Minimum wage: Gov. Umahi threatens to resign?
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by chukwuemeka opara4 we pledge to assiduously discharge our duties and make recommendations that will permanently solve the problem for a healthy government and labour relationship he said1 umahi who is the chairman of the south east governors forum said this while inaugurating a 36-member fact-finding committee to ascertain the mode of workers promotion arrears payment in states across the six geo-political zones of the states1 according to umahi the payment of the n30 000 can only be realised if the federation account allocation formula is reviewed to offer more earnings to states1 the federal government collects 52 per cent of the revenue from the federation account and when i tried to put the n30000 figure to local government areas lga it means they will borrow n1billion to add to their allocation in paying salaries1 i will definitely not be a governor to govern such a state and will never preside over a state that will allocate 100 per cent of its earnings to pay salaries he said1 the governor recommended that the issue of petroleum subsidy in the country should also be reviewed as had been noted by the state and federal governments1 we must presently have the courage to say this because a lot of money can be saved from the subsidy if properly distributed1 when 100 000 litres of petrol is allocated to me for instance and deducted from my allocation it is then my business to ensure that there is no leakage1 there is no governor or political office holder that signs cheques but civil servants as the countrys leaders and labour are just putting water inside a basket and praying god to hold it with this minimum wage issue he said1 gov david umahi of ebonyi on wednesday in abakaliki declared that 95 per cent of states in the country cannot pay the proposed n30 000 minimum wage to workers1 we should determine how much should be allocated to education health infrastructure among others if 100 per cent of earnings are used to pay workers salaries1 many states are experiencing various problems and cannot pay salaries but the people condemn their governments over their inability to provide good roads and other amenities1 people dont understand the problems being experienced by these states and the governors have kept quiet for long and need to speak presently he said1 umahi regretted that the issue of promotion arrears for workers in the state had lingered for long and urged the committee to be sincere with their findings to find an amicable solution to it1 we have been setting up committees on this issue and getting no results with people not being sincere and resorting to all sorts of things he said1 dr hyginus nwokwu the secretary to the state government ssg noted that the issue made the governor to institute a 36-man member committee to tour states in the six geo political zones and ascertain the mode of payments1 the members are drawn from critical elements of state with the organised labour having 12 nominees christian association of nigeria can 12 nominees and the government-12 nominees1 the committee will tour three states in each of these zones ascertain relevant facts analyse and present them to enable government take disposable and final actions on the matter he said1 mr leonard nkah the acting chairman of the nigerian labour congress nlc in the state and chairman of the committee pledged to ensure the actualisation of the committees aims1 he urged the countrys leaders and labour to liaise and decide on the percentage of the federation account that should be voted for salaries and other sectors1

PDP governor to name project after Buhari,
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by chukwuemeka opara4 the news agency of nigeria nan reports that media practitioners from within and outside the state took turns to ask several questions bordering on the state s existence and made general comments at the occasion. nan2 the governor who took time to enumerate his administrations strides in the areas of infrastructure agriculture education heath human empowerment among others noted that his decision to modernise the state capital was irreversible2 the common man in the country just needs food on his table as politics has become a means of profiteering even from those who have nothing to offer to the people he said2 umahi said on friday night in abakaliki during the quarterly media chat dinner as part of celebrations to mark the nations 58th anniversary and 22nd year of the states creation noting that their relationship was beyond politics2 politicking has recklessly taken the centre stage in the nations affairs and if such is not checked for the next four years it would be difficult for the country to handle its consequences2 buhari as the president is the symbol of the country just as the governors are mini-presidents in their respective states2 the fact is that as a human being he might not be doing everything correctly but the citizens owe him prayers and understanding to lead the country aright2 i have said repeatedly that i dont have to insult him to show that i am a pdp member and it is not my duty as a governor to insult the president2 umahi urged nigerians to realise that power comes from god and to check the brazen quest for political offices which has brought several problems to the country2 the governor noted that the opposition in the state was only interested in his job and not genuinely supporting the president vowing not to allow them to take the position from him2 the northern senatorial zone of the state produced a governor who served for eight years the central zone did the same and the southern zone where i hail from should be allowed to complete its eight-year tenure2 this is the tripod on which the states equity rests and even though a sitting governor wanted to truncate it god brought a david in my person to ensure it was maintained and it will be maintained till the end he said2 this does not mean that i do not identify with the ideals of the pdp but it must be stated that those who say they are supporting buhari in ebonyi are only deceiving the people he said2 governor david umahi of ebonyi has vowed to name a prime project one of the best worlds glass tunnel after his friend president muhammadu buhari1 i want to state that aside my wife buhari remains my only boss and should be respected by nigerians because of his status as the president1 he told those who cared to listen that he is not ashamed to be president buharis despite belonging to the opposition people democratic party pdp1 the governor said the one and half kilometres glass tunnel is still under construction1

Lassa fever : Ebonyi to campaign against rat consumption
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by chukwuemeka opara4 we encourage the people to keep their environments clean to improve their health he said. nan2 the state commissioner for environment chief donatus njoku told the news agency of nigeria nan on monday in abakaliki that the government would explore all avenues to dissuade the citizens from consuming rats2 nan reports that lassa fever outbreak in the state in january resulted in four deaths and it is believed thatinhabitants of the state erroneously believe rats have high nutritional value2 njoku said rats are the primary vectors of the disease and we are vigorously carrying out enlightenment through mass media workshops seminars and various ministries communication channels2 we will collaborate with traditional rulers and other opinion leaders at the grassroots to educate rural dwellers to shun such a notion and realise that rat is the diseases primary vector2 we have also continued to sensitise the populace to urgently report suspected cases to relevant health agencies2 in an effort to prevent further outbreak of lassa fever ebonyi government is to begin intensive campaigns against rat consumption in rural areas2 on sanitation njoku said that contrary to insinuations non-observance of the monthly sanitation in the state did not affect effective sanitation2 state and federal government functions sometimes fall on the last saturday of the month and when this occurs we have to comply2 the state government has evolved policies which make the populace to clean their environments on daily basis and not wait for designated days he said2 njoku told nan that the state ministry of environment ensured that state government ministries and parastatal-agencies cleaned their environments daily as directed by the governor2 we assess their performances to ascertain the level of compliance to show his seriousness toward the directive the governor visits the ministries for on-the-spot assessments2 with the total functionality of the state government-owned south-east virology centre such an occurrence can be expeditiously handled2

Lassa fever : Ebonyi to campaign against rat consumption
News & Trends •
by chukwuemeka opara4 we encourage the people to keep their environments clean to improve their health he said. nan2 the state commissioner for environment chief donatus njoku told the news agency of nigeria nan on monday in abakaliki that the government would explore all avenues to dissuade the citizens from consuming rats2 nan reports that lassa fever outbreak in the state in january resulted in four deaths and it is believed thatinhabitants of the state erroneously believe rats have high nutritional value2 njoku said rats are the primary vectors of the disease and we are vigorously carrying out enlightenment through mass media workshops seminars and various ministries communication channels2 we will collaborate with traditional rulers and other opinion leaders at the grassroots to educate rural dwellers to shun such a notion and realise that rat is the diseases primary vector2 we have also continued to sensitise the populace to urgently report suspected cases to relevant health agencies2 in an effort to prevent further outbreak of lassa fever ebonyi government is to begin intensive campaigns against rat consumption in rural areas2 on sanitation njoku said that contrary to insinuations non-observance of the monthly sanitation in the state did not affect effective sanitation2 state and federal government functions sometimes fall on the last saturday of the month and when this occurs we have to comply2 the state government has evolved policies which make the populace to clean their environments on daily basis and not wait for designated days he said2 njoku told nan that the state ministry of environment ensured that state government ministries and parastatal-agencies cleaned their environments daily as directed by the governor2 we assess their performances to ascertain the level of compliance to show his seriousness toward the directive the governor visits the ministries for on-the-spot assessments2 with the total functionality of the state government-owned south-east virology centre such an occurrence can be expeditiously handled2