…Over bloated staff roll stalling minimum wage implementation – official

…NLC commends full implementation of minimum wage in primary schools

Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, has charged all the 27 Local Government Area (LGA) chairmen to ensure the swift and effective implementation of the new 70,000 Naira minimum wage.

During a high-level meeting held at the Government House, Saturday night, which was attended by the state leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Zulum directed the LGA chairpersons to come up with a workable solution for the minimum wage implementation.

“All local government chairpersons should go back to their localities, engage with relevant stakeholders and come up with a workable solution to the salary problem at the local government levels,” Zulum said.

He added, “I want to stress that the payment of 72,000 minimum wage has been fully implemented for state civil servants and all primary school teachers in Borno.”

Zulum also warned against retrenchment of staff at the local government level, stating that “We are not in support of staff retrenchment at the local government level as I direct you to institute a mechanism that will lead to the implementation of the minimum wage.”

He added, “I want to appeal to workers at the local government level to be patient. We are working closely with the 27 local governments to ensure the implementation of the minimum wage.”

…Over bloated staff roll stalling minimum wage payment – LG official

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry for Local Government and Emirate Affairs, Modu Alhaji Mustapha stressed that implementing the 70,000 minimum wage for local government staff has been stalled due to the over bloated number of employees.

According to the Permanent Secretary, Borno’s local government councils are grappling with an unusually high number of staff which is complicating the payroll and minimum wage administration.

He revealed that the state’s 27 LGAs collectively employ approximately 90,000 staff, a figure that is strikingly high compared to larger states like Kano, whose population is three times more than Borno’s but maintains a comparatively leaner staff structure of about 30,000 employees across its 44 LGAs.

“While the intention behind the minimum wage increase is laudable, the reality on ground in Borno is far more complex,” the LG official explained. “Our local governments are already over stretched and the current staff level has become an obstacle towards implementing the 70,000 minimum wage.”

“To put this into perspective, let us take Maiduguri Metropolitan Council for example, it’s monthly allocation from the federal government sometimes stood below N700m.”

“While this may seem substantial at a glance, the local government needs N778m to pay minimum wage.
This constitutes the entire monthly income of the LGA. When you consider that the MMC also has to fund other critical services such as public health, water supply, security, and other sectors, the financial strain becomes glaringly apparent.

…NLC commends full implementation of the new wage in primary schools

The Nigeria Labour Congress has commended Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, for his role in implementing the N72,000 minimum wage for primary school teachers in the state.

Chairman of the NLC, Borno State Chapter, Comrade Yusuf Inuwa, made the commendation during the high-level meeting held at the Government House on Saturday.

“Your Excellency, whenever we attend the national executive meetings, the national body is very much happy because primary school teachers are being paid 72,000 as minimum wage,” Comrade Inuwa said.

He also said, “Your Excellency, when I stood up during one of our meetings to announce that primary school teachers are being paid 72,000 in Borno State, I was applauded, and you were highly commended.”

Former federal lawmaker from Kaduna State, Senator Shehu Sani, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s decision to rename the University of Maiduguri.

Ekwutosblog reports that the President, on Thursday, renamed the university as Muhammadu Buhari University, in honour of the late former president.

The decision, announced during a session of tributes by the Federal Executive Council, FEC, to Buhari, has sparked mixed reactions.

Both current and former students have condemned the move, describing the renaming as unnecessary.

In his response, Shehu Sani, in a post on his official Facebook page, stated that the university should remain known as UNIMAID.

He wrote, “Many former and present students of University of Maiduguri are not happy about the renaming of their prestigious university, but they are shy or afraid of rejecting or condemning it because of the person whose name was used.

“It’s not that difficult to say that UNIMAID should remain UNIMAID and nothing else. So far all our airports and train stations have been renamed.”

Students of the Kwara State University, Malete, escaped death in an 18-seater bus in Ilorin on Wednesday.

The incident occurred at about 07:54hours, when the bus with registration number, XUF134ZD, went up in flames and was completely razed down.

The students were said to have been on their way to the main campus of the institution from Bovas filling station along Akerebiata axis on Ilorin-Sobi road.

According to the spokesman of the state fire service, Hassan Adekunle, “the Kwara State Fire Service responded swiftly to a distress call regarding a vehicle fire involving an 18-seater bus with registration number XUF 134 ZD along Shao Road, near Sobi Barracks.

“The fire crew responded swiftly and successfully extinguished the fire. Regrettably, the vehicle was completely consumed by the flames, with all parts severely damaged.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that the fire originated from a spark in the engine compartment, which rapidly escalated and engulfed the entire vehicle.

Director of the state fire service, Prince Falade John Olumuyiwa, extended his heartfelt sympathy to the bus owner and used the opportunity to advise all road users to carry out routine vehicle checks before embarking on any journey, as a precautionary measure against such incidents.