Go back to class or forget salaries...Akala orders teachers

Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala yesterday ordered striking secondary school teachers in Oyo state to report to work next Monday or to forfeit their monthly salaries from the state government. He announced the ultimatum while speaking at a meeting with the principals of secondary schools across the 33 Local Government areas of the Oyo state. The governor also stressed that there was no basis for the teachers' strike, since the last time there was a strike in the Oyo state, teachers' salaries were raised.

read more

This article illustrates social and economic tensions which are threatening the Oyo state of Nigeria. Some of the teachers believe that they should be paid more, so they go on strike, which in turn creates a social disaster, impairing students from learning in regular conditions.

"Grade this post"

All-Female Flight Crew

Nigeria's airline Aero made history by the first all-female flight crew in Nigeria. Aero is leading the way for development in airlines by being the first to set out a group of women. This achievement is paving the way for other airlines throughout Nigeria. Harold Demuren, Director-General of the NCAA, challenged other airlines in Nigeria to follow Aero's lead, stressing that the development was good for teh nation's aviation. Aero has been in operation for 50 years, and they plan to continue being the leader in the industry and compete with the best in the world.

Read More...

This article relates to what we have been learing in class because it focuses on the status of women in Nigeria. The all-female flight crew addresses the fact that achieving this kind of success is difficult for women in their country. The cleavages between male and female are improving. Women, including a couple of the ones in this flight crew, attend universities in Nigeria.

grade this post.

Pfizer-Nigeria Drug Suits are Close to End

In 1996 during a meningitis outbreak in Nigeria, a US drug firm, Pfizer, tested 200 sick children in a hospital in Kano with an antibiotic called Trovan. The article reports that the result of the tested antibiotic was 11 children's deaths and 181 other injured children even though Pfizer denies the claims that the antibiotic was the cause of the death and instead the deaths were just a result of the outbreak. Pfizer maintains that they formally informed the parents of the children being tested, but the parents claim that they never gave consent which led to the families along with the Kano State government suing Pfizer in the US. The case, fortunately, is reportedly coming close to an end with a multi-million dollar settlement out of court. The sides are not yet allowed to disclose the amounts until the final court hearing on May 15th but reportedly Nigeria's federal government additionally sued for $6.5bn in 2007 but will withdraw it's claim if the Nano government reaches a settlement.

"Read Full Story"

The article relates to what we have been learning in class with demonstrating state and federal governments in addition to the right of the people to sue a foreign company. Both the state and federal government has sued Pfizer which displays a sort of unitary between the levels of the government and the people that it serves but supporting and uniting against the company to which they are holding the deaths accountable for.

"GRADE THIS POST"

Minimum wage: It’s N52,200 or nothing - Labour

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities(SSANU) and the Nigeria Labour Congress(NCL) have proposed to the federal government that the minimum wage be N52,200. Many unions have asked the federal government to implement the minimum wage immediately, stating that this is the time that Nigerians need it the most. This past weekend, the SSANU and the NLC made their position on the matter known at the Executive Council meeting at Benue State University, in Makurdi.

read more

This article discusses how interest groups and unions affect government policy in Nigeria. These groups are making a strong push in raising the minimum wage for the country, and the federal government may be forced to settle on the new minimum wage ammount.

"Grade this Post"

Government Stops The Funding of Petroleum

The Nigerian government recently announced that it would stop funding petroleum products and transfer the money to finance different areas of national economic development. This idea has caused mixed emotions throughout the community. Some argued that it will put impoverish Nigerians into further debt and desperation and only benefit the few wealthy people. The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) argues that it will conserve funds for development of other sectors. Energy, infrastructure, and industries are the main sectors that will be focused on with the de-regularization of petroleum.

read more

This article relates to what we have been learning in class because of the economy, social cleavages, and different views by society and the government. The government is trying make the market more efficient, whereas society sees it as a way to divert their attention from the impact of the global financial crisis on Nigerians. Predictions are that the wealthier people will even more, while the majority of society, the poor Nigerians, will suffer more.

grade this post.

Restructuring Nigeria's Education Sector

The Nigerian Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, has just officially presented his four-point agenda aimed towards restructuring the public education sector of Nigeria. The four points of the agenda are access, quality assurance, vocation, and technical education and funding. Egwu has hinted that he will soon make changes within the staff in the current ministry. He also pointed out that while they had done a good job, the ministry is still very "cumbersome".

Read More

This article relates to the social challenges that Nigeria is facing today. Their educational system was subpar, and the ministry is trying to purge itself in order to improve it's system. This reform encouraged by the government will soon have an effect on every citizen of the country.

"Grade This Post"

Bloomberg.com has announced that Nigeria's federal government has put the country's state-owned telephone company, Nigerian Telecommunications, Ltd., or Nitel, up for sale to domestic and international buyers after a deal with Transnational Corp. fell through in February 2008 after Transnational failed to fix the failing Nitel. Nigeria did set a bar for potential investors; the company interested in buying must have at least 2 million existing land or cellular lines in use and a minimum net worth of $500 million. The share of the company being offered is surprisingly large, anywhere from 51% to 75%, meaning one company, potentially overseas, will essentially control all land-based telecommunications in Nigeria.

Read more...

This article demonstrates the increasing interconnectedness of the world, not only economically but practically as well. It will also be interesting to see the reaction from those in Nigeria and around the world that prefer that infrastructure remain at least in the control of domestic entities, if not in the government's hands entirely.

Grade this post