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Unions fault ASUP over plans to close polytechnics OJ HUIUd<i@fnM.Abdaliah HE th reat by Iht' National F..xKutjve Coun cil of the Academic Starr Unio n of PolylKhn ic.s (ASUP) to clost down pol)'ledmiC$ in the country iflhe Reclor ohhe Mu bil'olytechnie is not removw by the FNeral Gove rnment is an affront to the laid do wn proc~ un:$ of labour dispute arbitra tio n. The Remole Sensi ng and Geoi nfomat io Asso· ciation of Nigeria (RESGAN) and Wasle l\'lanagemenl Society o f Nigeria (WAMASON), decla~ althe w«kend. 111 11 slatementsigncd br eom. rade Yah)'ll Saleh Ibrahim, coordl· nator and councillor of REGSAN
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and WAMASON respccth-c! y, ex plained that the union's threat is capable of deSlabilising the peaceful academic a tmosphere in the co ulltr y's polytechni CS. The statement reads lhus: - We r~d the submission o f ASUP N;ational President and his cI;aim that such 5ubmission was the resolve of a NEe meeting pu rportedly held in Abuja wi th d is· da in. The purported resolution o f NEC m eeting of ASUP in Ahuja, resolve toclose down all Nige rian Polyttchnic.s two lI'eeks from the date o f their meeting if the Fed· eral Govemmt nt did nOI remove the Federal Polytechnic Mubi Rector, as stattd by thf' em!»ttied N;ation;al PrC$idtnl of ASUP
Mohammed Ali Kabir.Mil is evit!entthat th e National President of ASU P, Muhammtd Kabir Ali hardly different iatcs local issue5 with a natio nal one in labour- managf'ment relationship. Hissccmingignorance led to h is declaration oflabour dispute where there is no ne; the group said. Mit is a pity th;al the president has no rC$pect for ntgotla tJon ptoctdure5 an d eminent resolution to ;any labour d is pute as t.Xemp lified by his lurning a local dispute into a national one; the statement $.1id. Comrade Ib rah im, who was ASUP Chairman, Kaduna Poly. technic chapter, accused the ASUP prC$ident of selectille treat-
Kebbi advocatesmore youth empowerment NGOs From Um.1r Jlblilu Gwandu, 8iml"· K~bl
SBI State Goye rnmt nt has expressed readincss to ist non' gollf'mmenlal organizations willing to ch;arnpion the O USt of youtJu in th e area of job and wtalth creation. The state depu ty gove rnor represented b)' tht Ptrmanent Secre· tary, Mi nistf)' of Comnlerct and Industries, Alhaji Baballe Uma r Yauri, made this known y\'Sterday in GlIIlIndu. at the formal commis· sioni ng ceremony of the Tassh l Busincss Centrt by an NGO, Bright Capacity Init iatives for Community Enhancement (BCICE). He said the governmen t will rend er all the necessary suppor1 nceded for the successful operation of the organitation and caUed for establishment of additional youth empowerm ent organizations in "arious local gover nments of the slate.
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olice pension o ffice will this week through a Pen · sion Refornl Task Tea m, begin a nationwide Biometric Enrolment for all police retirees who fall under Ihe old system , Pay.as· You·Go Scheme. This means all those who reti~ before )- Jul y 2007. Speaking with SUI/day Trust in Abuja yeJterday, head ofthe Police Pension Refonn Task Team, Alha;i Abdulrasheed Maina, said apart from capturing police pensioners in th f' 36 stattS and Abuja, the task team \\/ill as well go Ollerseas to get records of police pensioners liv· ing abroad. He reittl1lltf'd that anyone not SCC'n by the lea rn will hi: df'emed not alille and payment of their
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of June 23, 20 tl .~ The sta te ment added that -t he public should knollllhalthe amended Labor Act, 2005 did not gh'e polller to the un io n presidtnt tosing!e hudedly takt a deci5ion. alte r ;a decision made by the NEC !lr preddf'rmincd NEC deci5io n rtguding any issut thercof;" he said. The group urged ASUP 10 come and distance itself from the "frivolous notice of strike unofficially pronounced by Mohammed All Kab ir represents his personal academic problf'm In whic h he is tryi ng to Co\'Cr up. There(ore, the Ministry should gear up to not only im'csllgale the Rector bUI Kabir himsel(for rn isi ng fa lse alarm .~
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In his addreu, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Womf'n Affai rs and Social Development. Alhaji Lawall Zaki Gwand u said the organl7.atlon has provided business opportunitiC$ for women and engagt'd youths on self reliiml skill acquisition programs. The Progr:un Manager of the organizatio n, Usman Duhari Ali. said following the successful implementation of phase t of the pilot project. -Rural Enterprise DC'Velopment Programme; the organization has receh'Cd funding from the United Nations Human Scnlements Programme. On their parts, the Chairman, Board of Trustees o( tht organ iz.ation, Dr Aisha Nana Adamu and the Director Gtntra.l o(Srmll and Medi um Enterprise Development Agengy of Nigeria (SMEDAN), tq)rescnt by Alhaji Sada Bello. a iled (or support for the organiut ion to boost business acti~;ties In the area.
Auditofpolice pensioners beginsthis week 8y BEn Atonko
ment.saying ASUP has refusni to partici palt In Kadun;a Polytcch· nic's local strike which lingered for over six months, df'spile the official report by the chapter's uecu lives. -The Kaduna Polytechn ic crisis lingtrs for over six month noll' and the National ASU P un der the leadership o f Mohammtd Ali Kabir remains adamant; ht said. Tht union leader said that "bul to the greatnt surprise of all, the Mubi local issue is today mdamorphosing Inl o a national o ne, despite Ihe (act that, ASUP Mubl chapter did no t officially report a stalemate in discussions with their management as containtd in th eir relene in th e Dnil)' Tnu/
pensions will be suspelldtd. Maina advised eligible pensIoners to come (or Ihe exercise with photocopies o( first ap· pointmenUgaulle, pension adllice, pension ID card and two recent pusport photographs. The exercise will be rounded off o n 19'" lul y, 201 L Maina who is also Direclor Customs. Immigration and Pension Office (CIPPO) came u n· def' attack when he conducted a similar check in the Office the Head ofScrviee and uncovered massive fl1llud there. 11 is bcnu$C of the success he made that tile Head of Servi cf' ohhe Federation, Prof Abraham Afolabi, has again mandated him 10 go to the police pension office and do same. The tuk team is expected 10 finish Its work In 90 days.
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'Religious leaders encourage corruption'
M
OST religious ltadetli
in Nigeria urgeon their (ollOll'ers on corrup tion by preaching that politicians should be voted for on basis of th ei r fa ith inclination instead o f their Integrity and honesty, an Islamic scholar, Shaykh Nura Khalid, has said. Oelivcring a lecture on impact of post decllon violence and the way forward in Abuja yesterday, Shaykh Khalid said it was unfortunate that rf'ligious lead ers allowed them selves to be used unscrupulously by corrupt politicians to preach hatred and disunity during the April 201 1 e1tctions.
According to h im, some Imams optnly preached that people should vote for corrup t politicians while some pastors also campallned thai corrupt Christian po itidans should be voted for. He said, "what happened during the April elections was unfortunate because some reli· giow .leaders openl y took sidC$ and campaigned tven for corrupt politicians just because th ey belonged to the same religi on. Some Imams preached lhat Muslirru should be voted for ellen when they knew thai such Muslims lI'ere corrupt and that they cannot perform In o ffice.. Also, some pastors preachtd tha t o nly Christian candidates should be
IIOted fo r evf'n whe n they knelll that such candidates were corru pt andannotpenonn inoffice_ It is unfortunates; ant! thC$e arc some of those things that caused th e crisis.He called fo r separation between religion and polillcs In the country. adding tha I being a secular state, Nigeria should demarcate between rtligion and active politics. He cautiontd Muslims to dC$ist from disunity because of democr;acy, saying -dtmocracy is not worth dying for.~ He called on the ~ern l Govcr nm~ tto Implement whalCller recommendations the ShayKh Ahmad Lcmu Pant! cornu up with at the end ofiu silling.
Farmers want Gombe government to disburse Nl bn agric loan from AJiya M. HaRlolg.im, Gombf I.L F;anners Associl1ion of Nigeria (AFAN) has appealed 10 Gombt State government 10 the disbut5C the one billion naira agricultural loan earliCf appnn'Cd by thcfederal gollernment ror small scale farmen in the stale. The National PubliCity Secre-
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laryof AFAN, Alb.JI Muhanamadu Magaji, made the appeal while chatting with nt wsmen ycs tf' rd ay In Gombc, and alsocaUcd on thf'Committec sct up byGovcmor Ibrahim Hl$SlIn Dankwambo 10 assess Iht stale or arrairs In the agricultural ~tor oflhe state to include among itsm:ommendations,lhequickdlli· burstment ortht loan. Maglji said abou t 144 usocill-
lionso( peasant farmeR have indi o cated internt and dcpcsited the 10 pertent of the: requl~ amount of the loan applied for, III stipulated bylhe law. He also appealed for tht resuscitation or the Gombt Ftrtilirer Blend ing planl, noting that il will go a long way in producing lufficient quantityofftrtiliur fot pe san I (armers in thf' state.
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