Nigeria: Press zooms in on new offer of N35,000 wage top-up by govt, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that the Nigerian Government has again sought concessions with labour unions by presenting new offers for consideration in order to avert the planned nationwide strike which was slated to commence on Tuesday dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Monday.
The Guardian reports that in a last-minute effort to stall the indefinite strike billed to commence tomorrow, the Nigerian Government has again sought concessions with labour unions by presenting new offers for consideration.
Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, announced the update on the decision earlier made by the President, Bola Tinubu, during his Independence Day Broadcast to the nation on Sunday.
According to the Presidency, after further consultation, President Tinubu increased the intervention funds from N25,000 to N35,000 for the next six months for all Federal Workers.
Indeed, the meeting called by the Federal Government to resolve the grey areas for which the Organised Labour had issued a threat to go on indefinite strike, ended on an inconclusive note, as the two labour unions agreed to consult with their National Executive Councils (NEC) today over the new proposal thrown on the table by government.
“A lot of issues were addressed; issues that concern the Nigerian worker. I can’t begin to reel them out here. But I am happy to say that after four hours, we have reached certain agreements that are for the benefit of the Nigerian worker.
“Agreements on the wage bill, on committees on salary increment, CNG buses, and several other things, I believe, we have made some progress with both the TUC, Labour and government side.
“Hopefully, we expect that Labour will call a meeting of their various branches and executive tomorrow to present the agreements that have been reached, and we pray and we believe and hope that the strike will be called off on Tuesday.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero, in his remarks, said: “I don’t have much to say other than what the Chief of Staff has said. We’ve been meeting and we’ve looked at almost all the issues, all the promissory notes from the government and how to translate them to reality and be workable. We’re going to take those promises to our organs. Of course, you know the people here cannot just wake up and review and call off action.”
The newspaper says that the poor state of the economy has brought untold hardship on Nigerians, pushing many to survival. Those who are out of jobs are falling back on the 25 per cent out-of-job withdrawal from their pension savings to survive.
About 30,680 retirement savings account (RSA) holders who were disengaged from their jobs and unable to secure jobs within four months to obtain N20.58 billion from the N16.76 trillion pension fund assets in nine months. Some of the workers drawing from the fund voluntarily resigned from their appointments because they could not cope with the paltry monthly salaries.
According to the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the number of RSA holders has grown to 10 million since its inception. The Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014 provides that RSA holders who lost their jobs and are unable to secure another within four months could apply for 25 per cent of contributions.
These RSA holders are made up of workers in both private and public sectors. The withdrawal took place in nine months – between January and September 2022. A total of 9.79 million contributors in both the private and public sectors of the economy have contributed to the current pension fund assets from inception.
To this, checks by The Guardian also confirmed that the private sector contributed 50.66 per cent to the pension fund assets, while the public sector compliance was put at 49.34 per cent.
According to the Act, such withdrawals shall only be made after four months of such retirement, cessation of employment, or inability to secure another employment.
The 25 per cent withdrawal from the RSA is a proactive clause enshrined in the PRA 2014 to cushion the impact of severance from employment for employees provided that they do not secure another employment within the period stipulated. Contributors are not required by the Act to state the reason(s) for leaving current employment or why they are accessing a portion of their RSA balance.
The Punch reports that the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, has issued a warning to foreign operators who sponsor banditry in order to execute illegal mining in the country.
This was according to a statement by the ministry’s Head, Press & PR, Alaba Balogun, on Friday.
The Minister, Dr Oladele Alake, issued the warning when a delegation of the Nigeria-China Chamber of Mines led by its National President, Dr.Olugbenga Ajala, paid him a courtesy visit in his office at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
He was quoted as saying, “The government will come down firmly on these unscrupulous foreign operators sponsoring banditry to perpetrate illegal mining: let me use this medium to appeal through you to tell those sponsors to desist or face the full wrath of the law.”
Alake said that the Ministry is committed to establishing a multi-agency task force that will end the activities of illegal miners and their collaborators.
He re-iterated that the government has given illegal miners 30-days grace to become legitimate to continue in their trade.
According to him, this will help “to streamline and structure the Small-Scale Artisanal Miners for maximum yield to the Federal Government.”
The newspaper says that Nigeria has set a plan to help startups raise their total yearly funding rounds to $5bn by 2027.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, on Monday in a document titled, ‘Accelerating our Collective Prosperity through Technical Efficiency: A Strategic Plan for the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy.’
The minister highlighted that in today’s global technology landscape, innovation, entrepreneurship, and access to capital are critical components of a strong digital economy. He stated that the primary objective of the ministry as regards this will be to stimulate the growth and sustainability of startups, with a specific focus on those developing innovative solutions for critical sectors of the economy.
Tijani said, “Recognising the critical role of patient capital in the growth of startups, we are committed to increasing the local availability of patient capital. We intend to create an environment for startups to raise the funding they require to thrive locally and promote the domiciliation of startups within our nation.”
Describing how the ministry would measure if its plan were working, he added, “Increase capital raised by Nigerian tech startups 50 per cent year-on-year from ~$1bn/yr in 2022 to $5bn/yr in 2027.”
Amid a funding drought, Nigerian startups raised $1.2bn in 2022, according to Africa The Big Deal (an African funding data insight firm). African startups raised $5.4bn according to Briter Bridges in 2022.
He further declared that the ministry would establish an active sandbox environment to encourage and empower innovators and entrepreneurs to develop unique solutions for sectors considered to have limited exposure to technological innovation.
GIK/APA