The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has described media reports, alleging bias in the payment of salaries of members of the Academic Staff Union of Nigeria (ASUU) as untrue. The ministry also dismissed ASUU claims that their members were paid half their salary for the month of October.

According to the Vanguard, in a press statement issued by Olajide Oshundun, Head of Press and Public Relations, the Labour Ministry on Saturday has said that both reports are grossly inaccurate, misleading and barefaced distortions of facts.

The labour ministry explained that members of ASUU were paid their October salary pro-rata, and not half salary as the media widely reported. According to the ministry, pro-rata was done because they cannot be paid for work not done.

Furthermore, contrary to the initial account by the members of ASUU that the Accountant general of the federation had acted under the instruction of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, the ministry stated that the minister of labour never directed the Accountant General of the Federation to pay the university lecturers half-salary. The statement continues as follows:

“Following the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which upheld the order of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), asking ASUU to go back to work, the leadership of the union wrote to the Minister, informing him that they have suspended the strike. The Federal Ministry of Education wrote to him in a similar vein and our labour inspectors in various states also confirmed that they have resumed work.

“So, the Minister wrote to the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, directing that their salaries should be restored. They were paid in pro rata to the number of days that they worked in October, counting from the day that they suspended their industrial action. Pro-rata was done because you cannot pay them for work not done. Everybody’s hands are tied.”

The ministry equally faulted a statement by the Chairperson of ASUU, Usman Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS) branch, Muhammad N. Al-Mustapha, accusing the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, of biased payment of salaries to selected professional members of the union.

“Those obviously being referred to by the UDUS ASUU chairperson were members of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association (MDCAN) who abstained from the eight-month strike of ASUU because they abhorred the incessant strikes by the union and its grave effects on medical education in Nigeria and production of more medical doctors.

“Accusing the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, of biased payment of salaries to selected professional members of ASUU, is a barefaced distortion of facts. Mustapha said he received information that a segment of the staff in the College of Health Sciences (CHS) has been paid seven months of their withheld salaries from March to September, due to a letter written to the Minister of Finance, instructing the exemption of the under-listed staff on the application of ‘No Work, No Pay’ rule

“To set the records straight, the medical lecturers who are being referred to by the Chairperson of the ASUU UDUS branch, abstained from the eight-month strike of ASUU. This has been corroborated in a press statement by the Chairman, MDCAN UdUS, Dr B. Jubrin and Secretary, Dr I. G Ango, on Friday, November 4, 2022.”

Consequently, the ministry dismissed the accusation of selective treatment in the payment of salaries to ASUU members, urging the media to cross-check their facts to avoid feeding the public with the wrong information.

Following the announcement of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that it has redesigned the naira, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has said it has commenced tracing billions of illicit funds linked to politicians.

The anti-graft agency said the fund is being hoarded in different houses by at least three governors, who are now working to take it to the banks before the Jan. 31 deadline given by the CBN.

The central bank governor Godwin Emefiele announced late last month the redesign of N200, N500 and N1,000 notes – a decision sanctioned by President Muhammadu Buhari that is believed will help curtail the amount of money outside the banks.

The redesigned naira notes, which will begin circulation from December 2022, has created chaos and panic in Nigeria’s money market – resulting in the crashing of the naira to more than N800/$1. In addition, it is forcing those hoarding money to device means of spending it before the deadline.

The EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, told Daily Trust in an interview that the governors are planning to launder the stashed cash by using it to pay salaries. The commission has started raiding Bureau De Change operators as part of efforts to mop up the amount of cash outside the banks’ vaults. Bawa said the agency plans to keep the momentum and in addition, keep an eye out for cash deposits above N5 million, which it described as a crime.

“Already, some state governors that have some of this cash stashed in various houses and the rest are now trying to pay salaries in cash in their states.

“I don’t know how they want to achieve that but we have to stop them from doing that. Well, we are working, they have not paid the salaries in cash yet but it is a very serious thing,” he said.

The EFCC Chairman said the governors under its radar are attempting to contravene Section 2 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act by their plan to use the stashed cash to pay salaries.

A report by Sahara Reporters said the EFCC has been investigating a serving state governor who has withdrawn more than N60 billion in cash since 2015. Though the identities of the governors involved were not revealed, Bawa said in the latest edition of the agency’s in-house magazine called “EFCC Alert”, that Nigerians would soon hear more about the matter.

“Very soon, Nigerians are going to see some of the things that we are doing. I can tell you for free that the new Department of Intelligence that we have created is working wonders. They have come up with a lot of intelligence.

“In one of them, a governor in a North-Central state within the last six years (one individual) has withdrawn over N60 billion in cash.

“We are looking at all of that, and I assure you that at the end of all of our investigations, Nigerians are going to be briefed of what we are doing behind the scene on cybercrime, politically-exposed persons, as well as engaging government agencies to ensure that we have better processes and procedures on how to do government business.

“We are not setting out to be engaging with people on the pages of newspapers or press conferences. We are working hard trying to see what we can do behind the scenes [to eradicate corruption],” Bawa had said.

As we move closer to January 2023, it is becoming clear that corrupt individuals hoarding illicit cash are scrambling to spend it. The CBN said N2.73 trillion out of the N3.23 trillion currency in circulation, is outside the vaults of commercial banks across the country. With the hoarders scheming to outsmart the authorities, the naira redesign may greatly fail to achieve its aim.

How many productive people have you connected with in the last 10 months of this year? Understand that to rise to the next level, you must deepen your capacity to connect with people closer to decision centers. Politicians keep recycling the usuals because those are the ones who are always around. Yes, only the visible get rewarded most of the time.

In the corporate world, it is the same thing: you need to be visible for someone to mention you in your absence! In other words, your job performance cannot recommend you because jobs/performance do not talk. Only humans recommend people.

Check carefully, from UBA to Zenith Bank to Dangote Cement, and beyond, most of the senior jobs have not been advertised in any newspaper in Nigeria. But weekly and monthly, those positions are being filled. How? A networked system where the visible are tabulated, and seasonally checked, to see if they are open for opportunities.

Network yourself into a productive system. Indeed, you cannot be too busy not to network into things which keep you busy!

Comment on Feed

Comment 1: Right on the mark. Network and ‘Showork’.
Amidst the layoffs, some hiring is still going on even by very same companies. It’s totally normal. Some roles ars still lacking and need filing.

The guy who knows how to read and doesn’t, is no better than the guy who doesn’t know how to read. If you can build a gasless car and no one knows, you like the rest of the people who don’t know how to.

Show up.

Comment 2: Very true Prof. One needs qualitative network sometimes than quantitative networks. Jesus Christ had 12 disciples while the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) had just 4 great disciples. These were the men that spread the gospel of their ministry across the globe , promoted and defended them in the absence

Comment 3: That is true boss. Networking and positive relationship is one of the keys to success and career growth. Positive Human networking summarise it all. May God connect us to the right destiny helpers that will uplift us careerwise and financially.

My response: “a good product ‘job performance’ would sell itself” – I do not believe that. I believe that after doing a great job, you need to find a creative/respectful way to make people know you do great jobs. Ndubuisi Ekekwe will send Lessons Learned to company internal magazines, explaining how I executed a great project.