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Timi Frank urges NLC, TUC to reject less than N250k minimum wage
Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, on Friday, called on the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress to reject any minimum wage offer from the federal government that is less than N250,000.00 per month.
Frank who was reacting to reports of alleged Federal Government’s offer of N105,000.00 to workers as new minimum wage during their ongoing tripartite negotiation, said: “any amount below N250,000.00 cannot be considered a decent wage for Nigerian workers considering the present socio-economic hardship in the country.”
In a statement in Abuja, Frank accused the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration of double standards in the fixing of salaries, saying what is good for judicial office holders is good for Nigerian workers.
According to the Bayelsa-born political activist, Tinubu recently sent a Bill to the National Assembly in which he proposed 300 per cent increase in the salaries and allowances of Supreme Court Justices, Appeal Court Justices, President of the National Industrial Court, Judges of the Federal and State High Courts as well as Grand Khadi of State Sharia Courts, among others, in the country.
He noted that the Bill has been hurriedly passed as proposed by the President in both chambers of the National Assembly and now awaiting the assent of the President to become enforceable law.
Frank who is the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Ambassador to East Africa and the Middle East, said: “How can you increase the salary of an arm of government that is already earning a humongous salary by 300 per cent and add peanuts to the paltry N30,000 that workers have been compelled to live with in this country as minimum wage in the last five years?
“Why did the President send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly to effect a 300 per cent upward review in the salaries of Judicial Office Holders but set up a tripartite committee to negotiate a “starvation wage” (apologies to NLC President Joe Ajaero) for suffering Nigerian workers instead of a “living wage” he promised them on assumption of office in May last year?”
He said that the executive, legislative and judicial arms of government ought to reduce their salaries and allowances to accommodate Nigerian workers who can barely have one meal a day rather than increasing their take home which is already over bloated and economically, financially and socially suffocate workers.
He however declared that “Nigerians are no fools as they know that the proposed generous increase in the salaries of Judicial Office Holders is meant to pay them for the devious work they did to judicially ratify the stay of key political office holders in this administration in office including President Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, among others, and to compromise them ahead of any judicial challenge in future polls.”
He reiterated that workers are the engine room of the nation’s economy and that paying them a living wage will boost their morale to work diligently and even pay the supreme price in line of duty for the country’s development if need be.
He therefore urged the leadership of organized labour to be resolute in their demand to ensure that workers get a deserved living wage at this time in the Nation’s developmental journey.
He urged them to leave their foot prints on the sands of time by being non-compromising but warned that doing otherwise will inscribe their names in the hall of shame.
Comrade Timi Frank
ULMWP Ambassador to East Africa and Middle East
A fire on Wednesday evening caused extensive damage at the popular phone village in Challenge market, Ilorin, Kwara state.
The fire, which started around 9:06pm, was believed to have been triggered by a power surge.
The market, which houses over 120 shops, 80 kiosks, and numerous stands, saw 10 kiosks reportedly affected.
In a statement on Thursday, Hassan Adekunle, spokesperson for the Kwara state fire service, said the conflagration primarily affected phone stores and repair shops.
“Our fire crew promptly mobilised and arrived at the scene to find several shops engulfed in flames,” he said.
“The market comprises over 120 shops, 80 kiosks, and numerous stands. Through swift intervention, professionalism, and tactical expertise, our team successfully curtailed the spread of the fire, limiting its impact to only 10 kiosks.
“The affected areas were primarily phone stores and repair shops. Preliminary investigations indicate that the fire was caused by a power surge.
“Traders and market stakeholders commended the Kwara State Fire Service for their rapid response and effectiveness in saving the market from widespread destruction.”
Falade Olumuyiwa, director of the state fire service, expressed sympathy to the market leadership and affected traders.
Olumuyiwa also prayed that all losses suffered would be divinely restored.
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adeniyi, on Wednesday, announced the interception of contraband items worth over N921 billion as the service intensifies enforcement operations at the nation’s ports.
The items included expired food items, unregistered pharmaceutical products and controlled security equipment.
Adeniyi during a press briefing at the Apapa Command of the service said that the seizures were made between January and April.
According to him, the seizures also involved 11 separate interdictions.
He said the prohibited items included five 40-foot containers, two 20-foot containers and four seizures of loosely concealed contraband.
The CG also gave updates on the rollout of the Customs Unified Management Information System, known as B’Odogwu, describing the pilot phase at PTML and Tin Can Island Port as crucial.
He explained that his earlier visits to PTML and Tin Can that morning, before arriving at Apapa, were to gain firsthand insights of challenges faced by stakeholders with the new digital platform.
He admitted that while the B’Odogwu rollout was ambitious and necessary, the service was fully aware that initial implementation would have some hiccups.
“We are not pretending that when we roll out a very serious project of that magnitude that there will be no hitches,” he said.
He added that Customs was approaching the situation with flexibility and innovation, holding stakeholder and bank engagements to address the hiccups in the system’s deployment.
Adeniyi also explained measures towards strengthening enforcement at the Apapa Command, in line with the national strategic economic development plan and executive orders on port operations.
He said the Command had scaled up surveillance across seaports, airports, and land borders in response to evolving tactics by transnational criminal networks attempting to breach the country’s import protocols.
He raised alarm over the rising influx of unregistered pharmaceutical products, particularly sexual enhancement drugs into the Nigerian market, warning that such items posed threat to public health and safety.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that unregistered medicines lacking mandatory certification from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) were seized.
Other items seized included expired margarine products, and restricted security gadgets including drones and telecommunication devices without end-user certificates from the Office of the National Security Adviser.
The seizures included 89 cartons of unregistered pharmaceutical products in container CAAU6514500, 242 cartons in container TCNU6880130, and 1,001 cartons of hydra-sildenafil citrate tablets in container MRSU3041714.
Another 40-footer container was found to contain 1,400 packages of various unregistered drugs, while a fifth had 805 packages falsely declared as cosmetic powder.
The service also intercepted two 20ft containers, GCNU1367992 and GCNU1372704, containing expired margarine products.
Additionally, 60 units of warrior drones without valid end-user certificates were recovered from container MSKU9329923, valued at N15.9 million.
Another 53 helicopter drones, evacuated from a container marked CFAX3, carried an estimated duty-paid value of N2.1 million.
Ten professional FM transceiver walkie-talkies were also confiscated from ENL, while a 20ft container (SUDU1408819) was found to contain 500 packages of active medicine tablets lacking NAFDAC certification.
Adeniyi disclosed that the analysis of these seizures revealed five key smuggling trends.
According to him, first was the disturbing proliferation of sexual enhancement drugs, as five of the 11 containers seized were laden with variants of sildenafil citrate and other related substances.
The CG warned that the indiscriminate use of these drugs without medical supervision could lead to serious health complications, including cardiovascular risks.
He said a second trend was a growing pattern of misdeclaration, with importers labeling pharmaceuticals as general merchandise or cosmetics in an attempt to evade detection.
According to him, two containers had pharmaceutical products concealed beneath skin creams.
He noted a third trend is the diversification of contraband shipments, with importers mixing pharmaceuticals, expired food, and restricted technology items in a single container.
This, he said, suggested the involvement of sophisticated criminal networks rather than isolated smugglers.
He said the fourth trend was the strategic selection of countries with weaker pharmaceutical export controls, indicating a deliberate attempt to exploit regulatory loopholes.
He identified the last trend of increasing importation of non-pharmaceutical security threats, including drones and communication gadgets, which raised significant concerns for national security.
The CG emphasized that the seizures were not isolated efforts but part of a broader enforcement drive that had seen the service record 22 narcotics-related interceptions in the first quarter of 2025 alone.
He added that the seizures accounted for a duty-paid value of N730 billion, representing 34.6 percent increase when compared to the same period in 2024.
He credited the results to the service’s intelligence-led enforcement strategy and collaboration with regulatory agencies like NAFDAC, Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency and Office of the National Security Adviser.
Adeniyi warned that the service would not relent in its commitment to securing Nigeria’s borders and protecting the lives of its citizens.
He commended officers and men of the Apapa Command for their vigilance and professionalism, urging stakeholders within the international trade ecosystem to comply strictly with import regulations.
Concluding the briefing, the CG declared a restricted area around the five containers carrying dangerous pharmaceutical materials, urging all present to maintain a safe distance to avoid any risk of exposure.
He urged the public to remain alert and make use of confidential channels to report suspicious imports, emphasising that collective vigilance would curb the growing threat of organised transnational smuggling. (NAN)
Organised Labour has appealed to the Federal Government not to compress the civic space by restricting citizens from freely expressing themselves.
President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Joe Ajaero, made the appeal on Wednesday in Abuja, at the 2025 Pre – May Day Lecture, organised by the NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the lecture has the theme, “Reclaiming the Civic Space in the Midst of Economic Hardship” .
Ajaero stressed the need for government to open up the civil space to enable workers and unions to freely express themselves in line with democracy tenets.
He assured that the labour movement would continue to talk truth to power and fight for the rights of Nigerians.
Prof. Christopher Chukwuma from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, while delivering the keynote address called for the review of laws restricting, criminalising civic engagements in the country.
Chukwuma, a Professor of International law said it was imperative to review the Cybercrime Act and the Public Order Act, which, according to him, are restricting and criminalising civic engagement .
He said that the civic space was essential for the functioning of democratic processes.(NAN)