By Suleiman Yakubu

Members of Organised Labour in Niger State have said that their members will not participate in the distribution of palliative as announced by the state Governor, Hon. Mohammed Umaru Bago.
Briefing newsmen at the Labour House in Minna today, the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC, Comrade Idris Abdulkareem Lafene, explained that the decision of the state government not to include civil servants as direct beneficiaries of the palliatives, as proposed by organised labour, has created tension among members.
"The Organised Labour finds it odd that the executive governor did not come out clearly to include the working class in the first phase of the palliatives.
"The deliberate plan by the Niger State Government to skim out the working class and pensioners in the state has triggered serious tension among members of organised labour that could have a negative effect on the overall productivity of the working class," Lafene said.
According to him, the State Administrative Council SAC, in their meeting on Sunday, resolved that the N110 million announced by the governor as a palliative for industrial unions "should be collapsed and added to whatever was intended for the generality of workers and credited directly to the salary accounts of civil servants and retirees in the state and local government areas sustainably for six months".
Other resolutions of the SAC, as presented by the NLC chairman, included the immediate implementation of outstanding promotions and annual increments for eligible workers in the state and LGAs and the implementation of a minimum pension based on the N30,000 national minimum wage for retirees in the state and LGAs, among others.
He explained that the pathetic situation of the working class, the retirees, and the masses left much to be desired, while the Federal Government has refused to dialogue with the labour movement in good faith on efforts to cushion the agony and hardship being faced by the people.
Comrade Lafene then directed all workers in the state to fully participate in the two-day warning strike called by the NLC National Secretariat that would be observed between September 5 and 6, 2023, in preparation for the full-blown strike after the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum.

By Suleiman Yakubu

About 200 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses would be procured by the Niger State Government in December this year to ease transportation difficulties.
Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago declared this yesterday during a press conference at Government House, Minna.
He explained that 100 of the buses would ply from Minna and Suleja to Abuja, while 50 would be used within the Minna metropolis and its satellite towns, and the remaining 50 would be shared with local governments in the state.
He also announced a three-day public holiday to enable the state to share over five billion naira and other food items as palliatives across the 25 local government areas of the state.
He warned that anyone who diverts palliatives meant to cushion the hardships of the poor will go to jail, adding that the state government would get a warrant to arrest and prosecute anyone caught diverting the palliatives, no matter how highly placed the individuals were.
"Any form of diversion of palliatives, we will use it as an example to jail people. We're going to jail people. We will obtain court summons ahead of deviance ", he said.
He disclosed that the state government only received N2 billion in cash and five trucks of rice from the federal government, explaining that forty thousand bags of maize were expected from the federal government.
He said "To enable everyone to benefit from the palliative, I declare next week's Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday as work-free days".
He said the state government would add its own two billion to make four billion pending when the federal government sends the balance, stressing that the government cannot continue to wait while the hardship faced by the people persists.
Furthermore, he announced that former presidents, which include former military presidents, former governors, former ministers, former senators, former members of the House of Representatives, and all former elected or political office holders in their respective constituencies or local governments, among others, are automatic members of the palliative standing committee.
He directed all political appointees, permanent secretaries, and local government council chairmen who are members of the standing committee set up by the state government to return to their wards for the distribution of the palliatives.
According to him, "all former presidents, former governors and their deputies, former SSGs, former national and state lawmakers, traditional rulers, pensioners, and members of all political parties are automatic members of the standing committee.
The Governor further explained that N3.2 billion will be disbursed to the 25 LGA accounts by Monday and that N5.2 billion will be injected into local markets by next week, which would help to force the prices of food items to crash.
He pleaded with the people to be patient with the government, as the hardship being faced will not last for long.
He said that as a long-term plan, the ministries of land and agriculture were directed to provide 10,000 hectares of land in each local government for cultivation.