Business
States Must Pay N18, 000 Minimum Wage – Utomi, APBN
Director, Lagos Business School (LBS), Prof. Pat Utomi and President of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN), Mr Segun Ajanlekoko on Tuesday said State Governments must pay the N18,000 minimum wage.
They told newsmen in Lagos that the state governments should train people and look inward to generate funds instead of relying on statutory allocations.
Utomi said that the governors must pay the N18,000 as it was bad enough for someone to live on N18, 000 a month alone.
According to him, the state governments have to train people and use the few people to create opportunities for others to get jobs.
“I don’t think that governors are wise to say that somebody should not be paid N18,000 a month. What is N18, 000? How can anybody live on N18, 000 alone?
“Even that is bad enough and you are saying you can’t pay it. Train people well. Use a few quality people to do the job and create more opportunities for more and better jobs to be created elsewhere for the other people to get jobs.
“They can and must pay it as far as l am concern,” he said.
Ajanlekoko said that the state governments should look inward and tap their various states’ endowed resources instead of depending on the statutory allocations.
“I think it is for them to look inward. How many of them are generating fund internally? Most of the state governments rely on statutory allocations from the federation account, it cannot be.
“Each state is so well endowed that l am sure if they do their home work well and tap into that which they have, they will be able to pay that money without berthing an eye lid,” he said.
According to Ajanlekoko, the challenge before the state governments is to look where to cut cost as workers must be properly paid and happy for the state to make progress.
“It is a challenge for them now to go back and see where they can cut cost in order to meet this. The workers must be properly paid.
“If they do not have happy workers then progress cannot be achieved in their states and so it is important,” he said.
Ajanlekoko said that if the state governments rely on statutory allocations they would not be able to pay the N18, 000 minimum wage as such they should develop their various resources.
Business
NAFDAC Decries Circulation Of Prohibited Food Items In markets …….Orders Vendors’ Immediate Cessation Of Dealings With Products
Importers, market traders, and supermarket operators have therefore, been directed to immediately cease all dealings in these items and to notify their supply chain partners to halt transactions involving prohibited products.
The agency emphasized that failure to comply will attract strict enforcement measures, including seizure and destruction of goods, suspension or revocation of operational licences, and prosecution under relevant laws.
The statement said “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing incidence of smuggling, sale, and distribution of regulated food products such as pasta, noodles, sugar, and tomato paste currently found in markets across the country.
“These products are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are not permitted for importation”.
NAFDAC also called on other government bodies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers Council, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), to collaborate in enforcing the ban on these unsafe products.
