The Labour Party (LP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, has slammed President Bola Tinubu, over his recent statement that Nigerians were not the only ones suffering from poverty.

The LP National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, in an interview with Vanguard, accused Tinubu of mocking Nigerians with the statement.

He said the President needed to be reminded that he was in office to reduce, if not eliminate, poverty and not exacerbate it.

Ifoh urged Tinubu to halt the mockery and consider security, including the welfare of the populace, a priority.

He said, “We are disappointed but not surprised by the comments made by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu about the excruciating poverty his administration’s policies have unleashed on Nigerians since he took office over a year ago.

“It was to say the least, disheartening to hear Mr. President mock his citizens by saying Nigerians are not the only ones facing poverty.

“Assuming but not conceding that what he said is true, Nigerians who are at the receiving end of his harsh economic policies don’t need to be reminded about the pain and hunger they have been forced to live with by the very people who put them in that situation in the first place.

“May be this administration needs to be reminded that it was elected to reduce if not eliminate poverty, hunger and disease but what we have seen is an obsession with opulence.

“We are yet to get over the billions appropriated for the renovation of the President and Vice President’s lodges, now we hear they want new jets to join the Presidential fleet.

“Our schools and health institutions are on their knees, the same government claims it cannot afford to pay public servants a living wage but has enough to make itself comfortable at the expense of the suffering masses.

“Mr. President, we implore you to uphold the constitution you swore to protect. The constitution says the security and welfare of the populace shall be the primary purpose of the existence of your government. Enough is this mockery.”

Similarly, Atiku, while speaking through his Special Adviser, Paul Ibe, accused Tinubu of deepening the poverty in the country.

He further said President Tinubu and his administration are insensitive to the plight of the masses.

He said, “There are little or no values nurtured and promoted by Tinubu and his administration. What Nigerians are seeing it manifest is insensitivity, bigotry, nepotism, corruption, and wastfulness.

“For the President to speak about us finding a way to eliminate banditry and terrorism is an acknowledgement of failure.

“ What we expect to hear from him are the measures and the strategy to deal with the menace and not to regale us with the problems that we are all well aware of.

“The poverty in Nigeria is multidimensional. It was exacerbated by the policies of the Tinubu administration that does not priotise production and cutting costs.

“Policies that were not well thought out and are only aimed at pauperizing the citizens. Tinubu’s trial-and-error policies have continued to dig the country deeper into economic degradation.

“ His government is characterised by a lack of transparency and accountability. For example, his administration is paying for subsidy, contrary to the claims that it is gone for good.

“According to his minister of finance, last year (the very same year they allegedly stopped payment of subsidy), Tinubu paid a subsidy of N3.6 trillion and this year, he is projected to pay a subsidy of N5.4 trillion.

“Why are they lying about this other than to divert money away from the Federation Account. Truth be told, Tinubu is the one causing the deepening poverty in the country.”

Adewale Ayuba, the ace Fuji musician, has revealed why he relocated to America and converted to Christianity.

In a chat with Teju Babyface on Tuesday, Ayuba spoke about his new life in the United States, his religion, and his music career.

He disclosed that he and his band member travelled to America for their three-month summer show in 1995.

Ayuba said they could not return to Nigeria after their show ended due to threats from Sani Abacha, the late military head of state.

The singer said he was threatened after he released an album advocating for the freedom of political detainees, particularly the late Moshood Abiola.

Ayuba said after Abacha’s demise, he returned to Nigeria to perform at the Benson and Hedges Concert in 1998.

The singer said while in the US, he enrolled in school and completed his documentation to become an American citizen. He said he also met his wife in America.

“I left for America with my full band members in 1995 for a summer show and others. We came to America for about three months and then returned to Nigeria,” he said.

“I returned to Nigeria in 1998 when Abacha died. The three years I stayed in America were by the grace of God because he is a good planner.

“When I was in America, I realised that I could only perform shows on weekends. My Mondays to Fridays were free. So, I enrolled in school. That was where I met my wife.

“After that, I took part in a lot of activities. Doing so was like building another foundation in America. That was not easy. From there, I completed my documentation and became an American citizen.

“I don’t see myself continuing in Fuji music, I believe I have done well. This is America, there’s more to explore in life, trusting that God has a plan.”

Speaking about his decision to convert from Islam to Christianity, Ayuba revealed that he was unable to pray in Arabic.

This, he said, prevented him from practising Islam, adding that he would always invite clerics to pray on his behalf.

He also said he was inspired by verses from the Bible quoting Jesus Christ as saying “He is the way, truth, and life”.

Ayuba said he prefers to worship where he “feels closest to God,” adding that his choice to become a Christian “brings me happiness”.

“People claim Ayuba is a Muslim. Have they seen me in the mosque? If I were practising Islam, wouldn’t someone have noticed,” he said.

“Why is this an issue? Can they let me be? They say I should pray five times daily, but I’m not. My mother is an Alhaja, and although my father never went to Mecca, we practice Islam at home.

“So, my name is Ayub, which is Job in the Bible. It’s not that being a Muslim is good or bad. When I attempted to practice it, I had to summon some Alfas to help me communicate with God because I didn’t understand Arabic.

“I questioned whether I should continue despite all that God has done for me, needing others to intercede on my behalf.

“There isn’t an album of mine where I haven’t referenced Muslim words. We all worship God. To me, religion is akin to education.

“I chose Jesus Christ because he proclaimed, ‘I am the truth, the way, and the life’. This is my personal choice, and it brings me happiness.

“Many of my band members are Muslims, and we pray together. I was unable to attend Arabic school due to my profession. I prefer to worship where I feel closest to my God.”

Ayuba began his music career as a teenager and released his first album, ‘Ibere (Beginning)’ in 1986.

The 59-year-old singer is famous for albums such as ‘Bubble’, ‘Turn Me On’, ‘’Ijo Fuji’, and ‘Koloba Koloba’.

In 2015, Ayuba said the day he became a Christian was the happiest day of his life.

The United Kingdom, UK is grappling with a shortage of bricklayers and other construction workers, causing prolonged delays for homeowners seeking building services.

Since 2021, a staggering 415,000 people have experienced over a year-long wait to secure a builder, according to a national construction audit by Fix Radio.

The shortage extends beyond builders, with 301,000 households waiting a year for plumbers and heating engineers, 294,000 for roofers, and 274,000 for carpenters.

On average, the wait for a bricklayer over the past three years has exceeded three months, while landscapers, painters, and decorators have left customers waiting for two and a half months, per report from Daily Mail UK.

Industry experts highlight the severe impact of this skills shortage on major projects, including delays in completing the Co-op Live venue in Manchester.

To meet rising demand, an additional 225,000 skilled workers are to be needed by 2027 with economic repercussions significant as the UK is projected to miss out on £98 billion of growth by 2030 due to the skills gap.

The ageing workforce exacerbates the issue, with a fifth of construction workers now over 50 and a third planning to retire by 2030.

The Construction Industry Training Board’s Construction Skills Network estimates nearly one million tradespeople will retire in the next decade.

While migrant labour has somewhat mitigated the shortages, there is an urgent need to train more British workers.

Last year, bricklayers, plasterers, roofers, and carpenters were added to the Home Office’s shortage occupation list to address the deficit.

UK government initiatives aim to alleviate the problem, including cracking down on non-vocational university degrees and funding 100,000 apprenticeships. Both Labour and Conservative parties have focused on construction in their General Election campaigns, with Labour proposing new towns and Rishi Sunak promising to build hundreds of thousands of homes in major cities.

Clive Holland of Fix Radio emphasized the critical need for more builders, warning, “If political parties, irrespective of their stripe or colour, honestly believe they can address the housing crisis without having the serious conversation of addressing the skills deficit, we’re heading into a very dangerous position.”

A Fix Radio survey revealed that two-thirds of Britons felt insufficiently encouraged to pursue trades in school, and 18% of parents discouraged their children from entering the construction industry due to perceived low earnings.

Former Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola said workers in Nigeria deserve reasonable adjustments to cope with the rising cost of living in the country.

Fashola stated this in a piece titled, ‘Minimum Wage Review – My Take Away’.

He stated, “When cost of living rises as they have now, the lowest and the highest income earners are impacted to varying degrees and therefore deserving of reasonable adjustments whether they earn wages or salaries.”

The former Lagos State governor faulted Section 4(1)(b) of the National Minimum Wage Act 2019 which exempted “an establishment employing less than 25 persons” from being bound by the provisions of the Act to pay the minimum wage.

The former minister said the exemption of such establishments “raises serious doubts about whether we have enacted a minimum wage Act if small businesses who barely have 25 employees but who employ the largest number of the most vulnerable people are exempted from the law as currently legislated. Who then is the law protecting?

Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said item 34 of the 1999 Constitution as amended in the Exclusive Legislative list confers power on the National Assembly to prescribe a national minimum wage for the Federation and not a monthly salary.

He said though wages and salaries are common methods of compensation open to the employer, the former is a fixed annual amount, payable at weekly, bi-weekly or monthly subject to agreement, while the latter refer to payment based on an hourly rate and the number of hours the employee works.

“Therefore, it seems obvious from this definition that by making a law in Section 3(1) of the Minimum Wage Act that the minimum wage of N30,000 shall be paid monthly, the NASS may have acted unconstitutionally by legislating on a SALARY (monthly payment) when they only have power to legislate on WAGES, an hourly payment.

“This is important while the conversation on minimum wage is being had in 2024 because in Section 3(4), the minimum wage “shall be reviewed in line with the provisions of this Act” which includes Section 3(1) that has prescribed a monthly amount instead of an hourly wage.”

“Of course, if and when we decide as a country on the implementation of a proper minimum wage, we must then design a formula to review salaries of those who do not earn wages in order to assist them deal with cost-of-living challenges.

“This may yet be the most fruitful outcome of the dilemma of appropriate employee compensation as it may lay the foundation for national productivity, wealth creation and prosperity. The opportunity is too big to miss or waste,” he said.

The former governor urged experts in labour law and compensation matters to put their thinking caps on and seek help from the best faculties around the world.

“As we do this, we must be mindful of the need for a possible amendment to item 34 of the Exclusive list in the constitution to include salaries because it currently does not.”

After weeks of failed talks on a new minimum wage for workers in the country, the Organised Labour declared an indefinite industrial action on Monday, June 3, 2024. Businesses were paralysed as labour shut down airports, hospitals, national grid, banks, National Assembly and state assemblies’ complexes.

The labour unions said the current minimum wage of ₦30,000 can no longer cater to the wellbeing of an average Nigerian worker, saying government should offer workers something economically realistic in tandem with current inflationary pressures, attendant effects of the twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of the forex windows of the current administration.

The labour unions also lamented that not all governors are paying the current wage award which expired in April 2024, five years after the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 was signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari. The Act should be reviewed every five years to meet up with contemporary economic demands of workers.

In January 2024, President Bola Tinubu inaugurated a tripartite committee to negotiate a new minimum wage for the country.

At the start of negotiations, Labour presented ₦615,000 as the new minimum wage but saw reasons to drop their demand to ₦497,000, and then to ₦494,000.

Also, in the beginning, the government and the Organised Private Sector proposed ₦48,000, ₦54,000, ₦57,000, and later ₦60,000, all four offers were rejected by Labour, prompting the strike.

In the heat of the impasse and the attendant consequences of the strike last Monday, June 3, 2024, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, said the President was committed to a wage above ₦60,000, and that the government side of the tripartite committee would meet with labour for one week to agree on a wage.

The organised abour “relaxed” its industrial action on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, some 24 hours after the strike.

Both leadership of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) subsequently resumed talks with the representatives of the Federal Government, states, Organised Private Sector.

The President also directed Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present a template for a new minimum wage. Before the directive, the minister described as “unaffordable, the demands of labour.

The 36 state governors said labour’s demands was not sustainable. Local government administrations also described the demands of the NLC and TUC as unrealistic.

However, on Friday, June 7, 2024, the two sides (labour and the government) failed to reach an agreement. While labour dropped again its demand from ₦494,000 to ₦250,000, the government added ₦2,000 to its initial ₦60,000 and offered workers ₦62,000.

Both sides submitted their reports to the President who is expected to make a decision and send an executive bill to the National Assembly to pass a new minimum wage bill to be signed into law by the President.

In his Democracy Day speech on June 12, 2024, the President assured the Organised Labour that an executive bill on the new national minimum wage for workers would soon be sent to the National Assembly for passage.

Unites States President, Joe Biden is set to announce a new policy that will grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of undocumented spouses of US citizens, protecting them from deportation.

The policy will apply to those who have been in the country for at least 10 years and will allow them to work in the US legally.

According to the administration officials, over 500,000 spouses of US citizens will benefit from this policy, in addition to 50,000 young people under 21 whose parent is married to an American citizen.

The policy is the most significant relief program for undocumented migrants already in the US since the Obama administration announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2012.

To qualify, undocumented spouses must have lived in the country for 10 years and been married as of June 17. They will have three years to apply for permanent residency and will be eligible for a three-year work permit.

The White House believes that those eligible for the process have been in the US for an average of 23 years, with a majority being born in Mexico.

Critics argue that the policy is an overreach of executive authority and violates US immigration law.

NumbersUSA, an immigration reform group, in a statement by the Chief Executive, James Massa, referred to the policy as “unconscionable”. He said:

“Rather than stopping the worst border crisis in history, President Biden has overreached his executive authority to use an unconstitutional process, circumventing voters and their elected representatives in Congress, to send a message that amnesty is available to those who enter illegally into the United States.”

However, immigration lawyers and advocates welcome the move as a start towards addressing the complex issues faced by undocumented immigrants.

Alex Cuic, an immigration lawyer and professor at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, told the BBC: “A good majority of them [would have] left the country in order to come back lawfully. It’s like they physically enter the US, but their immigration ‘soul’ doesn’t come with them.”

The application process is expected to open by the end of summer, and the White House is also planning to ease and speed up the visa process for highly skilled undocumented immigrants.

At the time of the announcement, US President Biden urged those who consider the measure “too strict” to “be patient”.

“[In] the weeks ahead, I will speak to how we can make our immigration system more fair and just,” he said.

Former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, Mrs. Florence Morenike Saraki, has died.

She died on Tuesday at the age of 89.

Saraki made the announcement on Tuesday evening on his x.com account.

He announced that, “With profound sadness and total submission to the will of Almighty God, I announce the passing of my beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and matriarch, Chief Mrs. Florence Morenike Saraki, who peacefully transitioned today, Tuesday, June 18th, 2024.

“Details regarding funeral arrangements will be shared in due course. We appreciate your love, prayers, and support as we mourn Mama’s passing.”

The late Florence was the widow of Olusola Saraki, who was a Senator in the Second Nigerian Republic and political godfather in Kwara until his demise in 2012. 

The late matriarch of the Saraki family who celebrated her 87th birthday in 2022, was survived by Saraki, former minister of state for transport, Gbemisola, Tope Saraki-Edu and Laolu.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Saraki’s ward has issued a statement mourning her death.

A statement by the chairman of the ward, Comrade Abubakar Yusuf Garba, on behalf of the party said, “We share in the grief and sorrow that comes with the loss of a matriarch, a pillar of strength, and a guiding light. Chief (Mrs.) Florence Morenike Saraki was an exemplary woman, a devoted wife, and a dedicated mother who left an indelible mark on the lives of everyone she touched.

“Her unwavering support and dedication to her family, particularly her husband, the late Dr. Olusola Saraki, and her children, are a testament to her selflessness and devotion.”

Femi Esho, the Nigerian music promoter and founder of Evergreen Musical Company, has passed away.

Esho died at the age of 77.

Bimbo Esho, his daughter, confirmed his demise via Facebook on Tuesday.

“My Loving Dad May your Gentle Soul Rest In Peace Esho Baba (sic),” she wrote.

However, she did not reveal the cause of death or the exact date he died.

Esho was Born in Ilesa, Osun state on November 29, 1946.

Lagos-based hotelier, Lanre Gentry, the ex-husband to Nollywood actress, Mercy Aigbe, has stirred social media reactions over his birthday message to his son, Juwon.

Naija News reports that Gentry, in the post shared on his Instagram page, accused Mercy of denying him access to his son.

He noted that despite Mercy’s attitude, he is happy that his son still understands he remains his father.

He wrote, “Happy birthday to my dear son Olajuwon Gentry,no matter how your mother try to take you away from me,I still remain your father and am happy you are growing up to understand that I remain your father and to come back to me to ask for anything without your mother asking by herself. I cherish you, my son, a long life to you and me as your father.”

Meanwhile, Mercy Aigbe, in her birthday message, wrote, “Happy birthday to my not so small Baby. They Grow so fast and so Big!

“Olajunwomi, my son in whom i am well pleased. How time flies you are 14yrs older already, you will always be mummy’s baby. I bless God for growth, protection, provision and unending blessings.

“My dearest son, I will always be here for you,I will always cover you,I will always pray for you and with you,I will always love you forever Oko mi ? Thank you for bringing me so much joy has your mother and I am very proud of you! I’m forever grateful to God Almighty.

“Juwon is that son every mother prays to have,a very peaceful, loving and caring child. You are very Kind and very generous to everyone around you. I feel blessed that you are my son.

“I love you from the first time you took your first breath, I love you now and I will love you till eternity. I’m wishing you long life and prosperity in good health, success, happiness & joy, God’s protection & guidance on you always & forever Amen. Happy Birthday My Son @olajuwon.gentry.”