidy had impacted on the citizens, especially workers.

Olatunji said: “We plead with the government to hasten up and come out with policies to lessen the suffering Nigerians, especially workers are going through because of the removal of subsidy on Petrol. Nigerians are suffering.

“It is time to revive the local refineries, build infrastructure such as road networks and electricity supply as well as develop the iron and steel sector which is key to economic growth.

“Insecurity should be tackled, multiple taxation, rent and charges should be regulated to allow manufacturing companies survive and promote Gross Domestic Products in Nigeria.”

Olatunji noted that economic issues in the nation were affecting industrial relations saying “One of the effects is job losses arising from factory closure and redundancy. Some managements have devised strange practices such as outsourcing and contract staffing which are odd to normal employment practices.”

…Says Tchiani’s 3yrs plan to reinstate civil rule provoking

The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, said yesterday it was more likely to use military force to restore constitutional order in Niger Republic, if the military junta, led by Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, was hell-bent on his three-year transition plan before returning the country to civil rule.

Fielding questions on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, also dismissed insinuations that ECOWAS was acting under the influence of a foreign power.

He explained that the community’s chances of using military force to restore constitutional order in Niger were very likely.

He said: “Right from the 1960s, I have never seen a coup that has not enjoyed continuous support from the people.

“The support can be engineered; you can rent crowds; that does not imply that people are unconcerned about their future.

”The high level of youth unemployment is a factor; mismanagement of our resources is a factor, but is the military a better sort of governance of our economy? Empirical data in our region never demonstrate that. So is that the right way to go about trying to change the system?

“A few years ago, you could not even talk of an incumbent president being defeated in an election. Since about 1992, we have seen alternations of power where sitting presidents were defeated and where ruling parties were defeated, whether in Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, or even Liberia. So there’s already progress.”

On the plan by ECOWAS to pragmatically restore peace to Niger after the crisis, he said: “What plans does the coup led by Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani have for the country?

”They are now embarking on a blind experiment, saying they are going to have a three-year transition, they are going to consult people, so they themselves came without a plan.

”Now that they have overthrown a democratically elected government, they are thinking about alternatives.

“We have seen that where coups have occurred, we have not seen any major alternative better to save the population the military claim to save in those countries.

”So before the coup, ECOWAS had identified the cascading terrorism moving from Burkina Faso to coastal countries as an existential trend that threatened the livelihood of West African citizens and was an impediment to economic development.

”Let’s first remove that obstacle and put in place a regional plan for governance, which is already there. So there are rules and engagement for developing the country through regional and economic integration and increasing intra- and West African trade.

”All these are there, but they take time to bear fruit, and the military is not an alternative. We are just talking about West Africa as if it were an island. All these challenges we are talking about are global.

”Even in most advanced countries, ordinary people are suffering, and they have not chosen to take part in overthrowing their governments. So why here? The inflation in the US, UK, and other parts of Africa is not better than what we are seeing in West Africa today.

“In terms of ECOWAS reinstating constitutional order, it starts with consultation with all the active forces in the country, including political parties, the labour movement, and civil society organizations, they all have a say in it.

”So at the regional level, ECOWAS is already in the process of developing the economic and social council, which is the interface between civil society and policymaking in the region. The main driving slogan of ECOWAS is transforming the region from an ECOWAS of states, driven by the decisions of heads of state to an ECOWAS of the people. The process is ongoing.”

Asked on a scale of 1-10 how likely ECOWAS would deploy force in Niger, Amb Musah said: “Personaly, my wish is that it should be at zero, but I think given the posture of the regime, I will put it at 7, because if they continue to frustrate the non-violent proposal to reinstate constitutional order and then give an unacceptable timetable for return to constitutional order, they make the use of force more likely.

”At least, they have come forward to say they have an intention to return the country to constitutional order, but ECOWAS does not agree with the time frame, so even that agreement in principle is a move forward by the junta, but we will continue to consult to know the minimum, which would be the decisions by the authority of heads of state.”

Asked if ECOWAS was fixated on reinstating President Mohamed Bazoum, he said: “ECOWAS is asking for the release of Bazoum and his reinstatement. So we are calling on the junta to be reasonable because the three years they are talking about are nothing less than provocation to the ECOWAS community.”

ECOWAS denies influence of ‘foreign power

Amb Musah also disproved claims of manipulation of external powers in its efforts to resolve the political instability in Niger Republic.

While noting that foreign support was not part of the consideration of the West African body, he said: “We’ve never discussed our plans with any foreign power, whether they are on the ground, they are in the air, they are in their countries – ECOWAS is taking an independent autonomous decision.”

He noted that ECOWAS had not given any consideration to the complexities of the nationals and multinationals who had given a foot on the ground.

“I’m just coming from Accra where the chiefs of defence staff finalised their preparation for a potential military intervention in the country – foreign support was never part of the country at all.

“We are in with our contingent, own equipment, and our resources and we are not asking anybody for support, that is the position of ECOWAS,” he said.

If there is anything the Federal Capital Territory needs to recover from the manifestations of poor and substandard leadership delivered by most of the past ministers of FCT since 1999, it is that simple, but powerful word ‘ORDER!’

Except for the interlude of purposeful leadership by Mallam Nasir El-Rufai from 2003 to 2007, the lack of necessary respect for and adherence to the principle of ‘order’ in the development and management of FCT has been the bane of actualizing the lofty vision of the territory.

Throughout his time in office, the singular fight of Minister Nasir El’ Rufai was to restore order and establish the culture of order. He fought the high, the mighty and the powerful like an angry wolf to restore the distorted Masterplan. He fought aggressively to restore order in contract allocation and implementation. One of the many victories of the small but mighty minister was the section of Olusegun Obasanjo way from Bolingo Junction all the way to Wuse Zone 7 junction. On paper, the road was a four lane dual carriage way, but in real life, it was a two lane single carriage way. El – Rufai insisted the right thing must be done, and it was done.

Asides from the hefty distortion in the Masterplan violation that saw state of the art houses, malls, churches and mosques sitting pretty in wrong places, one of the greatest areas of disorder in the FCT before El – Rufai’s revolution was in the area of land administration. Thousands of cases of double allocations and cloned land documents abound because the system was not computerized. The system was so messed up then that some of the civil servants in charge of land administration allocated lands to themselves in the names of generations of their babies and grandchildren that were still in heaven waiting for wombs they will be assigned to by the Almighty God. Some civil servants and their friends and families have up to 100 lands allocated to them in fictitious names while hundreds of thousands applications were dumped away untreated. Land grabbers were having a field day in partnership with corrupt civil servants in the Ministry. El – Rufai introduced order to sanitize the system by establishing the Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS) to promote full computerization of the land registry. In all he determined to do to set the FCT in order, President Olusegun Obasanjo stood behind him like the rock of Gibraltar. This emboldened Mr. Fix it to do his work without fear.

Although the mortal and inperfection nature of man didn’t allow the Minister to fix all that should have been fixed by him, he doubtless did so much work that he became endeared to majority of people in the FCT.

The signature of order being restored to FCT by the ‘good minister’ was beginning to take real shape all over the place when the tenure of President Olusegun Obasanjo came to its end and Nasir El – Rufai’s revolution came to an end on the 28th of May, 2007.

Aliyu Modibo Umar (2007 to 2008) and Adamu Aliero (2008 to 2010) were appointed by President Umar Musa Yar’ ‘ Adua to take over from Nasir El – Rufai in that order. Their performance in office combined showed that the shoe Nasir El – Rufai left behind was too big for them to wear. As it was for Adamu Ailero, so it was for all the other ministers of FCT since 2007 till date.

The order El – Rufai established in 4 years have been significantly overturned since Modibo Umar took over in mid 2007 and the territory has danced backwards since then in many areas into lawlessness and bastardization of systems by the privileged people in the governing class and their cronies.

The greatest battle the new Minister of FCT, Barr Nyesom Wike must begin with therefore is that of restoring order and institutionalizing it.

What is order? Oxford dictionary describes order as “the arrangement or disposition of people or things in relation to each other according to a particular sequence, pattern, or method.”
The existence of order or it’s absence in any clime is not difficult to notice. All you need to do is simply open your eyes and engage them in active watching or surveillance.

Whatever the type of surveillance or observatory gaze anyone with seeing eyes choses to take towards Abuja – be it casual or cursory, careful or consistent – the fellow won’t look too far before he or she locates the absence of order in both it’s connotative and denotative imperatives.

From the office of the bureaucrats managing the city to the highways and byways; from the fledging urban slums to the poorly maintained, abandoned or rapidly deteriorating infrastructure, Abuja is crying for order as the desert is crying for rain and as the dying is yearning for life.

The Federal Capital City was envisioned from the outset to be Nigeria’s most functional city of purpose. Lagos, the capital city of Nigeria since independence was congested and orderly development was becoming a herculean task. Lagosians spent hours in traffic jam daily and the attendant chaos became a huge snarl on the economy, governance and the general well-beign of Lagosians and the visitors.

To remedy the Lagos situation, thousands of houses will have to go and compensation that will have to be paid will be humongous. The government of late General Murtala Muhammed therefore felt it was better to go ahead and build a new Federal Capital City which General Yakubu Gowon’s government had also being thinking about. A committee headed by Justice Akinola Aguda was set up by General Muhammed in 1976 and at the end of the Committee’s work, the vision of FCT was born.

The Federal Capital Territory occupies a landmass of over 8,000 square kilometers and was carved out of the old Kwara, Niger and Old Plateau States. The indigenous inhabitants of Abuja are the Gbagyi (Gwari), the Bassa, Gwandara, Gade, Dibo, Egbira, Nupe and Koro.

Forty seven years after the development of Federal Capital Commenced and thirty years after the seat of government moved to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory is sadly still struggling for order needed to become what is was designed to be. There is a significant and glaring dis-alignment in the disposition of the administrators of the territory and the people in relation to progress, development and public administration according to a particular sequence, pattern, or method that would reflect best practice and excellence.

Organized sequence, pattern and method are essential components of a city’s character. They are the foundation of organic development. They are the anchor of sustainable progress and the enforcer of responsible citizenry. Introducing order and institutionalising it needs a good driver leader who knows what to do, is determined to do it, is willing to do it with the right team and willing to communicate why it needs to be done to the people effectively. It is only when the people are willing to accept the reign of order as the best culture that true progress and sustainable development can be made to happen.

It is sad to say today that over 90% of the order Mallam Nasir El – Rufai introduced to FCT in 2003 to 2007 have been eroded and washed away by poor leadership and general indiscipline amongst the citizens. Land grabbing is back now and the perpetrators are prominent amongst the movers and shakers in the territory. Vehicles (including governments official vehicles) drive recklessly against traffic on highways all over the city; drivers disobey traffic lights at will without the fear of being punished and commercial cyclists and Keke operators drive around the city like outlaws without obeying traffic rules.
Beggars and street traders are running their empires in the city as they desire. Buildings that ought not to be approved because they simply didn’t make sense are springing up all over the city. Make shift, unsightly and rowdy bus stops are littered everywhere they ought not to be. They impede free flow of traffic in many cases. The reckless abuse of waterways and green areas in many parts of the city is promoting flooding every year and leading to loss of precious lives. Properties worth trillions of naira are lost to these floodings too. The prevailing behaviour and character of the leadership and followership in FCT worrisomely reflect a hopeless surrender to disorderliness and chaos.

Order is established by human beings for all human beings to embrace and for the society to function peacefully, effectively and efficiently. No man is above order.
The biggest place for order to begin therefore is in the corridors of power in the FCT, the territory’s public service, it’s agencies and in the lives of men and women lawfully assigned to carry out the duties of the state. A disorderly individual occupying a position of leadership can’t in good conscience promote order. Lopsided appointments, nepotistic assignment of positions and favouritism in the promotions of personnel in the bureaucracy will create a toxic environment where order will be stifled and caged.
FCT bureaucracy needs sanitization to make room for the culture of order to permeate the system.

Promoting order in FCT must commence from the office of the Minister and flow to the entire FCT Public Service. The Public Service through effective and efficient performance by every staff will make dispensing of order to the nooks and crannies of the territory effortless and impactful.

The pain of lack of commitment in orderly development in FCT is felt more by the poor people in the satellite villages. Unfortunately, many of these villages have never had the honour of being visited by their elected representatives or the Minister and his leadership bigwigs. The chaos in the system makes it hard for the voices of these poor villagers to reach the seat of power and receive prompt and orderly attention.
With a tone that is too faint to be heard, the soul of FCT is crying for order like a hungry suckling babe wailing out of the pang of unbearable hunger for the breast milk of the mother. From Abaji to Abuja Municipal, from Gwagwalada to Bwari and from Kwali to Kuje, the Federal Capital is looking for a strong, visionary, courageous and determined leader who will take the gavel of governance and hammer a loud ORDER! to herald a new beginning. Let’s wait and see what Nyesom Wike will do.

President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong to immediately take over negotiations with the organized labour in order to arrive at amicable resolutions that will make workers overcome the current pains.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong disclosed this while addressing directors, heads of parastatals and agencies under the ministry and the entire staff immediately he assumed office.

The Minister also said that the administration of President Bola Tinubu shall not spare any effort to protect the Nigerian workers and guarantee their dignity at all times.

Lalong, flanked by the Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejecha said under his stewardship, the ministry will fulfil its mandate of ensuring decent work for all Nigerians and making sure that citizens particularly the youth and women get opportunity to deploy their energy, creativity, talent and gifts to the development of the nation.

He also assured that the government through the ministry shall work closely with the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, the Trade Union Congress, TUC and their affiliates towards ensuring that all pending industrial disputes are settled amicably.

The Minister said the government will be addressing with strong determination the new minimum wage and other palliatives arising from the removal of fuel subsidy.

He said that his appointment and that of the Minister of State is a call to service and promised that they shall do everything within their power to give their best in assisting the President fulfill his Renewed Hope Agenda for a better Nigeria.

According to him, “Nigerians have trusted President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima with their mandate, and therefore expect a better nation where their dreams and aspirations will be fulfilled.

“The President has, in turn, mandated us to handle the very important aspects of Labour and Employment, which are critical to national development and prosperity.

“The task is certainly enormous but achievable, especially with the abundant human resources Nigeria is endowed with. We therefore need your support and understanding to succeed.

“Under my stewardship, the Ministry of Labour and Employment will fulfill its mandate of ensuring decent work for all Nigerians and making sure that our citizens particularly the youth and women get the opportunity to deploy their energy, creativity, talent and gifts to the development of the nation.

“We shall therefore mobilise and deploy all the resources of the Ministry towards ensuring that the matters relating to Labour and Employment are galvanised across relevant MDAs and sectors of the economy in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President. Our workers must get value for their labour and operate in safe and conducive environment.

“Because of the level of unemployment, underemployment, and challenges associated with the work environment, we have been mandated by Mr. President to ensure that Nigerians get decent employment and are adequately remunerated for their labour both in the public and private sectors.

“We shall not spare any effort to protect the Nigerian worker and guarantee his dignity at all times.”

The Minister said the administration will escalate the relations with the private sector, development partners, international agencies, NGOs among others to make sure that unemployment and underemployment is reduced to the barest minimum according to the plan of the Tinubu administration.

He further said, “On the relationship with the organised Labour, the Government through the Ministry shall work closely with the NLC, TUC and their affiliates towards not only ensuring that all pending industrial disputes are settled amicably, but also addressing with strong determination the new minimum wage and other palliatives arising from the removal of fuel subsidy.

“I use this opportunity to specially convey the appreciation of Mr. President to the organised labour and Nigerian workers in general for exercising tremendous understanding and patience with the current situation.

“The Government does not take this for granted and Mr. President has directed that we move on with negotiations to arrive at amicable resolutions that will make our workers overcome the current pains.”

He said that the Ministry shall leverage on technology, skill acquisition, entrepreneurship, agriculture among others to open up more employment opportunities for all Nigerians.

“This is in addition to current Safety Net Jobs and new ones that this Government will initiate within the coming weeks and months, ” he said

On the expectations of Nigerians, he said, ” In the coming weeks, we shall unveil detailed plans of President Tinubu’s vision for Labour and Employment and also spell out the role that the Ministry and its agencies, development partners and Nigerians in general will play in actualizing it.

“We shall be engaging all relevant partners and receiving briefings towards a robust performance.”

In her brief remarks, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Hon Nkeiruka Onyejecha, said her appointment was not by her might or power, rather by the grace of God.

He advised staff of the ministry to put in their best, stressing, “Whether we like it or not, there will be a time we will give account of our activities.”

He urged the staff to help Tinubu’s administration to implement all the promises he made to Nigerians.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris Malagi has promised Nigerians that his duty, as mandated by President Bola Tinubu is to tell the citizens the truth about the government and its policies.

The Minister said under his watch, there will be no room for lies or fake news about government activities and policies, promising to operate an open door policy.

Naija News reports Magagi stated this on Monday during an official reception, organized in his honour by the ministry on Monday in Abuja.

The new Minister said the President has given him the mandate to tell Nigerians the truth about the government and as an experienced practitioner with about thirty years of experience, he is reporting for duty.

Malagi vowed that under his watch the Ministry would be reinvigorated and repositioned.

The Minister made the pledge in the company of his Arts, Culture and Creative Economy and Tourism counterpart who were also part of the official reception by the ministry.

In his words, ‘‘For me, I am actually a reporter reporting for duty, and I meant it with every sense of the word. The President has asked me to come and tell you, this is a brand new ministry of Information and National Orientation. This is a ministry that is set to be re-positioned like never before. I have been in the industry for nearly three decades and I should know where the shoe pinches.

“Today is not for policy announcement but a day to familiarize ourselves with all the stakeholders in the ministry.

‘‘We are poised to ensure that the Renewed Hope of Mr President gets serious traction. Mr. President has sent me to come and say it the way it is, Mr. President didn’t send me to come and lie, and this is the new covenant with you and Nigerians.

“We are going to say it as it is, Mr. President is somebody who is truthful, honest, transparent, he has said that when we come, we should own up where there are mistakes, we should own up where we erred, we should not be shy to say, No this is wrong and we are going to correct it. The ministry will be at the core of its job, the job of info dissemination.’’

The Minister in his speech also assured media practitioners that the Ministry will be open and transparent. He promised answers would be provided for everything they want to know as much as possible.

‘’The ministry is going to be open, transparent and accountable to Nigerians. There will be no hold back here, everything you want to know, you will get to know. Please ask your question, we will let you know, if you don’t understand, go and seek clarification. If we are wrong we will apologize. We must ensure that transparency is the watch word in this ministry. Join us in helping Mr President in building enduring legacy for our dear nation, that’s why we are here,’’ Malagi added.