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  • I cannot destroy medical profession; my children, nephews are doctors – Ngige

    I cannot destroy medical profession; my children, nephews are doctors – Ngige

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige has said he has close family members who are into the medical profession and cannot work for its destruction.

    The minister therefore appealed to the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to shelve their industrial action as the Federal Government continues to negotiate with the union to end the dispute.

    Ngige made the appeal on Sunday during an interview on a monitored Channels Television programme.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that as at (today) Monday, September 20, 2021 the resident doctors strike enters Day 60.

    “I want to appeal to NARD for them to reconsider their position, get back to work tomorrow or next and then come back again for discussions. We have so many things to discuss,” Ngige said.

    “I have nephews who are resident doctors. I have three of them at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, UNTH Enugu, Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu. I have so many of them. I have a son who will graduate in Medicine in October. I cannot destroy the profession, I have to protect the profession too.”

    The Minister also reacted to the court case filed by the Federal Government against the striking doctors.

    According to Ngige, it is the Federal Ministry of Health and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation that can withdraw the case from court.

    “The court has ruled and said ‘Go and do some more settlement but meanwhile, you go back to work and continue the settlement’,” he added.

    Despite the National Industrial Court’s ruling ordering the striking doctors to return to work, the Minister asked the plaintiffs – Health Ministry and Attorney General’s office as well as the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and NARD to approach the Labour Ministry to press their demands.

    While noting that he had advised his colleague in the Health Ministry, Dr Osagie Ehanire “to see what he can do so that the discussion will set off,” Ngige said he had always advocated for settlement.

    TNG reports that Ngige’s comments come two days after the National Industrial Court ordered resident doctors to suspend their strike action and go back to work, pending the determination of the substantive suit.

    Justice Bashar Alkali gave the order on Friday while ruling on an application by the Federal Government.

    But the striking doctors have faulted the court’s ruling, vowing to appeal the order.

    “As we are all aware, especially those that were present in court today (Friday), the NIC has given a ruling on the application for interlocutory injunction filed by the Federal Government,” the association said via a statement. “We are not satisfied with the ruling.

    “After consultations with our lawyers, we have instructed our lawyers to appeal the ruling and file an application for stay of execution.”

  • Rising unemployment can wipe out Nigeria –Ngige

    Rising unemployment can wipe out Nigeria –Ngige

    The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige, has averred that the increasing rate of unemployment portends danger for the country.

    He said the lack of education is part of the problems bedevilling the country, warning that if not tackled the country might be “completely wiped out.”

    The minister said this at the inaugural partnership economy summit organised by the Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs in Abuja.

    The summit was tagged, ‘Translating Sustainable Development Goals to local businesses in Nigeria.’

    Ngige said, “We are in trouble as a country. We are in trouble and anybody who tells you he doesn’t know we are in trouble is lying to himself and once you lie to yourself.

    “We are facing a problem that is cyclic, one begat the other. It is left for you and me the elite to decide to save ourselves, save our children and save our country.

    “If we keep on with these symptoms; buy ammunition, bomb these people, bomb kidnappers, bomb Boko Haram, you will be wasting resources.

    “If you had prevented it, it would cost you less. We must give education to these people at the grassroots.

     

    “Those who can’t get an education, we must provide them jobs so that they can fend for themselves. They can put a roof over their heads.”

    Emphasizing on the need to provide quality education to people at the grassroots, he said the failure to provide such was responsible for why the people were lured to participate in separatist agitations, terrorism among others.

    He added, “If you don’t kill ignorance, you are breeding people would be brainwashed to believe that with Biafra all their problems will go away; Oduduwa, all their problems will go, Boko Haram.

    “If we don’t tackle them, we will continue like this until this country might be wiped out completely; we don’t pray for that. We must give education to the people at the grassroots.”

     

  • We’re not owing any doctor monthly salary – FG

    We’re not owing any doctor monthly salary – FG

    Minster of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, yesterday, said that contrary to the alleged propaganda by the striking members of the National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, no doctor or health worker in Nigeria was being owed monthly salary.

    The Minister stated this at the opening of the meeting of the Presidential Committee on Salaries with the leadership of the Joint Health Sector Union, JOHESU, yesterday, in Abuja.

    He said “The fumes from the propaganda machine of NARD were obfuscating the reality of the Federal Government’s efforts to re-position the health sector.

    “NARD goes about telling Nigerians that government is owing them salaries and that government is not taking the problems in the health sector serious. But this is not true. It is incorrect. No doctor, nurse , pharmacist or any other health worker including the driver is owed monthly salary. Government pays as and when due.

    “The truth is that NARD doctors fail to tell Nigerians that their colleagues who are owed salaries are the ones illegally recruited and were therefore neither captured by the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation nor was their payments provided for by the Budget Office of the Federation.

    “Monthly salaries are done as and when due for those legitimately employed by the Federal Government but not to those illegally employed and who need their appointments regularized and captured in the finances of government for payment. This takes a process which is not accomplished overnight.”

    Ngige referred to the presidential waiver for employment into the critical Health and Defence Ministries in view of the general embargo on employment and assured that doctors illegally recruited would have their service regularized in due course.

    The Minister, however, said that money which the Federal Government owes few doctors and other workers was the 2020 COVID-19 allowance, besides the arrears of the consequential adjustment of the National Minimum Wage and skipping allowance which cut across other sectors. He said work was in progress to clear this .

    He blamed the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA and JOHESU for bringing segregation in the negotiation for the new hazard allowance which the Federal Government already budgeted the sum of N37.5billion for.

    “We started joint negotiation to round off discussion and implement new hazard allowance as early as possible so as to stave off the current wolf-crying by doctors. They brought in segregation and couldn’t agree with JOHESU and both now want separate negotiations . Why then blame government and make it an issue to strike for.”

    In his speech the Minister of State for Health, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora said it was such a wrong time to go on strike, noting that despite financial constraints , government was committed to payment of salaries of doctors and health workers.

    The Minister of State for Finance, Budget and Planning, Clement Agba rued the expanding budgetary expenditure of government even as revenue continues to dwindle. He added that government was doing its best and committed to workers welfare but certainly won’t continue to borrow to pay salaries.

    President of JOHESU, Josiah Biobelemonye said the his union was “the patient dog of the health sector” and pressed for the swift tackling of the challenges facing its members, to avoid forcing them to strike.

  • Replacement threats: Striking doctors hit back at Ngige, Ehanire; say they should resign or be sacked

    Replacement threats: Striking doctors hit back at Ngige, Ehanire; say they should resign or be sacked

    President of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, has said that the people who deserve to resign or be sacked from their duties are those who have put the doctors in a position where they have to embark on industrial actions to drive home their demands.

    Okhuaihesuyi said this on Sunday on a monitored Channels Television in reaction to comments by the Labour Minister, Chris Ngige, about replacing the striking doctors.

    The Minister on Friday, had said that he had invoked Section 43 of the Labour Law which states, in part, that for the period a worker withdraws his services, the government or his employers are not entitled to pay.

    “Their employer has a right to replace them. It doesn’t matter what you want to term it. We can use Locum doctors or medical officers,” he added.

    But in reaction, the NARD president said: “I want to ask Nigerians to tell those that are the cause of the strike and have not done their work that they should be sacked or resign from the positions they hold”.

    When asked who those persons are, he said: “The Minister of health, the Minister of Labour, the NDCM Registrar, Sanusi; they are the ones that should be held responsible for the strike we are on and something needs to be done to them. If they can do that to them, then they can implement the no-work no-pay policy”.

    Monday marks the expiration of the one-week ultimatum given by the Labour Minister for the striking doctors to resume work.

    Their failure to resume would result in the escalation of other measures by the minister.

    “Next week, I will escalate it because the conciliation has failed and the law says that if conciliation fails on my own side, I can move it up.

    “There are other things that are permitted by law. I will invoke other things,” Ngige had vowed on Friday.

    But the NARD President has insisted that the strike will continue “fully and indefinitely”.

    “You can’t be threatening someone when you have not done your part,” Okhuaihesuyi stressed.

  • Ngige threatens to replace striking doctors, says healthcare in Nigeria ‘fairly okay’

    Ngige threatens to replace striking doctors, says healthcare in Nigeria ‘fairly okay’

    The Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige, has threatened to replace striking resident doctors if they refuse to return to work by Monday.

    The minister who appeared as a guest on a monitored Channels Television programme on Friday said an employer has a right to replace an employee who abandons their duties, especially as it pertains to essential services.

    “He will also withdraw your money and use it to pay those he has acquired during the period you were away,” he said.

    “If you go to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) principles at work, it guarantees a worker the right to strike but it has consequences”.

    The minister had earlier stated that he had invoked Section 43 of the Labour Act which states, in part, that for the period a worker withdraws his services, the government or his employers are not entitled to pay.

    As essential workers, he also maintained that they are not expected to go on strike without notifying him at least 15 days prior.

    While the doctors continue to call on the government to fully take up its responsibilities, the Federal Government has insisted that most of the issues they have raised are state affairs.

    Minister of Health Dr Osagie Ehanire had told journalists in Abuja on Thursday that seven of 12 matters that were raised by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), were the responsibility of state governments.

    Consequently, he said they were expected to resume work on Friday and take up the issues with the state governments rather than embark on the nationwide strike as they had done.

    The Labour Minister has, however, vowed to escalate the matter, should they fail to resume work by Monday, the expiration of the 1-week ultimatum he gave them.

    “Next week, I will escalate it because the conciliation has failed and the law says that if conciliation fails on my own side, I can move it up.

    “Avoiding the use of the word ‘sack’, Ngige said; there are other things that are permitted by law. I will invoke other things.

    “Their employer has a right to replace them. It doesn’t matter what you want to term it. We can use Locum doctors or medical officers,” he said.

    Health care in Nigeria ‘fairly okay’

    Meanwhile the minister also rated the health care system in Nigeria as “fairly okay”.

    Although he is not outrightly against seeking medical attention abroad, the minister believes it is not out of place for Nigerians to stay back and get treated in the country.

    “What are you going abroad to do, the expertise is here (in Nigeria),” the minister said.

    “Plenty of billions has gone into health. For me, if you have the means and you want to do a second opinion abroad, why not? It is permitted.

    “I have my daughter (and son) here, I deal with them. Not that any time I want to do medical check-up abroad I don’t do that, I do that.”

    Over the years, many Nigerians – including the President and other top public office holders – seek medical attention abroad.

    While many have condemned the practice, others asked the authorities to invest in the health sector and upgrade the nation’s medical facilities to world standard to discourage medical trips abroad.

    Comparing the level Nigeria has attained in the field of medical science to other countries, Ngige admitted that the nation still lacked some advancements.

    According to him, the Federal Government has performed its functions well to have the health sector on the concurrent list.

    The minister thinks the government deserves to be commended considering the nation’s political situation and others.

    “On an average note, medical treatment here is fairly okay as far as I am concerned,” said Ngige who is also a medical doctor.

    “I use the National Hospital (in Abuja), my card is there; I use the State House clinic for my eyes; I use another private hospital here.”

  • FG meeting with ASUU successful – Ngige

    FG meeting with ASUU successful – Ngige

    The Federal Government says the meeting with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) aimed at evaluating the implementation of the Memorandum of Action (MOA) entered into by the parties is successful.

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige said this while addressing newsmen at the end of a closed door meeting on Monday in Abuja.

    Ngige said that the meeting evaluated seven key issues with both parties expressing satisfaction with the implementation stages, adding that “work is in progress”.

    He said some of the items in the MOA were nearly done 100 per cent within the timeline.

    Ngige said that the National Information Technology Development Agency(NITDA) was directed to expedite action on the integrity test on the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS).

    ”If successful, it will eliminate the challenges posed by the peculiarities of the university system to the current payment platform,”he said.

    The minister said government had also paid the N30 billion as the University Revitalisation Fund as contained in the MOA since January 2021.

    According to him, the money is however, still lodged with the CBN, pending the conclusion of the audit report of the Implementation Committee on the use of previous funds disbursement to universities by the Ministry of Education and the National University Commission (NUC).

    “The report has been turned in, deliberated upon and both the Education Ministry and the NUC have promised to write to the Accountant General of the Federation next week for the release of the money to the NEEDS Special Account for onward disbursement to universities shortly,” he said.

    The minister said that the monies would be paid to successful universities based on the evaluation report of the committee, while those with shortcomings would be made to make up before accessing the fund.

    He further disclosed that apart from the N40 billion Earned Allowance, which the Federal Government has already paid, the Budget Office of the Federation showed evidence that N22 billion Earned Allowances for year 2021 ” is already captured in the 2021 supplementary budget of the federation, and would soon be accessed “.

    “On the proliferation of State universities , a bill has been sent to the National Assembly by the NUC to strengthen its arms in terms of delisting universities where funding and other parameters are inadequate.

    ”This effort was commended as all the parties agreed that mushrooming and proliferation of state universities, some of which mock the ideals of an ivory tower, should stop.

    “The inconsistencies in the IPPIS payment was also discussed. There was good interaction and documents were exchanged between IPPIS and ASUU.

    ”ASUU is to go back to its members so that we can have a proper update on the extent of the inconsistencies in payment.

    ”We expressed our displeasure that these things are happening – amputation of salaries, not-too-clear, foggy things happening over peoples monthly emoluments. So we have asked IPPIS and ASUU to work together over this ,”he said.

    Ngige said that evidence was presented that promotion arrears had been paid to some universities while the Budget Office of the federation and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation were asked to liaise with ASUU to sort out the rest.

    He however, noted that the standing committee on the matter had been expanded to include National Income Salaries and Wages Commission .

    “A situation where a university professor is paid N107, 000 out of mistake or over deduction is unacceptable,” Ngige said.

    The minister further expressed shock that the National Association of Resident Doctors(NARD) had threaten to embark on another strike after holding a similar successful evaluation meeting with him last week.

    ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke expressed satisfaction with the outcome and promised that ASUU would reach out to members.

  • I am too occupied to be involved; Ngige blasts IPOB, others linking him to Nnamdi Kanu’s re-arrest, trial

    I am too occupied to be involved; Ngige blasts IPOB, others linking him to Nnamdi Kanu’s re-arrest, trial

    Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige has asked the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) to stop linking him to the re-arrest of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

    Ngige said as the Chief Labour Officer, he lacked the time to meddle into security and diplomatic matters, which clearly fall within the mandate of the Nigerian Security and National Intelligence Agencies.

    In a statement by his Media Office in Abuja on Saturday, the Minister described the statement by the IPOB spokesman, Emma Powerful, attempting to link him with the arrest of Kanu as deceitful, mischievous, malicious and wicked.

    The Minister said IPOB and its spokesperson know him (Ngige) very well as a man who calls “a spade a spade” and has no room for “equivocation or speaking from both sides of the mouth” since his days as Governor in Anambra State.

    It said: “Ngige is occupied, involved and engrossed with his duties as the Labour and Employment Minister, member of Federal Cabinet Committee for Economic Recovery and member of the Economic Sustainability Committee constituted by President Muhammadu Buhari, which is headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, with the mandate to tackle the challenges and fallouts of COVID-19 and post COVID-19 era.

    “It is therefore unthinkable that somebody with grey matter in his brain, except if he is hallucinating like the IPOB spokesman, could accuse a very busy Minister like Senator Ngige of being part of a ‘conspiracy’ for the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu.

    “The Minister, being somebody with long-standing experience in the public service, knows the bounds of his office and does not have the time to meddle into Foreign Affairs of Extradition and security matters that clearly fall within the mandate of the Nigerian Diplomatic Missions, national intelligence agencies.

    “Ngige is neither the Minister of Police Affairs, Justice, Foreign Affairs nor the National Security Adviser, to start discussing issues of extradition or arrest of a fugitive outside Nigeria’s territory, which are clearly outside his mandate.”

  • Nigerians want to ride Buhari to death – Ngige

    Nigerians want to ride Buhari to death – Ngige

    Minister of Labour and Employment Dr Chris Ngige on Monday said Nigerians (especially the critics) have stretched President Muhammadu Buhari beyond reasonable limits.

    Ngige said many leaders specifically former President Olusegun Obasanjo will not tolerate half of what Nigerians are doing to President Buhari if he (Obasanjo) was the one in power.

    Ngige spoke on Monday on a monitored Channnels Television programme.

    “Can President Obasanjo give you people the latitude?… He will not grant you people that! So, this president (Buhari) is a willing horse and you people (Nigerians) want to ride him to death,” Ngige said.

    The former Anambra State governor while stressing that the present government has delivered its promises in many areas, called on critics and members of the public to give kudos to the Buhari government.

    “There must be a limit to politicking. If a government has done well, if a person has done well, give him accolades. In the areas he has not done well, point them out and discuss,” he added.

    Calls for the presidential seat to be zoned to the southeast region have gathered momentum and sharply divided opinion in Africa’s most populous nation.

    But Ngige has concurred with those who see the 2023 election as a time for the Igbos to get the seat.

    Ngige believes that tensions in the southeast and the feeling of marginalization by people in the region will be addressed if the nation’s number one position is occupied by an Igbo man.

    “The people in the area have perceived that they are marginalized, that they are unappreciated, whether it was done by propaganda and brainwashing or not, that is now immaterial.

    “So I agree with that proposal, unfortunately, the Nigerian constitution does not have that. This is where I quarrel with those who authored the 1999 Constitution.

    “I still believe today, tomorrow, that the Abacha Constitution of 1995 that espouses rotational presidency into the six zones in Nigeria, a single five-year tenure in order to heal all the wounds; the wounds of civil war, and the wound of June 12.

    “Now, that constitution would have been the best constitution for Nigerians to use for the next 30 years by which the six zones would have tested the presidency,” the minister stated.

  • Ngige threatens to drag states not paying new minimum wage to court

    Ngige threatens to drag states not paying new minimum wage to court

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has faulted governors yet to pay the new minimum wage to workers in their states.

    Speaking on a monitored Channels Television programme on Sunday, the minister stated that any employer paying its employee below N30,000 was doing so in contravention of the law.

    “If you read the Act well, you will see the applicability of the Act. The applicability is that all parts of the Federation (Section II); Section III also says N30,000 shall be paid, the operating word is shall.

    “It does not give room for picking and choosing, it is a must. The state governors that are not paying are breaching the law of the land,” the minister said.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Minimum Wage Repeal and Re-Enactment Act, 2019 into law on April 18, 2019.

    The Act makes it compulsory for all employers of labour in the country to pay a minimum of N30,000 to their workers and gives workers compelled to accept salary less than the amount the right to sue their employer to recover the balance.

    It also authorises the Minister of Labour and any person nominated or designated by the minister to take action against such an employer on behalf of the worker to recover the balance of the wages.

    The law, however, excludes persons employing less than 25 workers, persons who work in a ship that sails out of jurisdiction, and others in other kinds of regulated employment that are accepted by the Act.

    Two years after the President assented to the Act, some states have begun to pay civil servants the new minimum wage while others still struggle to do so as a result of inadequate funds.

    In his reaction, Ngige faulted governors negotiating with the labour unions in their states over the payment of the minimum wage to workers.

    According to him, they are getting the issues mixed up as the minimum wage is different from the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

    “This is a national law that states what you will pay to the lowest-paid employee (worker) in your establishment; state governments are employers… they are caught in the web of this law until repealed.

    “Any state government or employer that negotiates minimum wage like some of them are doing with their unions, they are running afoul of the law,” the minister stated.

    Asked what the next action would be for erring governors, he said, “I am negotiating with the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF); the law permits me to take them to court.

    “I can take any employer to court. If governors have immunity, I can start from the secretary to the government, to the head of service, and go down to the State Executive Council; take them all to court and I do not need any permission.”

  • Buhari’s minister, NBS fight dirty over ‘confusing’ employment statistics

    Buhari’s minister, NBS fight dirty over ‘confusing’ employment statistics

    The Ministry of Labour, Productivity and Employment and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) have tackled each other on social media over alleged confusing employment statistics.

    According to reports, the Minister of Labour, Productivity and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige while receiving leadership of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) on Wednesday stated there would be a virtual meeting between the Federal Government and the World Bank.

    The meeting, according to the ministry on twitter, is to discuss modalities used by the NBS in gathering data for employment statistics.

    Ngige said: “There has been a little confusion there as to the accuracy of data generated by the NBS. So, we want to align everything tomorrow (Thursday).

    “The World Bank says the NBS methodology doesn’t conform to the global standard, especially the ILO format of arriving at such Employment Index.”

    The Minister, who described the meeting as very important, recalled he had severally queried the employment statistics released by the NBS.

    But reacting, the NBS, through its twitter handle, countered the minister saying the World Bank did not dispute its employment statistics data collection as claimed by Ngige.

    It tweeted: “The World Bank has denied making any such statement and rather together with the economic advisory committee affirmed its confidence, commendation, support and close working relationship with @nigerianstat. The World Bank can be contacted if in doubt.”

    The friction between the ministry and the agency has sparked outrage on social media.

    Many Nigerians recalled the fight between Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) over collection of stamp duties.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports the latest statistics published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on its website stated the unemployment rate as of the end of 2020 rose to 33.3% from 27.1% recorded as of Q2 2020, indicating that about 23,187,389 (23.2 million) Nigerians remain unemployed.