Nigerian press zooms in on protests by Labour over threats of contempt charge, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that the National Deputy President of the Trade Union Congress, Tommy Etim, on Thursday, berated moves by the Federal Government to hamstring the Organised Labour from embarking on an indefinite nationwide strike from Tuesday, using the courts is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
The Punch reports that the National Deputy President of the Trade Union Congress, Tommy Etim, on Thursday, berated moves by the Federal Government to hamstring the Organised Labour from embarking on an indefinite nationwide strike from Tuesday, using the courts.
Etim stated that labour leaders would not succumb to any threat by the government, noting that they were ready to go to prison in their fight for better lives for Nigerian workers.
The TUC deputy president said this against the backdrop of the warning by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, that the proposed strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress and TUC was in contravention of a subsisting court order restraining the unions from declaring an industrial action.
The NLC and TUC Tuesday announced an indefinite strike with effect from October 3, 2023, to protest the alleged failure of the Federal Government to provide post-subsidy palliatives for workers and implement policies that could alleviate the sufferings of the masses after the removal of the fuel subsidy.
The unions had also directed their state chapters and affiliates to mobilise for the shutdown of critical facilities and infrastructure, including airports, seaports, electricity grids and fuel supply across the country.
However, the AGF in a letter addressed to the counsel to the NLC and TUC, Femi Falana, SAN, reminded them that it was as a result of the disobedience to the order that the ministry of justice filed a contempt proceeding against the labour leaders.
He added that the ministry withdrew the suit following the intervention of President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly.
The newspaper says that the National Economic Council on Thursday affirmed that the $3bn emergency loan-for-crude oil the Federal Government secured in August would be deployed to stabilise the naira, whose value has continued to fluctuate in the Investors & Exporters’ window and worsened in the parallel market, hitting N1000/$ earlier this month.
Addressing State House correspondents after the 136th NEC meeting, which was held at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, said, “So, we are very confident and we still believe very strongly that with the plan that will come out and with all these items that have been listed on the improvement of revenue, the $3bn shall be useful to us down the line.”
On August 16, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited revealed that it secured an emergency $3bn crude repayment loan from Afrexim Bank to relieve pressure on the naira.
It said the loan would enable it to settle taxes and royalties in advance.
It would also equip the Federal Government with the necessary dollar liquidity to stabilise the naira, with limited risk.
However, the naira has continued to fluctuate in the I&E window and worsened at the parallel market, hitting N1000/$ the week before last.
It recovered on Friday, September 22, 2023, after President Bola Tinubu nominated Olayemi Cardoso as CBN governor. The naira moved upwards by N10 against the dollar in the black market, closing at N990/$1.
The Guardian reports that the Federal Government has set aside a N75 billion intervention fund to support small businesses in response to the country’s current economic challenges.
The fund is expected to be disbursed, starting from March 2024 to strengthen the manufacturing sector. The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite made this known yesterday while declaring open this year’s Abuja International Trade Fair (AITF).
Uzoka-Anite was represented by the Director of Commodity and Export, Kaura Irimiya. The minister stated that the Federal Government would also provide small grants to micro businesses in each of the 774 local government areas in the country.
In his remark, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, expressed the administration’s readiness to collaborate with the private sector towards repositioning economic and business activities in the territory.
Wike, who was represented by the Mandate Secretary of Economic Planning, Chinedu Elechi, solicited the cooperation of the private sector, especially in taxation, to boost the FCT internally generated revenue (IGR).
“We in the FCT are calling on the private sector to come and invest in the territory to boost our IGR with the assurances that the administration is determined to put in place the necessary infrastructure to ease their costs.”
Speaking on the theme, ‘Sustainable Financing and Taxation’, Dr Al-Mujtaba Abubakar said AITF has served as a trusted global trade platform attracting over five hundred thousand consumers and providing an opportunity for business relationships.
The newspaper says that the Consul General of France in Lagos, Laurent Favier, has expressed his determination to deepen France’s economic and commercial relations with Nigeria.
Favier disclosed this at the CEO luncheon series three organised by the Franco-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) in partnership with KPMG in Lagos.
He said his professional background as a career diplomat and as head of division at the directorate of economic diplomacy in Paris, France gave him the mandate to firm programmes and activities that align the bilateral relationships.
“Between France and Nigeria, we are not starting from scratch; we have been sharing a long-lasting relationship. Nigeria is, by far, France’s first partner in West Africa and the fourth on the whole continent immediately after Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
“Today, we have active French companies in Nigeria who generate 10,000 direct jobs and a lot of cash of course. We want to go further and match further. I know I can count on the tireless effort of our economic team, the chamber, the economic regional department at the embassy, the French development agency and business fronts.
“This is what we call team France, and you can count on us to strengthen our economic ties and to further advance French presence in Nigeria. The essence of the relationship means that it works both ways, which is why one of my second priorities in Nigeria is to strengthen the attractiveness of France for Nigerian investors. France must be seen as a fertile ground for investment opportunities for foreign companies and Nigerian companies are part of them.
“France has been ranked the most attractive country in Europe in the past four years in all attractiveness surveys. So, the room for our economic relations in Nigeria or France is a very huge one. I hope that each of the CEOs already involved in these relationships will be an ambassador to further deepening our business commitment. Let us work together as promoters of Nigerians in France and France in Nigeria.”
Chairman, KPMG West Africa, Tola Adeyemi, said CEOs should anticipate disruption, build a strong team and develop a strategic response to combat disruption at workplace.
GIK/APA