ATIKU FINALLY GETS US VISA, JETS OUT OF NIGERIA

Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has finally been issued a visa to the United States.

A family source disclosed this to TheCable on Saturday and confirmed that the former vice-president has left Nigeria for the UK, where he will spend some time before flying to the US.

TheCable also understands that former president Olusegun Obasanjo played a “critical” role in getting the American government to issue the visa to his former deputy with whom he was estranged for almost 15 years.

The trip marks another chapter in the controversy that has rocked the former vice-president for over a decade.

Atiku, who is widely travelled, has not been to the US in 13 years, intially fueling speculations that he might be avoiding possible arrest or prosecution.

His political opponents had used his absence from the US not just to taunt but to discredit him.

His row with the US authorities began after the FBI investigated a bribery scandal involving William Jefferson, former US congressman, in 2004.

Atiku was accused of demanding a bribe of $500,000 to facilitate the award of contracts to two American telecommunication firms in Nigeria.

The FBI had searched his residence in the posh neighbourhood of Potomac, Maryland, but no money was found.

The investigators had videotaped Jefferson, who was the congressman representing Louisiana, receiving $100,000 worth of $100 bills which he claimed was meant for Atiku, but the former vice-president has consistently denied the allegation.

Despite Atiku’s claim to innocence, the controversy raged.

Two months before he declared interest in the 2019 presidential race, Atiku granted an interview to Dele Mommodu, celebrity journalist, where he clarified his absence from the US.

“It is the sole prerogative of America to determine who they want in their country or not,” he said.

“I’m not running away from America. I applied but wasn’t issued a visa.”

He said the US did not categorically deny him visa.

“They’ve only said my application is going through administrative process,” he said.

On Thursday, Lai Mohammed, minister of information, had warned the US to be cautious in granting visa to the main opponent of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

Asked to comment on Atiku’s visa status on Friday, Rusell Brooks, spokesman of the US consulate in Lagos, had said issuance of visa to Nigerians irrespective of their status is strictly a confidential matter.

He said the US government would not discuss such confidentiality in public.

Some All Progressives Congress (APC) members had alleged that Brian Ballard, publicist of US President Donald Trump, was working towards relaxing the visa ban on Atiku. 

NEW MINIMUM WAGE: YOU HAVE CONSPIRED WITH FG – GROUP MOCKS LABOUR LEADERS

The All Workers Convergence (AWC) has declared that the lingering new national minimum wage issue was a reflection of the conspiracy between labour leaders and the Federal Government.

AWC National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze made this declaration while speaking with journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital at the weekend.

He said that what the group has been seeing is a labour movement whose activities look more like a conspiracy between labour and the federal government to deceive Nigerian workers.

Emelieze said, ”What we have been seeing is a labour movement that has been begging the question, in activities that look more of a conspiracy of labour with the Federal Government to deceive the Nigerian workers and continually postpone the actualization of the new minimum wage.

”The scenario as it is unfolding compels one to re-examine the engagement of labour in this regard. One would not but say that for the workers to have waited for over three years and there seems to be no green light at the end of the day, portrays the labour movement as very weak, conservative and equally not willing to achieve a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

”But if labour is ready for the actualization of the new minimum wage, labour knows what to do even with the last aborted strike action by labour suggested that if labour has carried on with the strike action by now, the agitation would have been over.

He urged labour leaders to wake up from its slumber by saving workers from the current hardship in the country.

Emelieze said, “As far as the AWC is concerned, the Nigerian workers are saying that labour should wake up and not sleep over workers’ sufferings, as the situation is becoming more painful, when countries such as South Africa has increased workers’ minimum wage”.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, 41ST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DIES AT 94

 

George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States and the father of the 43rd, was a steadfast force on the international stage for decades, from his stint as an envoy to Beijing to his eight years as vice president and his one term as commander in chief from 1989 to 1993.

The last veteran of World War II to serve as president, he was a consummate public servant and a statesman who helped guide the nation and the world out of a four-decade Cold War that had carried the threat of nuclear annihilation.

His death, at 94 on Nov. 30, also marked the passing of an era.

RITUALISTS BEHEAD 12-YEAR-OLD GIRL, REMOVED VITAL ORGANS IN DELTA STATE (GRAPHIC PIC)

Suspected ritualists, in the early hours of Thursday, beheaded a 12-year-old girl, simply identified as Eguono, at Okwemeva junction off Scott road in Oghara, Ethiope-West Local Government Area of Delta State.

NG Reporters learnt that vital organs of the deceased were also severed by the suspected ritualists.

At the moment, residents, still in shock over the development, are afraid to speak to the press for fear of the unknown.

Men of the Nigeria Police Force, Oghara Division, have gone to evacuate the remains of the deceased.

When contacted, the Delta State Commissioner of Police, CP Muhammad Mustafa said, “The DPO actually called me; but they said the girl was not mentally okay.

“Yes, it is confirmed, but the DPO has commenced investigation to unravel the true story as to why the girl was beheaded.”

READ MORE + PHOTOS: 

http://www.ngreporters.com/suspected-ritualists-behead-12-year-old-girl-remove-vital-organs-in-delta/

UNPAID WORKERS ARREARS: NLC DECLARES WAR AGAINST GOVT OF KATSINA, RIVERS, OGUN, BORNU

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says it would stop at nothing to ensure that the Federal Government recalls the Paris Club Refunds paid to the government of Katsina, Rivers, Ogun and Bornu States for failing to pay arrears of civil servants.

The President of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, stated this during the Joint National Service Negotiating Council meeting, organized by the office of the Head of Service of the Federation (OHCSF) in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State Capital.

According to Warba, the said States made commitments to use the Paris Club Refunds to offset arrears of several months they owe workers in the civil service in their respective States.

Explaining further he said the NLC entered an agreement with the Presidency to pay the Paris Club Refund to only States that agree that they would use the funds to offset workers salary arrears but that “amongst the States that agreed to abide by the terms, Katsina, Rivers, Ogun and Bornu States are yet to fulfil that promise.

“We are going to write to the Presidency to recall the Paris Club Refund sent to them because the funds have not created an impact in the life of workers in the civil service in these States.

“We are bent on taking this step because some States are more interested in diverting the funds meant to pay the salary of workers to pursue flagrancies. This is why many States owe workers salary and gratuity. This is why our universities are on strike because the government have been living on denial,” he added.

Presenting the constitution of the councils and declaring the three days meeting open, the governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Seriake Dickson attributed the prevailing harmonious government and labour relationship in the state to his consultative and inclusive style of governance.

Dickson further underscored the importance of the public service in translating government’s policy objectives to tangible achievements, saying his administration would continue to prioritise the welfare of workers within the ambit of subsisting labour laws as no government could succeed without the cooperation of the public workforce.

He expressed gratitude to civil servants both at federal and state levels for their contributions and show of understanding especially during the period of economic recession which affected the payment of their salaries.

His words, “Let me also report to you that I’m very pleased with the attitude and quality of the manpower we have in our workforce in the new Bayelsa we are building. I’m particularly appreciative of the collaboration that is existing between those of us in government and the leadership of organised labour.

“To a large extent, that is made possible because of my consultative and inclusive approach to issues, which has informed not just my politics but also in the governance of this state. There is no major decision we take concerning the public service that we don’t sit down and discuss and get inputs from organised labour in this state.”

Using the opportunity to highlight some of the achievements of the state government, Dickson noted that his administration’s comprehensive reform programme has provided the enabling environment to promote workers welfare and productivity.

According to him, “Between the last time, you came to Bayelsa and now, so much new and wonderful things have taken place. In very a few days from now, people will land in one of the best airports in our country built here by my administration.

Also Speaking, the Chairman of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, commended Dickson for showing commitment to the welfare of workers in the country.

According to her, the Dickson was among the first few state governors to allow the state council to have a written agreement in respect of the payment of salary arrears owed workers from the Paris Club Refunds as requested by the Federal Government.

Assuring workers of Federal Government’s determination to improve their welfare and condition of service, Mrs Walson-Jack, urged public servants to imbibe the tenets of integrity, merit, performance and transparency in consonance with the ethics of the public service and national development.

Also speaking, the Acting Head of the Bayelsa State Civil Service, Mr Luka Wellington-Obiri described as apt the theme of the meeting, Sustaining Industrial harmony in the Public Service: An Imperative for Achieving Federal Government’s Change Agenda for National Development.

Mr Obiri noted that real change has already taken place in the Bayelsa State Public Service as a result of the dogged manner the present administration initiated and implemented its reform programme.

The high point of the opening ceremony was the unveiling and presentation of constitutions of Council one, two and three as well as that of the Joint Council by Governor Dickson.

'IT FEELS LIKE THERE IS NO HOPE': NIGERIA'S WORSENING JOB CRISIS - ALJAZEERA

Four out of every 10 people in the country's workforce are either unemployed or underemployed.

There has been one single promise that has dominated the election manifestos of Nigeria's presidential candidates as they seek to lure the support of the country's voters ahead of polls in February: jobs, jobs and more jobs.

This has also been the one issue that has consumed Immaculate Uba, who lost her bank job two years ago.

"It has been a horrible experience I never expected in my life - knowing fully well that you are willing and able to work but can't secure a job," she told Al Jazeera in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.

"I am still searching for a paid job," she says. In the meantime, she adds, she's trying to make a living by doing bead- and shoe-making work.

Shrinking opportunities
Four out of every 10 people in the country's workforce are either unemployed or underemployed.

The unemployment rate stood at 18.8 percent in the third quarter of 2017, with underemployment at 21.2 percent.

The National Bureau of Statistics has not released new jobs data since last year, prompting accusations by critics that this is due to political reasons.

Meanwhile, a number of companies have exited Nigeria in recent months - the latest being global banking giants HSBC and UBS.

South African casino and hotel operator, Sun International, is also close to shutting operations after its earnings were "hurt by subdued growth and one-off costs", the company said.

Analysts have blamed the exits on shaky investor confidence, dealing a big blow to foreign direct investment and jobs in Africa's most populous nation.

"Nigeria's unemployment level is beyond crisis levels, and ought to be the government's top concern as it has social implications," Cheta Nwanze, head of research at Lagos-based SBM Intelligence, told Al Jazeera, describing the joblessness figures as "unsustainable".

Amid this environment, thousands of young Nigerians are seeing the prospects of landing their dream job fade.

"I had hopes of a very bright career after graduating from university," says Agnes Uzoigwe attention, a 28-year-old who took her geology degree six years ago.

"I looked forward to a job with an oil company in the Niger Delta area but after almost four years of applying for different roles, I got frustrated," she adds, fighting back tears.

"The most annoying thing is that it looks like there's no hope. Those employed by companies are being sacked and people like me with no job experience can't even imagine getting any job," she adds.

Uzoigwe's father, who funded her studies, recently retired as a government employee and is relying on his pension to cater for his family of seven.

After a long period of searching for a job in Abuja, Uzoigwe has now taken up a job as a teacher in a private college. But she says her wage is barely enough to take care of her basic needs.

'Frustrated people will eventually turn to demagogues'
Nigeria is Africa's biggest economy, yet this that has not translated to jobs for many.

Frustrated and desperate, many job seekers have often fallen victim to fake hiring firms which cash in on their need to get a job.

These companies advertise positions with attractive offers, but end up swindling job seekers who are asked to pay "registration and logistics" fees before landing a job.

"With the school system adding roughly a million people a year to the workforce, and a very high birth rate, this represents Nigeria's biggest challenge," Nwanze, the analyst, says.

"Frustrated people will eventually turn to demagogues for their daily bread," he adds.

Political arena
The country's worsening unemployment situation has negatively affected the government's image.

President Muhammadu Buhari won the 2015 elections on the back of a campaign vowing to fix the nation's economy, but has struggled to fix the worsening economic crisis.

Now, ahead of the February elections, he is promising to generate more employment.

"The next level of effort focuses on job creation across various sectors," Buhari said in his election campaign's policy document.

"From an enlargement of the N-Power programme [government loan scheme for young graduates] to investing in technology and creative sector jobs to agriculture and revolutionising access to credit for entrepreneurs and artisans, there is scope for over 15 million new jobs."

His main challenger for the presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, has attacked the government's job creation record since Buhari assumed office four years.

"Close to 16 million people are unemployed, nine million more than in 2014," Abubakar said in his own campaign document.

Abubakar has promised to remedy this with "the creation of up to three million self- and wage-paying employment opportunities in the private sector annually".

Iniobong Paul, a hotelier who lost her job two years ago, told Al Jazeera she hopes that the political promises will be realised after the elections.

"It's not been easy," she says, adding that she looks forward to working again.

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2018/11/feels-hope-nigeria-worsening-job-crisis-181127193954772.html?

CROSS RIVERS STATE WORKERS CELEBRATE EARLY CHRISTMAS IN AS GOV. AYADE PAYS DECEMBER SALARY

Gov Ayade

Cross River State Civil servants have received their December salary, barely four days after getting November salary.

This is even as the state is yet to receive federal allocation for November.

In the past years it has become a tradition in the state under the governorship of Senator Ben Ayade, for workers in the state to receive their December salaries in November.

According to reports, although a section of the workforce has on many occasions protested against early payment of salaries in the state, Governor Ayade has stayed steadfast to early payment of salaries.

On the rationale for the payment of December late November, the Governor explained that the idea is to get workers to do their shopping early, to avoid inflation that always occasion shopping close to Christmas.

“We pay workers in the state early to usher in the Christmas festivities that begin in the state on December 1st. Besides, it also saves our workers the stress and strain of shopping close to Christmas given the tendency for prices of goods to skyrocket.

“So by paying early we ensure that our workers do their Christmas shopping early, thus getting true value for their money instead of buying goods at highly inflated prices if they shopped close to Christmas.

Given that the payment of December salary was done early, he assured that salary for the month of January will also be paid early.

“Because we have paid December salary early, we will also pay January salary early so as to assist our workers who are parents meet up with the obligation of paying schools fees for their children,” Ayade assured.

ALL THE AGGRIEVED APC MEMBERS HAVE RIGHT TO GO TO COURT – PRESIDENT BUHARI

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday declared his backing for aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress who opted to sue the party for being dissatisfied with its decisions.

The President said the courts remained the last option for the amicable resolution of disputes, hence he insisted that the party must allow the aggrieved members to fully explore their democratic and legal rights.

It is yet another sign of the deepening disagreements within the fold of the ruling party.

The APC has been battling post-primary election crises, amid fears that the development may rub on its chances at the 2019 polls.

The National Chairman, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, in particular, has been pitted against some state governors, who are reported to be bent on removing him before the polls.

The party has also suffered a gale of defections across the states and the National Assembly, where there is now a real threat of losing the majority position in the House of Representatives.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, in a statement in Abuja on Monday, expressed Buhari’s backing for the decision of aggrieved members to approach the courts.

The statement quoted Buhari as saying, “We can’t deliberately deny people of their rights.

“We agreed that party primaries should be conducted either through direct, indirect or consensus methods, and if anyone feels unjustly treated in the process, such a person can go to court.

“The court should always be the last resort for the dissatisfied. For the party to outlaw the court process is not acceptable to me.”

Buhari, who also cited the threat issued by the National Working Committee of the APC last week, said he did not agree with the position of the party’s leadership.

The NWC had warned, “The party intends to activate constitutional provisions to penalise such members as their action is capable of undermining the party and hurt the party’s interest.

“We hereby strongly advise such members to withdraw all court cases, while approaching the appropriate party organs with a view to resolving any outstanding disputes.

“In addition to this, aggrieved members are urged to take full advantage of the reconciliation committees the party has put in place.”

PDP CHAIRMAN (KANO), DEPUTY AND OTHERS DUMP PDP, JOIN APC.

Report reaching our news desk have it that the PDP chairman of the Kano state, His Deputy and Others dump PDP), Senator Mas’ud Jibrin Doguwa, his deputy, and other PDP stalwarts in the state have defected to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

See List of decampees

Derails later....