According to my dictionary, the Sam- Wood dictionary, the word wickedness in the dictionary means evil in principle or the way of practicing sinful, ungodly, cruel, abominable acts to human. Evidently we all know our world generally is full of the wicked people. It’s evident that human being born of a woman has a wicked streak.
Apparently from the young to the old the term wickedness is something that we see everyday in our world as a society. As a matter of fact, you don’t need to look too far to see the manifold evidence of wickedness.
For a basic example, when the leaders are greedy, selfish to developmental needs of their followers, that is wickedness as an example. Let’s just take a look at the ASUU saga, the federal government ought to have seen it as a major challenge for them to curb, but consequently everything is in the other way around.
When people kill, steal or cheat others, that’s also wickedness. When a girl or a lady is sexually abused, that’s gross wickedness. When the young ones abuse their bodies in the name of having fun, that’s also wickedness.
Such forms of abuse include pre-marital sex, extra marital affairs, homosexuality, lesbianism, incest, sex orgies, bestiality and all these also include an affairs between an employer to an employee, an affairs between teacher to student e.t.c. When a child is born and thrown into a trash can, that’s wickedness. When a boss harasses his or her subordinates for illicit relationships, that is wickedness. When parents however abandon their maternal or paternal responsibility, leaving the children or kids vulnerable to hunger, molestation, harassment and vices, that’s wickedness.
In addition to that, when a young lady or young guy raised in a descent home tows the way or path of drug abuse or peddling, cultism, yahoo yahoo(FRAUD) , prostitution, alcoholism, bringing shame and humiliation to his or her parents, that’s also a total wickedness. When an employer withhold Legitimate wages or salary from their employees, that’s wickedness. When employers steal, cheat or treat their official responsibilities with laxity, that’s wickedness. When parents , children or relations sacrifice their loved ones or family for money making rituals, that’s a pure substance of wickedness. When people repay good with evil or refuse to show appreciation to those who have helped them in life, that’s wickedness. When a man either boyfriend or an husband batters or oppresses his girlfriend or wife, that’s wickedness also.
However, no doubt wickedness stares us in the face every day. Like I said earlier, we all have a natural propensity to be very wicked. Consequentially, we have a choice to remain in our state of wickedness or to make a deliberate detour or embrace goodness and compassion. The latter choice will make our world a better place to live.
Moreover we must reject the act of wickedness because it leads to disaster and destructions, it brings multiple pains , sorrow, lack of joy, confusion and despair. It even multiples anxiety, leads to war, poverty, destruction, under development, catastrophe among others.
Wickedness creates tension in relationships, creates undue conflicts in communities, erodes our joy , peace and enthusiasm. Therefore every act of wickedness in Nigeria and Africa as a whole is certain to reap a bountiful harvest of wickedness in return. May God change our heart and mind totally away from wickedness and it’s acts.
ISHOWO, Malik. 08165511716
Ishowo is a student, learner, political and media enthusiast, writer based in Ilorin.
Preamble Laws would not exist, if orderliness was bestowed on man by nature. In fact, the state of nature abinitio, was gifted to us with so much brute, individualism and social cannibalism, such that it avails all man to live by himself in a form structure of his own.
A state Thomas Hobbes mirrored as “Solitary, short, poor, brutish and Nasty”. Therefore, the major essence of laws and rules to the humanity is to make up for what we lack in nature- Ordeliness. To this end, over the years, the law has continued to extend its horizons.
Now just as the land has its laws, the things beneath the land their laws, so does even war, which inherently comes with a thirst for damages, and vengeful desires regulated by laws. More also, it is expected that for laws to achieve its full purpose on order, compliance and enforcement should adequately exist concurrently.
On February 14, 2022, the academic populace woke up to a “declaration of war” on the Federal Government by the Academic Staff Union of Universities- a warning strike which would see a large percentage of Nigerian Universities closed and academic activities interrupted. ASUU asserted and publicly advocated its good cause for the war, decrying the seeming abandonment of Public institutions by the Federal Government, the poor condition of learning in these institutions as an aftermath of the former, the inefficiency of IPPIS as a payment system as well as the lackadaisical approach of the government towards honoring an agreement it renegotiated a year before with the body- the 2009 Agreement- among others. While this happening was quite foreseeable as an unfortunate part of the stop-start Nigerian academic system, yes! ASUU was going on its sixteenth strike since its 23 years of creation, nevertheless there were prayers that the strike would not extend for too long. Six months and still counting, the strike action of the Academic Staff Union of Universities remains unresolved.
On the other hand, the Federal Government despite large outcries of the masses at the inception, greeted the strike action with levity and instead tried to coerce the union to resumption by retracting their salaries, a move which caused so much hardship to the workers but further bolstered their reluctance. ASUU and the Media created in the government an heartless villain until lately, when the latter showed it could really be having genuine financial problems in dealing with the request of the Academic staff Union of Universities, especially in relation to revitalization funds. Aside the problem of liquidation, the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige, condemned the strike action of the Union abinitio for coming without adequate notice to his office and infact, flaunted his opened choice of having the Union sanctioned at the National Industrial court for flagrantly disregarding the law. Finally, the FG also considered the claim of a new payment system with so much insistence from the Union to its preferred payment system as an uncondonable excesses overlapping its role as the employer.
With negotiations failing and an end to the strike not in sight, the war which started on the table, got so much attention in the media, and caused so much damages to the Students, could end up at the National Industrial Court for resolution. Pursuant to the jurisdiction of the NIC to interprete the law vis-a-vis collective agreements and to determine rights and liabilities in a trade dispute, the court may also be forced to award punitive damages for” war crimes” committed in this elongated war. On this note, this work looks to objectively examine the provisions of the law in relation to the settlement of trade dispute in Nigeria, especially those guiding industrial action and negotiations between two “warring” parties in a trade dispute. On the broader objective, this work would juxtapose the actions of the Union and the Federal Government so far in this trade dispute with the points of law expoused to determine the level of compliance accorded to the Trade Dispute Act 1976.
EXPOSITION ON THE RULES OF WAR- THE TRADE DISPUTE ACT 1976 War is an inevitable phenomenon in human relations, such as disagreement is an inalienable part of industrial relations. Trade dispute could result between an employee and an employer on the terms of employment, the condition of work and things incidental to it, as well as between an employee and another employee on the exercise of their duties and functions within an organization.
According to section 52 of the Trade Unions Act 1973 and section 47(1) of the Trade Disputes Act 1976 respectively, a “trade dispute” is defined as any dispute between an employer and a worker or between workers and employers, which is connected with the employment or nonemployment, or the terms of employment and physical conditions of work of any person. On this note, the writer submit that the subjects of dispute between ASUU and the FG, being one in relation to condition of work, constitutes a trade dispute.
In the resolution or furtherance of a trade dispute, two instruments are available to both parties they are collective bargaining such as negotiation, and industrial action such as strike action, picketing, work to rule for the employee or lock out for the employer.
According to the provisions of the Trade Dispute Act 1976, s.18 to be precise, the law creates an order in which these instruments are to be exercised. The white paper rule of this provision is that Industrial action should only be pursued where other means of dispute resolution, especially bargaining, has been employed and failed. Where there is a provision in the employment contract as to how a trade dispute is to be resolved, such provision must have been patronized before an industrial action can take place. As a matter of fact, if such medium also fails section 4(2) of the Trade Dispute Act 1976 makes further provision for a need to make recourse to Mediation. If mediation fails, the Minister of Labour, must be put on notice within 3 days in writing to apprehend the dispute via other options which include: Conciliation in section 8 of the Act, Industrial Arbitration Panel resolution in Section 9, a reference to a board of enquiry in section 33, and at the latter end, filing a suit at the National Industrial Court established in section 19 and section 20 of the Trade Dispute Act 1976. Of utmost importance in all these processes however, is the specific prohibition of a concurrent strike action.
The Trade Dispute Act consider it unacceptable for a strike action to run concurrently with the above processes in section 18 and infact considers it a crime punishable by imprisonment with an option of a fine in section 18(2)- six month imprisonment or a fine of #100 for an individual as well as a fine of #1000 for a body corporate. The rationale behind this rule is not far fetched, as it is to allow both parties negotiate on a level playing ground without any form of economic duress.
Relating the provision of this Act to the current Asuu crisis, the Nimi Briggs committee was constituted by the Minister of Labour in March 2022, a month after the commencement of the ASUU strike to apprehend the dispute as a board of enquiry and a mediation team for the renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement.
The committee was expected to run their enquiry and negotiations for a period of three month in which by law, ASUU is expected to suspend its strike action. However, ASUU refused to call off the strike while the negotiations were on, stating reasonably the government’s attitude to previous negotiation as an excuse for their action. In all fairness to the Union, FG has a reputation of not only reneging on promises with the body, but also loves to deploy delay tactics in their negotiation. However, from the point of law, the writer submits that ASUU regardless of its equitable motive, has contravened the provision of section 18 of the Trade Dispute Act 1976 prohibiting strike actions during the apprehension of a dispute by the Minister in Section 5 of the Act and could be liable for a “war crime” in this tussle. The writer also argues that ASUU could have proceeded to the National Industrial Court to enforce the collective agreement between them as provided in Section 3 of the Trade Dispute Act 1976 instead, provided all the requirements in the Act have been complied with during negotiation. The law frowns at intentional boycotting of a collective agreement which should grant sufficient right to the body rather than engage in self-help.
Furthermore, another salient issue of discourse in course of this trade dispute is the Federal Government Policy discontinuing the payment of salaries for the duration of the strike. The FG through the Ministry of Education stopped the payment of salaries and other eemployment benefits to the members of ASUU in a bid to coerce them away from the industrial action. In the court of public opinion, this seem quite unfair and looks like an act of bully. More inimical to negotiations, in recent weeks, is the fact that the ASUU are now requesting the payment of those arrears in recent weeks, if any agreement is to be reached for the suspension of the Industrial action.
Certainly, ASUU sees this as the only way to compensate for the government delay in addressing their demands and most especially, a make-weight in their current negotiation. On this issue, the writer submits that while the Federal Government is at liberty to accede to this request, it is not an obligation by law to pay up forfeited salaries in course of a strike action.
According to section 43 of the Trade Dispute Act 1976, where any worker takes part in a strike, he shall not be entitled to any wages or other remuneration for the period of the strike, and any such period shall not count for the purpose of reckoning the period of continuous employment and all rights dependent on continuity of employment shall be prejudicially affected accordingly. The only alternate to this rule could have been a situation of lock out where the employer would be obligated to pay his employees for the periods of the lock out, but this is in no way the case. The writer also submits that the payment retraction policy of the government, even though harsh is legal and therefore not an act of “war crime” in this instance.
Before summing up this work, the writer will like to make a brief evaluation on issues pertaining to the period of notice for an industrial action as well as the right of ASUU to challenge the FG payment system. On the period of notice before the commencement of an industrial action, the Trade Dispute Act does not specifically provide for a period of notice to be given before a strike action commences except in relation to workers of essential services in Section 41 of the TDA 1976 and workers who carry out duties related to life and securing of property in Section 43.
Furthemore, workers of essential services are listed in the First Schedule of the Act to include workers in the supply of power, broadcasting, port maintenance, etc., with no mention on education which is the service offered by members of ASUU. Therefore on this note, the writer submits that ASUU is only required to give a notice of a reasonable period to their employer before cessation of work and therefore not guilty of a “war crime” in this instance. On the other hand, in the determination of payment system, while the employer is saddled with the responsibility of paying wages to the employee as provided in section 1 of the Labour Act 1971, and therefore incidentally obligated to determine the payment of system, the employee can propose a better payment system or object to the payment system where it is deemed prejudicial to the interest of the employee. After all, it is a condition of service and the major crux of defining a trade dispute in the first instance.
CONCLUSION Following a critical evaluation of the industrial action carried out by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, as well as the response of the Federal Government to the trade dispute between both parties, the writer concludes that both parties are guilty of flouting certain provisions of the Trade Dispute Act 1976, regardless of their motive for such actions. As earlier mentioned, the sole purpose of the law is to instill order and avoid a brutish state, so does its compliance and enforcement. It is therefore expected that regardless of the circumstances and situations warranting a trade dispute, warring parties should endeavour to pursue their grievances within the purview of the labour laws available.
On this note, the writer recommends that the National Industrial Court, provided this dispute is brought before it, should not overlook the excesses of either parties in the violations of the Trade Dispute Act. Fines and punitive damages should be awarded where necessary to instill compliance in subsequent cases. If the labour laws are left to be flouted without proper checkmates, regardless of motive, and disputing party are allowed too much excesses outside the provisions of the Trade Dispute Act, the country economy and its labour administration could be in complete jeopardy. It is expedient that labour laws are not only put in place to guide trade dispute, but also enforced adequately against defaults.
Short Bio of the Writer:
Olatunde Olayinka Damilola is a student of Law at Adekunle Ajasin University and a researcher/content writer at SAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE. LinkedIn profile
I have a friend and classmate that is no longer interested in going back to school as a result of the ongoing strike. A couple of days ago she sent a text message to me asking for an update on hopeless ASUU condition and I told her the strike remains stagnant. I added that there’s no expectation the industrial action may be called off soon. She revealed that she also asked several other people, especially politically-inclined student activists who are equally my friends on campus, but were also saying the same thing. She lamented that she is totally discouraged and no longer interested in going back to school.
However, with my own example as a student, now home-based, so many parents and families are going through untold turmoil with their sons and daughters that are idle at home as a result of the unending strike. Many of the students have resorted to criminal activities which among others include drug peddling and addiction, fraud, prostitution, kidnapping, ritual killing, theft, rape, gambling, armed robbery, and other numerous vices ravaging the country at the moment.
Though, the ASUU strike might have been a blessing in disguise for some students, most especially those who already have something they are doing one way or the other. For a basic example, I have a friend who had successfully established himself into clothing business in Post Office area in Ilorin. Similarly, a friend, pushed out of the school by strike, who is currently working in a company and receiving an unexpectedly handsome income from the organization. There are several other colleagues that are currently doing different things in different places all over the country. Apparently, the new situation appears to them as an opportunity or means to make income before we resume back to school for academic activities, that is, for those willing to return.
Consequently, if I should also start reminiscing on how I subsequently got my little job in Ilorin, it’s not a funny story since I wasn’t prepared for it at all. I could remember vividly while seeking for Job around February till middle of May this year, how I moved here and there, just to avoid sitting at home doing virtually nothing. I evidently seek for job from one School to another even at the height of being offered peanuts but what option do I have? I think I should even be grateful to God that I eventually have somewhere to go in the early hours of the day and days of the week. And it is most important at the level because most of the responses I got from the employers was that they can not employ an undergraduate, especially someone who’s in the federal university as ASUU can call off the strike at any point in time with attendant negative effects on their business.
Though, I was extremely stressed, dismayed and demoralized when seeking for Job between February this year till the middle of May, there are several other youths like me still making tremendous and remarkable efforts to get at least a job. Where such a dream becomes intractable they gleefully embraced criminality as an indispensable option.
Therefore, I join in the call for a swift end to this collateral damage on the life of the students as well as on the nation called ASUU strike.
@ISHOWO, Malik. 08165511716.
Ishowo is a student, learner, political and media enthusiast and a writer based in Ilorin.
Muslims around the world will begin giving out Eid Mubarak wishes to friends and family. Eid Mubarak is a traditional greeting used in the Islamic religion during times of holy festivals such as Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. It’s a celebratory term that’s exchanged between communities as a sign of respect and recognition. First of all, What do we understands by the word Eid Mubarak? It simply mean an Arabic term that directly translates to blessed holiday or blessed feast/festival.
The Eid Mubarak meaning according to Wikipedia is used as a traditional way to greet someone or offer celebrations in the Muslim community during Eid. While it’s been regarded as a religious obligation in the past, the meaning of Eid Mubarak is used as more of a cultural tradition in today’s society. While Eid Mubarak is most commonly used by Arab Muslims, it’s becoming more widespread amongst anyone who celebrates Eid festivals. This includes individuals around the world who participate in Eid al-Adha. Eid Mubarak wishes are given open and sincerely a great way to show support of the Muslim culture.
However, Over the past few weeks or days as the case may be, they’ve been a consistent questions from me that do the non Muslims wish Muslims happy Eid? Actually, the underlying meaning of Eid Mubarak is a positive, celebratory one that can be extended to people in every culture.
Moreover, since the meaning of Eid Mubarak means “blessed holiday,” you can use it to wish others a happy Eid. It can be said as a greeting or simply in passing. If you want to use the elongated version of Eid Mubarak, it will depend on which festival of the Islamic Calendar you’re celebrating. During Eid Al-Fitr, you would say “Eid al-Fitr Mubarak, while during this Eid al-Adha, you would say “Eid Adha.” When to use Eid Mubarak. You can use it as a greeting when interacting with people in the Muslim community. It’s most commonly exchanged on the 10th day of dhul-hijja if it is in case of this “Ileya”.
However, the newer generations have also begun saying it at midnight of the Eid day, similar to how people wish each other a happy New Year. These translate to happy celebration and “may I find you well and in good health every year” respectively.
The underlying meaning of Eid Mubarak is the same across different cultures. However, slight variations to how you wish someone a happy Eid may depend on their language. You can use the above Eid Mubarak wishes when in respective countries. If you’re worried about pronunciation, the traditional phrase of Eid Mubarak is still welcomed. Muslims across different cultures and countries recognize this greeting and will happily receive your wishes.
May Allah reward you all with goodness, In shaa Allah.
First of all it is not longer a new thing that corruption exists across world, most especially in our African countries or society as the case may be.
However, Corruption can be defined as the use of entrusted power to accumulate public wealthy for personal benefit. Corruption is not actually peculiar to any country, continent or state as the case may be; it is sure a global issue which is an endemic to all government all over the world. However, corruption is prevalent in the Niger delta region of Nigeria; public officers in this oil producing state of Nigeria are predominantly corrupt. Consequently, it has defied the Niger delta from developing politically and economically which has left the states reputation in a mess.
Radicalization of youths, abject poverty and political instability are the three leading effects and factors of corruption in the Niger delta region of Nigeria. Corruption in the Niger delta region of Nigeria has led to so many negative things that are too numerous to mention
Most children in the Niger delta have little or no education, due to lack of funds from their parents who have lost their lands and have no jobs because of limited opportunities and resources as well. The Niger delta government and the oil companies have refused to look into the situation; instead they favor their close relations neglecting the masses. Corruption in the Niger delta has also led some youths in taking drastic measure in order to put food on their table.
In addition, Corruption in the Niger delta region of Nigeria as resulted in youths becoming militants and kidnappers which have led to slaughtering of the innocent ones. During the past few years since I was born around 2004 alot of people have died in the Niger delta due to violent killings and riot because of dispute over oil revenue and compensation. Most of these atrocities are carried out mainly by the youths, who are agitated by the corrupt practice of an ineffectual and unstable securitizationofgovernment corruption most especially in Nigeria and other African nations through deliberate neglect of malpractices in government and the implementation of poor policies and norms that pervade the system and create insecurity, instability, threats and hinder the welfare of the populace.
To begin this examination, an understanding of the issue is necessary to receive a full appreciation of why Nigeria’s failures in securitizing and also jeopardizing the issue of corruption is important to the argument. In Nigeria today corruption stems from the problem with oil, it leads to political violence and unchecked government power. However in Kenya as well, corruption arises from economic interests, causing political instability and hindering development. In addition to that, both experience electoral corruption. Conversely, civil societies active participation in the identity played a crucial role in the development of Nigeria, and the conflicts in both the Northern and Southern regions of the country. Government and military corruption has played a debilitating responsibility in Nigeria and is a reflection of the past and present governance.
ISHOWO, MALIK.
ISHOWO Malik is a Student, reader and a learner based in Ilorin, Kwara State
In Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s unusually acerbic and desperate political speech in Ogun State on Thursday, he dropped four unmistakably broad hints that he will transition to secessionist Yoruba nationalism should the All Progressives Congress (APC) deny him its ticket, especially if this is done through the circumvention of the established protocols for choosing a party nominee.
The first hint is that he spoke in the Yoruba language throughout the speech even though there were non-Yoruba people like Governor Abdullahi Ganduje in the audience, and his Yoruba listeners all speak English.
It’s easy to dismiss this point as a backdoor validation of the supremacy of the English language and a sly dig at Tinubu for speaking in Yoruba. But that would be both wrong and simplistic. Most people in polite society refrain from speaking in a language that excludes friends and associates in formal and informal gatherings unless they want to make a symbolic statement.
Although Ganduje earned his PhD from the University of Ibadan and probably speaks a smattering of Yoruba, he isn’t proficient enough in the language to understand what Tinubu said. Plus, several of the people who accompanied Ganduje to Ogun from Kano don’t speak a lick of Yoruba.
Tinubu knew this. In other words, his choice of Yoruba to communicate his frustration over what he perceived to be betrayal by those whose ascension to power he helped to facilitate was deliberate.
The second hint is what seems to me his premeditated appropriation and personalization of the Yoruba nationalist term “Orile Ede Yoruba” to refer to Yoruba land in relation to other parts of the country. A Yoruba friend told me that the term was popularized by Yoruba irredentist groups, such as those led by Sunday Igboho, in the last two years.
The usual expression for Yoruba land among everyday Yoruba people is “Ile Yoruba,” which literally translates as “Yoruba land,” my friend said. But Yoruba irredentist movements who nurse secessionist aspirations prefer the term “Orile Ede Yoruba,” which translates as “Yoruba Nation.” That Tinubu used that term is instructive.
Tinubu said, “Buhari contested the first time and crashed; second, he crashed; third time he crashed and wept on national television and vowed that he would never contest again. I then went to him and told him that this is not a matter of tears. I told him he would run again and would win but the condition is that “oonii f’oro Orile-ede Yoruba s’ere (you won’t trivialize matters concerning the Yoruba nation…)”
That was undoubtedly a dog whistle to Yoruba nationalists. A dog whistle is the use of words and imagery in ways that seem harmless and innocent on the surface but that actually sends a special, often divisive, message to intentionally preselected groups of people whose backgrounds allow them decode the message in ways the uninitiated public won’t.
My Yoruba friends said several Yoruba nationalist WhatsApp groups deciphered Tinubu’s message exactly as he enciphered it. Some welcomed it and others pooh-poohed it for reasons I’ll come to shortly.
The third hint that Tinubu might transmute into a full-blown Yoruba ethnic nationalist if he is denied APC’s nomination through subterfuge can be gleaned from the regionally dichotomous rhetoric he used in justifying why power should move to Yoruba land, which he personalized to himself.
He said, “Agbara yi, kii se ti Oke Oya nikan. Asiko ti to ti a maa gbaa.” Rough translation: “Power is not for the North alone. It’s time for us to get it, too.” (Oke Oya, which literally translates as “above the River Niger,” is the Yoruba term for Northern Nigeria.)
Tinubu has not been associated with that kind of rhetoric in the last seven years—at least in public. When Amotekun was launched in Yoruba land in January 2020, for instance, Tinubu refused to openly embrace it because he considered it divisive and injurious to his presidential aspiration.
After tremendous pressure from Yoruba people who wanted to know his stand on the security outfit, he issued a run-with-the-hare-and-hunt-with-the-hounds statement that pretended to be statesmanlike and evenhanded but that actually only cleverly concealed its attempt to please the Aso Rock cabal whose blessing he actively sought for his presidential ambition.
Neither Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu nor his deputy, who are both beholden to Tinubu, attended the formal launch of Amotekun, and Lagos was the only Southwest state where an Amotekun solidarity rally was disrupted by the police.
At the same time, in July 2019, in the aftermath of the brutal murder of Afenifere leader Reuben Fasoranti’s daughter by people that the Lagos news media formation said were Fulani herdsmen, Tinubu asked “where are the cows?” to question the accuracy of this assumption, which has caused Tinubu to be seen in the Southwest as a thoughtless lackey of the Fulani.
Tinubu’s furtive opposition to Amotekun and his evidence-free exculpation of “Fulani herdsmen” in the murder of Fasoranti’s daughter were intended to portray him as a large-hearted Nigerian patriot who wasn’t beholden to narrow ethnic loyalties, but they are sore points for Yoruba nationalists. That’s why his dog whistle to them isn’t being well received by some of them who now derisively call him an “emergency Yoruba nationalist.”
The last bit of evidence that Tinubu will go full-blown Yoruba nationalist if the primaries don’t go his way emerged from the list of favors he said he didn’t ask from Buhari after helping Buhari to ascend to the presidency. He said he didn’t ask for contacts, a ministerial appointment, fura, or women.
Fura (da nono) is a stereotypic Fulani gastronomic classic. Buhari is Fulani. Of all the favors he could list, why did Tinubu mention Fura? He could simply have said “food,” but he chose to say “Fura.” That was another metaphoric dog whistle.
This isn’t the first time Tinubu has recoiled to his subnationalist enclave when he isn’t having his way. In an April 13, 1997, interview Tinubu granted ThisDay, for instance, he said, “I Don’t Believe in One Nigeria’’ because he was disillusioned by the invalidation of the June 12, 1993, presidential election and Abacha’s brutal dictatorship.
To be fair to him, though, almost all Nigerian political elites, as I pointed out in a previous column, are situational, opportunistic “patriots.” They’re irredentists when they’re outside the orbit of power and exaggerated “patriots” when they have access to the public till.
Northern Muslim elites invoke Islam and Sharia as bargaining chips when they are out of power. Northern Christian elites play up their cultural difference with the Muslim North and brand themselves as “Middle Belters” as a form of protest. Yoruba elites who want to negotiate a better deal for themselves appeal to Yoruba nationalism, specifically Oduduwa Republic.
Igbo elites conjure up the specter of Biafra secession to call attention to themselves, and elites of southern minorities have used the threats of Niger Delta militancy to gain concessions.
Tinubu has signaled very clearly that if he is shut out of APC’s primary election, he would subvert not just the party but the country. At 70, he has little to lose, and there’s no one more dangerous than a man who thinks he is already down and has nothing to lose.
There are only three ways to checkmate him. One, allow the primary election to proceed but undermine him so he loses. Two, should he win the primaries in spite of attempts to stop him, sabotage him so he loses the general election. Third, if the first two options are too risky, choose an urbane, cosmopolitan Yoruba politician like Governor Kayode Fayemi. That would blunt Tinubu’s appeals to Yoruba nationalism.
Of course, as I’ve said repeatedly, my own preference is for an Igbo person to emerge as president in 2023 in the interest of national unity.
Tinubu’s retraction
As I was completing this column, I read Tinubu’s sneaky retraction of his Abeokuta speech. This is called closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. It would have been more honorable to be quiet or to stick to his guns. Retracting won’t change his fortunes with the Aso Rock cabal. It only shows him as a desperate, unstable person who is governed by his impulses.
Social protection is a multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approach that contributes to poverty reduction and articulating policy priorities of government towards sustainable development. This is one of the core priorities of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development. The ministry seeks to intervene in the lives of poor and vulnerable Nigerians through implementing sustainable programmes that will help curtail poverty and address the challenge of unemployment in Nigeria while Providing social and financial risk protection for poor and vulnerable populations.
TraderMoni is one of the Ministry’s Empowerment Programmes under the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programmme (GEEP), an Initiative created to boost the Nigerian economy by providing finance to those at the base of the economic pyramid in Nigeria.
TraderMoni is designed to help petty traders expand their trade through the provision of interest and collateral free loans of N50,000.
Trader Moni is one of the three flagship programmmes under under the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programmme (GEEP) since inception GEEP has empowered over 2.3 million petty traders with interest-free loans to grow their businesses, making it one of the largest public microcredit programs globally, as well as the Most Impactful Micro-Credit Program in Africa as recognized by the African Bankers’ Awards in 2019 held in Equatorial Guinea.
Abdullahi Muhammad in Unguwa Uku, Tarauni local government area of Kano State is one of the beneficiaries of trader moni. Abdullahi is into the business of Provision store in Tarauni Market, a popular market in Kano State. He noted that his business was almost running out of time because he didn’t have much capital to expand it and buy products from wholesale merchants, instead he uses his small capital to buy from retailers and add his profit which makes it outrageously expensive for people to patronize him. He maintained that when he heard about the programme, he rushed to apply for the interest free loan, “it was easy and fast” he said. Abdullahi was able to access the trader moni loan and used it to expand his business which is today aiding him to buy products from wholesalers. “This initiative of President Muhammadu Buhari has not only saved my business but my family as well.
The other day, I evidently saw some small children begging at a traffic light signal around Post office/ Unity area in llorin in Kwara state. What actually came to my mind was that; when will this dismaying and indignant situation totally stop in Africa? But unfortunately, I couldn’t envisage on when it’s going to stop, due to the Nigeria’s current situation that is evidently crumbling on a daily basis.
However, one of the greatest curses that still plagues our world is child labour, where children below the age of 14 years are forced to work or even hawk in some cases.
This social evil is rampant not only in Nigeria, but in India, where a great number of children can be seen working at roadside stalls, glass factories, firecracker factories, etc. When one look towards the causes behind this practice, one finds that child labour is prevalent due to poverty, illiteracy, parents not getting a good job to feed the children and also the lack of urge to do better, etc.
These poor children work as bonded labourers on a paltry wages. They rarely have sufficient food or clothing. Not only that, they are also ill-treated and unkempt. There is no one who listens to them or cares for their needs.
To me, I think what people don’t realize is that this has become a bad circle. These children when they apparently grow up still remain backward, poor and illiterate. Their children go through the same obnoxious existence and circle.
The Government, especially the Nigerian government needs to take speedy and active measures and provide opportunities to these children so that they may improve themselves. Schemes should be implemented to provide them with a better future and this in turn will contribute towards the development of the nation, and that might aftermath make Nigeria to be one of the great countries in the world.
In addition, Child labour is one of the social issues which requires the immediate attention of the authorities. According to the Sam woode dictionary, it also refers to the working of children and teens to earn a livelihood and support their family.
As per a report, the world’s most destitute and impoverished countries comprise about 25% of children as child Labourers. The leading cause of child Labour in Nigeria is the high poverty rate, where children work to earn bread for a day.
The leading causes of Child Labour in Nigeria majorly are poverty as said, social inequality, lack of education, and poverty.
According to the UNICEF’s report, children from the impoverished and rural parts of the world have no available alternatives such as teachers and schools.
Many rural communities lack adequate school facilities and the availability of schools. The low paying economy blooms with low cost, easy to hire, and Child Labour. Besides the unorganized Agricultural sector, child Labour exists in unorganized retail works, and unorganized trade sectors.
Other factors of child Labour also include the informal economy’s size, the inability of most Nigeria companies aside the Dangote company to scale up, lack of modern technologies, and the structure and inflexibility of the Nigeria market.
Moreover, Children basically are employed due to social obligation, or loans and debts made by the familiesb basically the (Parents). Usually, children are forced to employ their families in works like brick laying , stone and quarries, and various agricultural sectors as the case may be.
The consequences of Child labour is staggering. Child labour can result in extreme bodily and mental harm, and even death. It can lead to slavery and sexual or economic exploitation. And in nearly every case, it cuts children off from schooling and health care, limiting their fundamental rights and threatening their futures.
Whatever the cause, child labour compounds social inequality and discrimination, and attack girls and boys of their childhood. Unlike activities that assist children develop, such as contributing to light housework or taking on a job after the School holidays e. t. c.
The ₦20,000 rural cash grant initiative was introduced by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development in 2020 as part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s social inclusion and poverty alleviation agenda. The programme targeted 150,000 rural and peri-urban women in all 774 local government areas of the 36 states and the FCT. It is a community-based initiative.
The goal is to see to increased income, enhanced food security, more productivity and financial inclusion.
The programme was launched in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria as a way of encouraging women in the state who were in one way or the other affected by the insurgency in the region. The aim is to see every beneficiary in Borno state independent and live a sustainable life, especially those who lost their husbands to insurgency.
The rural women grant was also designed to support gender equality, address poverty amongst women and also reduce the menace of unemployment in the society by ensuring that all beneficiaries put the grant awarded to them to good use.
In the North western part of Nigeria where more than 28,000 women were awarded the grant, most of the beneficiaries, if not all, have started one business or the other and are already succeeding in entrepreneurship.
The rural women grant of the Ministry seems to be the trendiest grant awarded to women in the history of the country.
The grant was awarded to women who truly deserve it; women finding it difficult to survive on less than a Dollar per day. The grant was given to women who do not have anybody to cater for their needs, especially widows whose husbands died, leaving them to cater for so many children.
The cash grant has so far aided a lot of women in North West Nigeria in upgrading their business. This was possible through putting the money awarded to them to right channel of businesses that suite their environment.
People wonder how ₦20,000 that can be spent in less than an hour will be able to aid someone start a business, the truth is the grant was awarded to people who truly need it; people who will help the country in addressing the challenges of unemployment and poverty. Hadiza Ibrahim for example who is a beneficiary from Nasarawa local government area of Kano State is into cheese making business, she used her grant to upgrade the number of cheeses she’s making a day, which is now earning her more profit.
On the 14th of February 2022, The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) declared yet another strike, a month strike that was later extended by another 8 weeks.
So far, it has been over 60 days that our lives have been abruptly altered once again due to the irresponsible nature of those who are at the helms of affairs of the country.
A FAMILIAR FOE
ASUU strike action is no news to any Nigerian. As you are reading this, one or all of you, your sibling, your friend, your parent, uncle, or aunt have been affected in one way or the other by this anomaly.
According to statistics from StatiSense, “as at 2020, ASUU has spent 1,500 days on strike since 1999”. To put that into perspective, you would have been a graduate of a 4-year course if you go to school for only every day of strike within that period.
THE PROBLEM?
Since the declaration of the said strike, several unproductive meetings have been held between the Federal Government and ASUU.
Deliberations have typically been about the renegotiation of the agreement previously held between both parties that date back to 2009 when they agreed to review the conditions of service of ASUU after every 3 years.
The 2009 agreement emphasized the funding for revitalization of public universities. Certainly, there are structural and funding issues that need to be tackled decisively by the government.
Another pertinent demand from the agreement is the allocation of at least 26% of Nigeria’s annual budget to the education sector. But ASUU national president, Emmanuel Osodeke, says the demand remains unmet. “All our agreements with the government all these years have always contained the clause that government should progressively increase the allocation to the sector so that we can get to the international standard of 26% allocation to the sector. Unfortunately, instead of us marching forward, we are marching backward”.
Just recently, The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, unashamedly said to Nigerian students that the suspension of the strike depends on ASUU. In his words, “The ball is in their court.”
It is without a doubt that the Government has dealt with this critical issue in a manner that leaves so much to be desired. They come with serial lies about how “there is no money.” Instances like those above show where Nigerian Students rank on the priority list of our Government. This is disheartening.
IMPLICATIONS OF THE STRIKE ON STUDENTS
The Nigerian education system keeps frustrating ambitions and aspirations with the frequent culture of disruptions to the process of acquiring knowledge. Sadly, it’s the second industrial action in less than two years. The latest episode calls for concern and a rethink; this is the 16th strike since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999. Despite these actions, there is little to show for it. How disturbingly pathetic!
In the Nigerian context, a strike is seen as the last resort when all other efforts have proved abortive. It is common knowledge that the only language the Nigerian government understands is a strike. However, this action comes with some unpleasant effects on the affected sector. ASUU strikes have done more harm than good to the education sector with students bearing most of the accruing costs from the occurrences.
As a result of the regular strikes, the expectations, dreams, and visions of students are being frustrated and disrupted. Aside from the increasing rate of school dropouts, not a few citizens have lost hope in the Nigerian education system. Parents who can afford to send their children abroad for education are now doing so and those who cannot afford the bills register their children in privately-owned universities in the country.
In an August 2021 report titled ‘ASUU, FG bicker over unfulfilled agreement’ published by The Guardian, Nigeria loses N1.5 trillion per annum to overseas studies. Neighboring West African countries such as Ghana, Uganda, and the Benin Republic who were formerly not at par with Nigeria in the area of standard education now come across as better alternatives for Nigerians seeking quality education on the African continent.
From the north to the south, the conclusion on the attendance of federal and state-owned universities is troubling. Everyone believes children of lower-class citizens make up the mass of students attending these institutions. Apart from the aforementioned effects of long winding academic interruption, the quality of education dished to students is far from laudable. Regular strikes rob off academic time from school calendars and upon resumption, academics tend to rush academic work which might mean forgoing important parts of the course work. Ultimately, this has a knock-on effect on the intellectual capacity of the students.
Embarking on strike causes students to spend more time than the statutory duration in school. This has an effect on the employment pattern where age is an important consideration for entry-level jobs. An increase in youthful crime and immorality is not unrelated to the incessant ASUU strikes. The saying “an idle hand is the devil’s workshop” aptly describes the preoccupation of some youths while schools are shut. Lack of vision and mission makes a handful of youth wander about with no direction. Thus, engaging in all sorts of illegal businesses like cyber-crime, gambling, fraudulent acts, etc.
ASUU STRIKE AND WHAT CURRENTLY MATTERS TO THE FAILING NIGERIAN POLITICAL CLASS
The current leaders of Nigeria have failed in so many sectors of the country. The primary responsibility of the government is the protection of lives and properties. Buhari’s Government fails in securing lives and properties. It is not surprising that a government that fails in this sensitive sector also fails in every sector, including education sector which should provide the country with needed ideas and manpower for growth.
With the 2023 elections coming and the familiar but unworthy events in the messy Nigerian political scene emerging, it is known that the ASUU strike is nothing to the Nigerian Government. What is important now, to them, is not that the biggest percentage of Nigerian youths are at home, hopelessly waiting to return to classes. They only care about the elections and winning by hook or by crook.
GOING FORWARD: A CHARGE TO FELLOW NIGERIAN STUDENTS
At this point, it is important to note that when oppression is overburdened on the citizens, revolution is inevitable. The 2020 #EndSARS protest is a strong warning to our selfish leaders that Nigerian students are not lazy. We are, as we say in Ife, (Intellectual Fighter For Emancipation), conscious, vigilant, and progressive. We are resilient, innovative, rugged, and dogged. We are, to externalize the appellation of OAU, intellectual fighters for emancipation.
With the nonchalant attitude of the Federal Government to the plights of Nigerian students, Nigerian students shall soon take the bull by the horns and make what seems impossible possible within a short time, not minding how unpalatable to the government our steps would be. We have exhausted our patience, perseverance, and calmness. It is doubtful that the government will make hay while the sun shines and avoid Nigerian students unleashing terror to force them to do the needful.
Day by day; week in, week out, it becomes imperative that Nigerian students organize to demand that the Federal Government fulfil each of the terms of the agreement with the Staff Union and stop jeopardizing our future.
As the election approaches, not only are we going to upset the political engagements of the political class, we shall engage every aspirant on how they intend to address the crisis in the educational sector, most especially the frequent strikes of Unions, including ASUU, NASU, and SSANU, on our campuses.
I am calling on the Federal Government as a matter of urgency to attend to the demand of ASUU and to ensure students resume within the next two weeks.
