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The All Workers Convergence(AWC) has described the actions of the Federal Government in the face of the public coronavirus pandemic as a manifestation of its confused state.

The AWC made this known through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.

''Nigeria is no likened to a film, where the people and the Government are together confused, nothing is ever real but superficial. Unforutnately, the people are more coonfused that the Government.  Everything is upside down and confusion is the order of the day in Nigeria. Al that has been happening in the ast five years is apologies galore for the failures of Government'', Comrade Emelieze lamented.

The Federal and State Governments have been called upon to enforce the use of face masks in public places to stem the increasing cases of coronavirus in Nigeria.

This call was made by the Ezendigbo of Ibadan and Oyo state, who also doubles as the Vice President (South) Ezendigbo in Diaspora.

‘’The Federal and state Governments should enact an executive order to ensure the effectiveness of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. It is a welcome development that the Federal and state Governments have relaxed the lock down a bit, but I suggest that the Government should enforce the use of face mask by anyone leaving home for the public’’.

 ‘’Anyone going to the market should put on face mask. Okada riders and their passengers should also put on face masks. Nobody should be exempted, all Nigerians should be compelled to put on face masks, given the fact that they are out in the public. Anyone caught in the public without face mask should be penalized, irrespective of the individual’s status in the society‘‘.

 ‘’This is for the good of all and sundry. It is noticeable that the coronavirus cases are on the increase daily all over the country, therefore urgent measures must be put in place to curtail the spread. A fine of between N1,000 and N5,000 should be made for those who violate the order, this will ensure full compliance. Anybody that is not ready to pay the fine should be prosecuted in the law court. The restriction of movement of people from one part of the country to the other, and one state to the other is still on, but thousands of able bodied young men, excluding women and children, are on a daily basis, been secretly moved from one part of the country to the other. This is suspicious. People are gripped with fear all over the country, all is not well’’.

‘’The Federal Government should allay the fears of Nigerians that there is no hidden motive behind this movement of able bodied men from one part of the country to the other, by making a nation wide address. It is not the best for Government to be silent during this period. State Governors should continue to address people in the states on a weekly basis, appealing to them to see the need to obey the orders for the good of everyone, until the coronavirus pandemic is over. They should do this with maturity and with firm resolve to remind the people of the dangers inherent in flouting the order and the consequences for flouting the order. Look at the streets, only very few people are moving about in the public with face masks, majority are out there without face masks, this is very dangerous’’.

‘’In Rivers state, I like Governor Nyesome Wike for been a Governor of action and discipline, but I also feel that the bulldozing of two hotels by the Governor is an action taken too far.

It would have been better if he had acted with human face by either sealing up the hotel or seeking legal redress, the bulldozing of the hotels is unchristian like. If he had sealed up the property or sought legal redress, it would have been better’’, Eze(Dr)Anozie concluded.

The All Workers Convergence(AWC) has called on the Federal Government in Nigeria to give cogent reasons why the looming sack of Federal workers cannot be postponed.

The AWC made this call through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.

‘’The question workers in Nigeria are asking in all these notification of the implementation of the Oronsaye report, is that the workers that shall be affected are they not working ? Is Nigeria broke ? Where is the billions of Dollars in the foreign reserve ? This is the period that Government is supposed to be protecting lives and livelihood. Why should it now focus on the implementation of the Oronsaye report. Workers in the country need answers to all these questions’’, Comrade Emelieze concluded.

Cultists who pose as okada riders have continuously terrorized residents and commuters along the Molusi, Olorunsogo, Molete, Scout camp, Felele areas of Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria.

The cultists led by one hoodlum, popularly known as Brother Bayo,an okada rider always on blue hooded top to shield his identity, a vulcanizer, and a spare parts seller, whose shops are at the ASAS bus stop junction of Molusi street, have their base at the ASAS bus-stop/Molusi street junction.

The criminals intimidate, threaten attack and dispossess unsuspecting members of the public of their valuables, at night, since there are no street lights in theses areas.

Expectedly, the residents and other members of the public are helpless,while the connivance of respected members of these communities with the hoodlums has greatly frustrated actions against them.

Sadly, the law enforcement agency saddled with the responsibility of ensuring sanity in this category of transportation focus on pecuniary interests at the expense of a safe society.

The Oyo state Government has been advised to ensure that the palliatives to be distributed to poor and vulnerable Nigerians cuts across all the ethnic groups in the state.

This advice was given by the Eze Ndigbo of Ibadan and Oyo state, who is also the Vice Chairman(South) of the Eze Ndigbo in Diaspora, Eze Dr. Alex Anozie.

‘’As the Head of Igbos in Ibadan and Oyo state, I believe in justice for all Nigerians and all ethnic groups in Ibadan and Oyo state and I believe that whatever the Government decides to do, whatever palliative steps they decide to take for the benefit of all, they should do it and let all ethnic groups enjoy the benefits. So, I do not want to come out and begin to shout ’see my people Ndigbo’, when I know that the problem that is on ground is affecting everybody. So what I am saying is that whatever the Government intends to do, should be for the benefit of Ndigbo, NdiYoruba, NdiHausa and all other ethnic groups residing in Oyo state. And again, I want to remind all through this medium, that I and my group constitute the legitimate leadership of the Igbos in Ibadan and Oyo state, as ruled by a court of competent jurisdiction. And no other superior court has given another judgment vacating that judgment which states that I and my group constitute the legitimate leadership of Igbos in Ibadan and Oyo state’’.

‘’Therefore, we believe that the Oyo state Government is a law abiding Government which we are sure would never, never allow anybody or group to deceive it. The court judgment is the highest authority as far as the Nigerian constitution is concerned. So, we expect the state Government, been a law abiding Government to reach out to us as the legitimate leadership of Igbos in Ibadan and Oyo state. So whatever is happening, whatever the Government intends to do, all Nigerians in Oyo state should benefit from the palliative measures. We thank God for giving our Governor fast healing from the coronavirus pandemic, same also goes for the Chief Medical Director of the University College Hospital(UCH) and a few others. We shall continue to pray to God that very soon we shall overcome the coronavirus pandemic. It shall become a thing of the past. Those who are yet to be healed, we pray that God should heal them fast.’’

‘’Let me also use this medium to appeal to all and sundry to keep strictly to both the Government’s directives and those of medical experts towards curtailing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic’’, Eze(Dr.) Anozie concluded.

Nigerians in different parts of the country have continuously complained about  the methods adopted by several state governments in the distribution of palliatives to the people.

The All Workers Convergence(AWC) has called on the Federal Government to make provision for  Financial  and Social welfare packages for Nigerians as the coronavirus ravages the land.

This call was made by the AWC through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.

‘’Th AWC calls on the Federal and state Governments to see how families and individuals can get financial support, free medical care and subsidies for utilities within this period, electricity and communication should ve provided Free of Charge for Nigerians. The Federal Government must also provide adequate protection for all those on essential services, who will daily meet up with the needs of the people. More importantly, since Government at all levels have ordered the closure of work places, they should ensure the early payment of salaries to workers and all necessary welfare packages including the further downward review of the pump prices of petroleum products. In conclusion the AWC is calling on all leaders to be more responsible to citizens in this trying period’’, Comrade Emelieze stated.

Members of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) who decamped to the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) in recent times have been advised to retrace their steps before it is too late.

This advice was given by the Chairman of the Oyo state chapter of the PDP, Alhaji Kunmi Mustapha in a chat with Federationews2day.

''My advice is that our members  who still remain in the ruling party should come back now, if they don't come back now it may be too late for them. Things are changing, if we don't stand up to our duty, they will destroy the country.  Considering  what happened in Oyo state in the last election, we want it to go round the South West. They don't know how to run government. Almost all of us have resolved to come together to slavage the party'', Alhaji Mustapha stated.

Perhaps disturbed by the worrisome performances of political office holders in this dispensation, a bill by one of the lawmakers is,presently before the Senate that seeks to make the minimum qualification  to vie for the position of  President and Governor, Higher National Diploma or its equivalent, while for other elective positions the minimum qualification  Ordinary National Diploma or its equivalent is been proposed. Nigerians are already expressing divergent views on this proposal. In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of  Shafaudeen-in-Isalm Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke says the bill is a welcome development, but government must ensure it does a background check on the past of holders of certificates. Excerpts :

A bill  presently before the Senate  seeks to make the minimum qualification  to vie for the position of  President and Governor, Higher National Diploma or its equivalent, while for other elective positions the minimum qualification is Ordinary National Diploma or its equivalent. What is your reaction to this bill ?

Positions of power under democratic norms largely depends on  concept understanding, moral discipline, patriotism  and rudiments of administrative sagacity cum management technical know how.

 All these characteristics  are expected to be in-built virtues of any aspirant vying  for positions of power. Luckily for us, the three domains of education expected to reinforce aspirants as a necessary tool for capacity building   in this respect apart from the literacy and numeracy advantage of the affective domain, the attitudinal building  is equally embedded in this domain.

Unfortunately emphasis on character building is very low in our educational pursuit to the detriment of the desired development  as a goal of education. This vital aspect of human life happens to be the basis upon which the fate based houses of worship are built. Unfortunately, the wrong attitudinal value that humbles education into effectiveness allowing corruption to dominate the lives of the elite and scholars is the same virus that has eaten into the fabrics of sacredness  expected  of the houses of God into that of profanity making the man to become a misfit in the game plan of political activities to the detriment of the desired goal of sustainable development. In this Nigeria, we have seen excellent performances of holders of standard six certificates, that was during the era of an environment of institutional discipline. Promotion exercises were based on in-service training attendant higher efficiency at work and consequent higher productivity with lots of goodwill in terms of profit. Pupil-age was equally appreciated while mentor-ship took the pride  of replicating  hard-work and dignity of labor.

The then Head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon ruled this nation as an holder of School Certificate, he equally succeeded in executing  the fratricidal civil war of 1967-1970, that was when sincerity of purpose, ruler-ship by conscience  and a high level of the fear of God were in vogue. Training, pupil-age and mentor-ship used to have direct bearing on the assessed needs for planning to have a right direction of purpose.

However, today we insincerely depend on the certificate worth usually based on the theoretical realm of education, where researches may not necessarily have direct bearings on the need of the people. Despite the various observed anomalies in the cognitive arm of our educational institutions, the nation continues to hero worship holders of certificates .The three tiers of education viz Primary, Secondary and Tertiary are equally badly affected  by the challenges of facility update and dearth of experts in some areas of specialization. At the secondary level, challenges of appropriate  and adequate laboratory and workshop equipment are equally there. When certificates are obtained in an environment of under funding, the worth of such certificates may not necessarily reflect on the holders, hence the challenges of effective performances would be there, therefore Nigeria should be ashamed of itself, considering the fact that  our Senior secondary school certificates-WAEC or NECO- are no longer relevant in the scheme of our political system.

The HND/B Sc.  minimum qualification  to vie for President and Governor bill in the senate is a welcome idea, but this might not give us the expected results, if the holders' past records are not critically looked into, such certificates held by future treasury looters would only justify what brought about terrorism in Nigeria. The expectation is that the holders of HND/B Sc. and above  must be creative enough  for them to be able to tap into the psycho motor domain of education which clearly stands for provision of basic amenities using appropriate technology and establishment of functional infrastructure to solve the myth surrounding employment issues and our economic management challenges. High worth of certificate will never be productive without the right attitudinal approach to issues based on the fundamentals of positive mindset towards the nation and the expected  service demanded by the positions of power, the  holders of the certificates may assume, because in this lies the core value of self esteem and integrity, self confidence, positive mental attitude for ease of making right, accurate and precision prone decisions to move the nation forward.

The  bill presently before the senate that seeks to ban the use of generators in Nigeria  has been described as an indication that leadership in the country is in a state of confusion.

This  submission was made by the All Workers Convergence(AWC) through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.

''The bill proposing the ban on imported generators is a clear indication that the leadership and Government are confused and have lost a sense of direction.  This is also to prove that the present crop of leadership in Nigeria has nothing to offer Nigerians, this is so because electricity is a necessity and if government has failed to provide electricity do you now ban the importation of generators ?''.

''What is the reason behind the bill, when government officials constitute the majority of those patronizing imported generator sellers. The proposed bill is a product of a confused leadership which has nothing to offer Nigerians'', Comrade Emelieze declared.

Applicants fopr the 7,000 teaching jobs in Oyo state have appealed to the state Government to ensure that the recruitment process is not characterized by personal and political  considerations.

The applicants made this appeal at the Teaching Service Commission zonal  offices across the state, during the submission of their completed application forms.

''Government  should not allow the recruitment process to be colorated by political and personal considerations. , but it should be based on merit'', the applicants stated.

Sadly, the questionable recruitment process in the past had resulted in the worrisome attitude  and behavior of students in public schools in the state, with those  in the private schools also in focus.

Cultism, rape and armed robbery are now past times of a sizable number of secondary school students, while parents, guardians and school authorities watch helplessly.

In his views, the Chairman of the state Council of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Comrade Tojuade Adedoyin disclosed that the recruitment was a welcome development saying'' it has been long overdue. However, we are believing that they will follow due process by recruiting qualified teachers on merit and not for political patronage''.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria(CBCN) has called on Christian faithful to wear black, or at least black armbands as a sign of mourning and solidarity with the victims of kidnapping and other violent crimes, on ash Wednesday. The first day of the Lenten season.

The All Workers Convergence(AWC) has also thrown its weight behind the Catholic Bishops.

A statement by the President of the  CBCN, Archbishop Augustine Akubeze invited  Christian faithful to join to join a “Day of Prayer Procession” to kick off the Lenten season, to protest the state of insecurity in the country while 

describing the procession as a part of the Church’s moral responsibility.

The march, scheduled for Ash Wednesday, is against “the repeated barbaric executions of Christians by the Boko Haram insurgents and the incessant cases of kidnapping for ransom linked to the same group.”

The statement condemned the public show of impunity by the perpetrators of these crimes on social media, the constant threats to many communities, and the lack of arrests of the criminals by the government.

No peace/growth without Security

Emphasizing the importance of peace, the statement reads: “May we, once again, remind all the arms of the government in Nigeria and all whose responsibility it is to protect Nigerians that without security there can be no peace, and without peace, there can be no development or national growth.”

The CBCN also called on the international community to come to the aid of the Nigerian government in its fight to restore security and stability in the country.

Nigeria has been on a constant fight against the Boko Haram insurgents who in 2014 kidnapped girls from a secondary school in Chibok, Northern Nigeria. In recent times, there have been multiple instances of kidnappings and violence against local communities linked to the same group.

Similarly the AWC through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze called on workers in Nigeria to join the protests saying ''we should not wait until we are personally touched, for an injury to one is an injury to all. We at the AWC commend the Catholic Bishops for this initiative and we cal on all workers in Nigeria to show solidarity for the clarion call. Workers should join the protests on Wednesday by putting black to show that they are not happy with the spate of kidnappings, killings and other violent crimes.''

Staff of the National Identity Management Commission(NIMC) Enrollment centers in Ibadan, Nigeria, including the center at the University College Hospital(UCH) now reject Pre-Enrolment slips from Nigerian desirous of obtaining the National Identity Number(NIN) for undisclosed reasons.

The employees of the NIMC advise these category of Nigerians to discard the Pre-Enrolment slips for the registration forms for fees that vary from one center to the other.

Indeed, it shall amount to double registration, if people should discard the Pre-Enrolemt slips for registration forms, since their data are already in the National Identity System(NIMS).

It is now obvious that the National Identity exercise has come under heavy sabotage from those who believe pecuniary benefits is the destination.

Sadly, the recruitment process of the employees of the NIMC has become a subject of debate among concerned Nigerians.

The NIMC Pre-Enrollment slip states ‘’Print this slip and take it to any NIMC Enrollment office closest to you’’.

Towards the end of 2019, the NIMC had organized a Bid opening ceremony for about 586 local partners who submitted their expression of interest (EOI) for the provision of Data collection and Issuance of the National Identification Number (NIN) services at the NIMC Headquarters, Abuja.

The NIMC Director-General/CEO Engr. Aliyu Aziz who was represented at the ceremony by the General Manager, Corporate Services Department, Abdullahi Ibrahim stressed that stakeholders’ collaboration for accelerated delivery of digital identity in Nigeria was critical.

Ibrahim had stated ‘’“NIMC will be partnering with public and private sector service providers including Federal, State, Local Governments, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Civil Society Organizations and others as well as qualified private vendors for the provision of data collection services and issuance of the National Identification Number (NIN) under the National Identity Management System (NIMS) programme,” 

Government at all levels in Nigeria have been charged to put in place conducive environment before the recruitment of Teachers.

This charge was given recently by the Rector and Founder of ADECOM Institute of Business and Management, Ibadan, Nigeria, Dr. Adewale Adshina.

‘’If Government is so much interested in education it should put in more efforts. It is a good thing for government to employ Teachers, but the environment must be conducive, let us put the facilities in place. There should be motivation and incentives also’’, Dr. Adeshina stressed.

The All Workers Convergence(AWC) has declared that the non inclusion of the budgets of key government agencies in Nigeria in the national budget for 2020 is tantmount to shielding corruption.

The AWC made this known through its  National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.

''It is funny to realize that some key agencies of government budgets were not captured in the 2020 national  budget, rather a special budget has been prepared to cater for agencies such as the Central Bank, Customs and several others. This to us amounts to high profile corruption.What government is attempting to do is basically to use this medium to divert public funds for sinister motives. This is not in the people's interest. With the poor state of governance and decisions of government such as this, Nigerians have been pushed to the wall and would soon explode, having budgets outside the national budget is an attempt by government to shield corruption'', Comrade Emelieze stated.

About 60 agencies of government budgets were not captured in the 2020 national budget.

Government at all levels, parents and guardians have been called upon to protect children and wards from all forms of sexual abuse.

This call was made recently, by the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke at the Shafaudeen Ishrat 2020 opening ceremony and Kiddies sports, at Wakjaiye, Ibadan, Nigeria.

‘’Government, Parents, schools officials need to protect the interest of our children not to be raped or forced into unholy sexual abuse. We must therefore be caring, watchful, monitor, examine, question and even teach sex education. Starting from the mother to the girl child and the father to the boy child, using experiences already inbuilt in them, while government medical centers and personnel on health related matters should take care of this at formal level’’.

‘’Parents must be aware of warning signs. Identify bad peer group, keep positive and open but effective communication to empower the children to have sufficient research against predators. Children must cultivate the habit of reporting feelings and events to parents, no matter how trivial and even against all odds of threats’’, Prof. Olagoke advised.

Nigerians have been called upon to put their hopes in God for the solution to their sufferings.

This call was made by Pastor Opeymei Ajayi in a chat with Federationews2day.

''These days things have gone wrong. There is hardship everywhere. Families are increasingly finding it difficult to feed. Nigerians should look up to God, to alleviate their sufferings. Nigerians should call upon God to see us through. When Nigerians put their hopes in God, the myriad of challenges  confronting the country shall have solutions. Both the leaders and followers should call on God to intervene. When there is hope there is life'', Pastor Ajayi stated.

The United States of America has written off and undisclosed amount of Somalia's debt.

This disclosure was made by Somalia-born Congresswoman Ilhan Omar on her verified Twitter handle.

“I am thrilled we were able to secure debt relief for Somalia today. This doesn’t just have an impact on Somalis in Somalia, but on the thousands of Somali- Americans who live in my district and have family in the region,” Omar said.

Somalia is indebted to  the United States of America to the tune of $1Billion spread over the past years,  its entire  entire debt is $4.7 Billion

 In October, Norway announced  bridging loan approval for Somalia to enable it pay arrears  a $350million debt owed  the World Bank.

The failure of authors, publishers and Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies to abide by the legal deposit law in Nigeria and poor funding have been identified as the major challenges confronting the National Library of Nigeria(NLN).

This was the submission of Mrs. Laureta Isioma Ekwemuka of the Legal Deposit Department of the National Library, in a paper titled ‘’Evaluation of Legal Deposit Collection at the National Library of Nigeria(2014–2018) at the South Western zonal session of the Nationa Library two day sensitization workshop on Legal Deposit Compliance ISBN & ISSN, held in Ibadan.

‘’Some major challenges of the National Library include the uncooperative attitude of Authors, Publishers, Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, when it comes to the submission of copies of published works to the National Library. So many Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies publish quarterly, bi-annually and annually, but they do not deposit copies of their published works to the National Library. Another major challenge is lack of adequate funding. We have been trying our best to overcome these challenges’’, Mrs. Ekwemuka stated.

Similarly, in a paper titled ‘’Evaluation of ISBN/ISSN Acquisition at the National Library of Nigeria(2014–2018), Mrs Taye Abena of the International Standards and Programs Departments expressed worry over the proliferation of fake ISBN numbers saying’’ people tend to do things their own way, they go to publishers to collect fake ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits, in the process of collection, 3 digits are removed, and these three digits represent the numbers of the international center’’.

In his remarks, the Head of Branch, Oyo state, Mr. Bashiru Salawu warned Nigerians not to obtain the ISBN and ISSN from sources other than the National Library, adding’’ISBN and ISSN emanating from other sources are fake’’.

The National Library Act was passed in 1964 and later reviewed in 1970 with emphasis on deposit obligations and bibliographical functions.

The Act №29 of 1970 applies throughout the country and has supremacy over any library laws of state governments in the event of jurisdiction conflicts. Read the Act here-https://bit.ly/2Pou5ck

The hate speech bill currently in the National Assembly which recommends death penalty for those found culpable is a sign of leadership failure in the eyes of millions of Nigerians. The political class, government officials and the citizenry are culpable.

Indeed, hunger, poverty and unemployment are the lot of Nigerians today, even as the Federal, State and Local Governments feebly struggle to come to terms with the reality of the times.

In this interview, the Eze Ndigbo of Ibadan and Oyo state, who is also the Vice President(South) of the Association of Ezendigbo-in-Disapora, Eze(Dr.)Alex Anozie opines that once government at all levels addresses the major challenges confronting the country such as kidnappings, killings, banditry, corruption, hunger, poverty and unemployment, hate speech would be reduced to the barest minimum. Excerpts :

What is your reaction to the hate speech bill which recommends death penalty for offenders, presently before the National Assembly ?

President Muhammadu Buhari has been called upon not to give his assent to the Financial bill recently passed by the Senate.

This call was made by the former National Vice President of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners(NUP), Alhaji Lateef Adegoke.

''President Muahammadu Buhari should not sign it. I advise  that the increase should  be reversed for the benefit of poor Nigerians. If 10 per cent out of 200 million Nigerians are better off financially, then the President should reconsider this and not sign the bill. Things are not okay for Nigerians, people are suffering, people are hungry, the President should consider the plight of poor Nigerians by not signing the bill'', Alhaji Adegoke advised.