Business
Workers Urge Management To Re-open Factory
Employees of Promasidor Nigeria Ltd., producers of Cowbell milk, yesterday called on the firm’s management to allow them into the premises while negotiating their welfare packages.
Our correspondent reports that the about 1,000 workers could not gain entrance into the premises at Isolo after demanding improved welfare packages.
Mr George Olukayode, the branch Chairman of the National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), told our correspondent that the workers had not been able to enter the premises since July 31.
He said that the workers had demanded an increase in their meal subsidy and an improvement in annual increment.
“For one-and-a-half-years, the workers have been negotiating with the management on the need to increase their meal subsidy and annual increment. We have worked for 17 years since the company started operations.
“The management said they could not do anything about our demands. The issue has been presented to the Ministry of Labour and Productivity,’’ he said.
However, the Managing Director of the company, Mr Keith Richards, said that the company had to be closed pending the outcome of a meeting of its management with representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Productivity.
In a letter dated August 1, 2011, Richards said that the meeting would hold on August 3.
“I have directed that the factory remained closed to forestall breakdown of law and order,’’ he said.
“Payment of tuition fees for undergraduate/postgraduate studies shall be subject to a maximum limit of $25,000.00 per semester,” the Manual states.
The expansion of international card limits also reflects growing confidence among lenders that foreign exchange liquidity has improved enough to support retail dollar transactions.
Speaking recently at the BusinessDay 14th Annual CEO Forum in Lagos, CBN Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the CBN said buying and selling activities now increasingly determine outcomes in the foreign exchange market, unlike in the past when market participants relied heavily on routine Central Bank interventions.
According to Cardoso, Nigeria’s net foreign exchange reserves have risen from just over $3 billion at the start of the reform programme to more than $40 billion, while gross reserves have climbed to about $52 billion, providing stronger confidence for investors and enabling the Central Bank to reserve interventions for periods of market stress rather than day-to-day liquidity management.
The restoration and expansion of international naira card spending limits are increasingly being seen as one of the clearest signs that the benefits of the CBN’s foreign exchange reforms are beginning to reach households, students and businesses making legitimate cross-border payments.
The Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer, WEC, Dr Angela Wilkinson, disclosed this in a statement, last Thursday.
“Nigeria’s participation comes at a pivotal time as the country seeks to expand energy access, strengthen energy security, accelerate gas development and mobilise the capital required for industrialisation and sustainable economic growth.
“WEC Nigeria will convene leaders from across the energy ecosystem, apply the WEC’s globally recognised Energy Trilemma framework to Nigeria’s unique context, and promote evidence-based dialogue, practical collaboration and informed policymaking.
“It will also ensure that Nigerian and broader African perspectives contribute meaningfully to global energy conversations,” she said.
Wilkinson expressed confidence that Nigeria would play a significant leadership role at the World Energy Congress scheduled for Riyadh in April 2027 and beyond.
The statement also quoted the Chairman of WEC Nigeria, Isa, as describing the country’s participation as an opportunity to deepen national and African leadership within the global energy community through practical solutions tailored to regional development priorities.
He said the platform would promote collaboration across sectors and attract sustainable investments into Nigeria’s energy sector.
The Chief Executive Officer of WEC Nigeria, Wunti, was quoted in the statement as saying that the council would connect leadership, evidence and investment to build a secure, affordable and sustainable energy system.
“This system will be capable of driving economic growth and shared prosperity.”
According to him, the platform will also connect Nigerian institutions and businesses with international knowledge, technology, partnerships and investment opportunities through the World Energy Council’s global network.
Recall that WEC, founded in 1923, is the world’s oldest independent and impartial community of energy leaders and practitioners, advancing informed, collaborative and practical action across the global energy system.