Obi Should Do More
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has continued to voice out his opinion on the happenings in the country. On the budget padding scandal currently rocking the upper chamber of the National Assembly, he has told the Senate to provide Nigerians with some explanations on the matter.
He said the claims and counter-claims over the alleged N3 Trillion which was alleged by Senator Abdul Ningi to have been padded into the 2024 budget, requires proper explanation as to what Nigerians must need to know regarding management of the nation’s, insisting that the suspension of Senator Ningi for three months does not address the issue.
The Labour party chieftain had also expressed his concern over the hunger in the country a few days ago. He raised the alarm that Nigerians were spending all their money on food.
It is commendable of Obi to have stood with the masses at this critical time in the nation’s history and be critical of negative happenings in the country and bad government policies. However, Obi should do more than just criticising. It is said that “a tree cannot make a forest”. Therefore, Obi should galvanise all the law makers both on the national and state levels to tow the same line with him, which should be seen as the position of the Labour Party.
In 2023, there was a revolution in the country. People of all walks of life, of various religions and tribes trouped out in support of the labour party because they believed in Mr Peter Obi. People saw the Labour Party as a needed alternative to the two most populous political parties, PDP and APC. Based on Obi’s personality and popularity, some people who ordinarily would not have won councillorship positions in their communities were elected into state and national assemblies. Many of them won the elections for free, spending no shi shi.
Painfully, after assuming the exalted positions, many of them, especially those in the national assembly seem to have forgotten the masses. It is now business as usual. Among the seven senators and 36 House of Representative members of the Labour Party in the National Assembly, which one of them has moved a strong motion about the hardship currently being faced by the masses and how to address it? How many of them stood by Senator Ningi on the budget padding revelation?  What out the exotic cars distributed to them, how many of them advised that they should go for less expensive cars and the excess money channelled into developmental projects? It has become a case of one not talking while on the dining table, right?
Obi should be able to organise his party to form a formidable opposition and a party that does things differently, a party that stands with the people. If the labour party elected political office holders carry on the way they have done since they came into office, they will keep de-marketing their party, forgetting that 2027 is just around the corner.
Ngozi Omeje,
Umuahia, Abia State.

Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage
I have followed the discussion on the proposed new minimum wage with keen interest and I just hope the  leadership of the organised labour will be firm enough to represent the workers and refuse to fall prey to the ploy to disunite them.
It is disheartening seeing workers come up with different amounts as the proposed minimum wage. While the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, demanded that South-West states should pay N794,000 the Trade Union Congress, TUC, asked for N447,000. Similarly, workers in the Federal Capital Territory demanded N709,000, while their counterparts in the North-West clamoured for N485,000.
This idea of singing in discordant tunes is not good for strong unionism. I recall my days as a civil servant in Ibadan, Oyo state. That was during the time of Adams Oshiomhole as the National President of the NLC. The labour union was a force to be reckoned with and whenever the workers barked, the government caught cold. The increase in workers’ wages was fought for as body. There was nothing like federal workers going to the left and the state workers going to the right. Of course then, in 2000, the TUC did not exist as a separate body. The entire workers spoke in unison.
Yes, the states did reserve the right to say whether they can pay the national minimum wage or not  but the national body of the NLC was carried along in the negotiation. Please, the NLC and TUC should come together and present a common front in the new minimum wage quest and ensure that workers in the states also get a fair deal. If not, some of the greedy governors will continue to subject the workers to hardship.
Pa Micheal Adeniran,
Rumuogba Housing Estate, Port Harcourt.

Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
“Today, he’s responding to a remark by the Governor that has nothing to do with him. The opposition is urging the Senate president to be mindful of his utterances. How can he turn the burial of late Access Bank CEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son, such a sad moment, to a political attack?. It’s disappointing. That’s political recklessness taken too far. We, the opposition parties, won’t tolerate such utterances anymore if it continues.”
Above was the response of a member of the House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, unguarded remark on Gov. Siminalayi Fubara’s comment during the burial of the late Access Holdings Plc GCEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son last weekend.
It is hoped that Akpabio will heed to the advice and learn how to talk in public. Tracing his character as a public servant and political office holder in various capacities over the years, one would notice that the senate president lacks the act of public speaking and carriage.
Was it not recently that he announced that the clerk of the house had sent money to each of the senators’ personal account for their holiday enjoyment only to be called to other and he changed it to ”In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the senate president has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.” What about the “honourable minister off your mic” shameful display.
Whoever wants to die seeking public/political office should go ahead but leave our dear governor alone.
Loveth Opusunju
Minima, Opobo, Rivers State.

The essence of university has for long been defeated in Nigeria. In the actual sense, not everyone should be in the university, as the university is meant for individuals’ with high level of thinking, innovation,  problem-solving and sound reasoning.
The university is meant to be a research  citadel where new ideas  required to power  local industries and organisation are nurtured, while  evolving new strategies for economic productivity. Untill we go back to the basics of education and learning in Nigeria, we will continue to produce substandard graduates in quality and quantity.
Handicraft is entirely another different world, required for people who harness the practicality of the ideas being developed in the universities, and churn it out in massive industrial productions. I believe both handiwork and education are important in today’s Nigeria.
In Nigeria, the school system has no content of reality of life outside, thus  limiting the capacities of students to get  employment or engage in self employable ventures.
We see many students leave school and cannot represent themselves in any forum, or show intelligence even in the field of study they so prefer. The community see all who have been to school as  people made for white collar jobs (office jobs) and this affects  the students  from venturing into small personal business or engaging  in other innovative thinking.
I perceive this as a failure of the education system and a narrow approach to the celebrated curriculum and therefore, recommend learning at all levels to gather information, generate ideas and discover hidden capacities that are needed for the turnaround in the country.
Vocational education which was once a perfectly respected, even mainstream educational path,  came to be viewed as a track for poor  students. People have huge and diverse range of skills and learning styles.
The dearth of vocational education at the secondary school level has bred a skill shortage in manufacturing sector today. Many of the jobs are  attainable through apprenticeship, on the job  training, and vocational programmes offered at community colleges. They do not require expensive, four- year degree programmes for which many  students are not suited.

Bethel Toby,
Port Harcourt.

The race for selection of the next president for the most populous nation in Africa has started. Although, Nigeria has 18 registered political parties, two of them; the All Progressive Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are more prominent. The nation is expecting the two parties to name their presidential candidates.
Obviously, we have quite a lot of credible candidates/interests all over Nigeria, but the needs of Nigerians should be considered first. Rotational candidacy has been put into practice since the beginning of this political dispensation and since it has been accepted by the majority of the populace, it should be encouraged to continue. Any party that drops this concept will be seen as having no prepared credible candidate from the zones that is denied the slot.
The media has important roles to play in this assignment. The media should consider majority interest when analysing the capabilities of each candidate. What Nigeria needs is a president with strong vision for the future of the country. We need an experienced person as president; someone who can communicate effectively and who is capable of making strong decisions in the overall interest of the nation. He should have crisis management skills and collaborative abilities to move the country forward. He should be passionate about the development of Nigeria and be creative in thinking.
More than ever before, Nigeria needs a strong, selfless leader with a good knowledge of the economy; a courageous and internationally respected personality.
This is the time to get our acts together and ensure we get it right.

Wokoma Emmanuel,
Borikiri, Port Harcourt.