Those were the words of Senator Joel Danlami Ikenya, the new Nigerian Minister of Labour Productivity, while taking over from Alhaji Tanimu Turaki SAN, who supervised the ministry following the resignation of Chief Emeka Wogu, to contest the Abia State Governorship election.

Indications have emerged on failed plots to scuttle the factional special delegates conference by the 23 aggrieved affiliates of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, that has produced Comrade Joe Ajaero of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, as President.

If everything goes well, Abdulwaheed Omar, will hand over to a new president of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC that will either take Congress to the next level or quicken its move into oblivion from the Olympian heights that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole left it in 2007.

Public workers in Niger State have written to the state government to officially opt out of the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS, to protest government’s refusal to pay its corresponding contribution as required by law.

THE March 12 rescheduled Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, election holds tomorrow amid plethora of unresolved issues that if swept under the carpet, the Congress and indeed, Labour movement, could not only lose its pan-Nigerianism or Africanism, but also die a natural death.

BARELY one week to the March 12 rescheduled election of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, tribal and ethnic sentiments have torn Congress apart, as some of the affiliates and state councils have alleged that the processes leading to the election have been tailored towards ensuring that the president and key officers emerge from the North.

Information from Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Abuja headquarters has it that “in spite of the law on the new minimum wage, the signed agreements with state governments, the passage of time, some state governments have barely fully implemented the law.

No fewer than 23,482 employers have keyed into the Employees Compensation Scheme, ECS, regarded as a major step towards implementation of social insurance aimed at, among others, rehabilitation of workers who sustain injuries at work and payment of compensation for permanent disability or death.

Comrade Williams Akporeha is Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Delta State Council, National Treasurer of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, as well as the NUPENG Mandate Coordinator for Comrade Igwe Achese, for NLC President 2015. He spoke with Sunday Vanguard on the botched delegates conference, why Achese stepped down and the prospects for a successful election on March 12, 2015. Excerpts:

NON-ACADEMIC Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU, has warned that rising cases of non-remittance of deducted funds remains the greatest danger to the survival of the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS.

Since inception of CPS following the Pension Reform Act, PRA, 2004 as amended, issue of non-remittance has been the greatest challenge facing the scheme.