01/08/18

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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.
  • Dr. Chris Ngige

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has said President Muhammadu Buhari is desirous to give Nigerian workers an enhanced pay package this year.

He said the thinking of the Federal Government was to approve a minimum wage that would be acceptable to all stakeholders.

Ngige stated this in a chat with journalists at Ifitedunu, Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State on Sunday.

He said a National Tripartite Committee set up by President Buhari on minimum wage had commenced work and would likely conclude the exercise in the third quarter of this year.

Ngige said the committee was very dear to Buhari, who had given close supervision.

He said, “We had our inaugural meeting on December 14 and we did a framework for our work. We will finish our job before the third quarter of this year, but we may finish earlier.

“Minimum wage is a national matter and only the Federal Government can legislate on it. Labour matters and the issue of national minimum wage are in the exclusive list.

“President Buhari is monitoring it strictly, and I am monitoring it too. I wear a double cap as minister of labour, who is the regulator and also as the deputy chairman of the committee.”

Ngige said the committee would work to come out with an acceptable minimum wage, saying that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, representatives of the Nigerian workers, and the Nigerian Employers Consultative Assembly made up the committee.

“We have state governors; one from each geopolitical zone, five ministers and the Head of Service in the committee. States will key into the new minimum wage when we are done because they are part of it.

“We will fix a minimum wage, but states can pay more than that. I give you an example, today minimum wage is N18,500, but Adams Oshiomhole was paying N25,000 before he left office.

“Minimum wage is just to set the baseline, but states can pay more.”

On what Nigerians should expect as the minimum wage, Ngige said he would not reveal that , but that he would rather table it before the comittee and back it up “with productivity indices.”

He said one of the cardinal principle of negotiating wages as stipulated by the International Labour Organisation was  ability to pay.

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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.
China’s glass bottom bridge,  world’s first located in Zhangjiajie in  Hunan province

China  generated 5.4 trillion yuan, about 832 billion U.S. dollars, from tourism last year, according to Li Jinzao, head of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).
Li gave the figure at a tourism conference in Xiamen in east China’s Fujian Province Monday. It covered spending by local  and foreign tourists.
On average, every Chinese person made 3.7 trips last year, Li said.
Over 5 billion trips were made across China last year, generating a total estimated revenue of 4.57 trillion yuan in 2017 — a 69-percent jump from 2012 and average annual growth of 15.8 percent over the past five years. Meanwhile, 129 million overseas trips were made last year.
Tourism has created more than 80 million jobs and became an important industry to help the economy and reduce poverty, Li said.
To better regulate the domestic tourism market, CNTA downgraded three 5A tourist destinations and warned or criticised more than 400 scenic areas for poor service and substandard hygiene over the past three years, Li said.
He also introduced a three-step goal for China’s tourism industry to lead China to become a strong tourism country by 2040.
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.
Executive Vice Chairman, Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Dambatta (M) with Faces of the Nigeria Telecom Consumer

The National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS) on Monday urged the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to address unsolicited text message related issue squarely this year.
The President of NATCOMS, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
“The issue of unsolicited text message is an industry problem that NCC has to address squarely.
“We are aware of how NCC has since last year been tackling the issue of unsolicited messages, but it remained the same.
“Until heavy sanctions are meted on the operators, that is when we can have some peace,’’ Ogunbanjo said.
He insisted that telecommunications service providers do not deactivate unsolicited messages, when subscribers send “STOP” to the code provided.
According to him, when subscribers send “STOP” to the provided code operators, they still charge them for sending the messages and continue sending the unsolicited messages.
Latest Reality Metro reports that in 2016, NCC introduced the 2442 Do-Not-Disturb code.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, had said at various fora that the short code would enable the consumers to opt out of SMS platforms they did not subscribe to.
LR News also reports that as at December 2017, 10,000 telecommunications consumers have activated the code, according to statistics from NCC.
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) on Monday called for the rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries to end the recurring scarcity of petrol in the country.
Mr Tayo Aboyeji, the South-West Chairman of the union made the call in an interview with the Latest Reality Metro in Lagos.
“It is disheartening to know that despite the fact that the nation is a major producer of crude oil, it cannot refine the product for its local consumption.
“It is ridiculous that for the past 15 years now, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had been spending billions of dollars on Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of the refineries with nothing to show for it.
“If all our four refineries are producing at their maximum output, the country will not be spending billions of naira on importation of refined product.
“This is the right time for our refineries to work, the Federal Government should as a matter of urgency fix the refineries now,” he said.
The chairman urged the NNPC to increase supply of petrol to depots in order to reduce the scarcity nationwide.
According to Aboyeji, it is not yet time for total deregulation of the sector and advised the government to reduce import duty and provide waiver to oil companies to import the product.
On petrol stations selling above the official pump price, Aboyeji urged the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to investigate properly before sealing such stations.
“To me, it is not all about the pump price; it is about where they are getting the product and how much they are getting it.
“Are these private depots selling above the ex-depot price of N133.28?
“Since DPR started the sealing of petrol stations that are selling above official pump price, we have not seen them asking questions in private depots how much they are selling to marketers.
“Oil marketers are in business to make money; they cannot get petrol at higher price and sell at lower price.
“It is the responsibility of DPR to find out the source of where the marketers are getting the product before sealing the stations,” he said.
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.
Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei

Iran has ban the study of English language in its primary schools as a means of wading off America’s influence on its culture.
Mehdi Navid-Adham, Head of the state-run High Education Council warned that learning the language of America too early would trigger a “cultural invasion” of Western civilization.
“Teaching English in government and non-government primary schools in the official curriculum is against laws and regulations.
“The assumption is that in primary education the groundwork for the Iranian culture of the students is laid,” Navid-Adham said.
The teaching of English usually starts in Iran in middle school, at the ages of 12 to 14, but some primary schools below that age also have English classes.
Some children also attend private language institutes after their school day, while children from more privileged families attending non-government schools receive English teaching.
The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all state matters, previously voiced his outrage and said in a speech to teachers, “That does not mean opposition to learning a foreign language, but the promotion of a foreign culture in the country and among children, young adults and youths.”
A wave of anti-government protest demonstrations began on December 28 in Iran, exploding tensions between the Islamic republic’s hard-line government and its fed-up populace.
Tehran has moved swiftly to quell the most serious protests since 2009’s “Green Movement,” cutting off social media and mobilizing police and military forces to deal with the spreading demonstrations.
Iranian officials said 22 people were killed and more than 1,000 arrested during the protests that spread to more than 80 cities and rural towns, according to The Guardian.
The current protests could have enormous significance for the future of Iran and are focused on a number of issues.
One motivation for the protests is the institutionalized discrimination against Iran’s ethnic minorities and the greater economic hardship in Iran’s periphery.
President Donald Trump has voiced encouragement for the anti-government demonstrations.
The U.S. called a UN meeting on Friday, portraying the protests as a human rights issue that could spill over into an international problem.
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

The Kano State Fire Service on Monday said it successfully rescued a 48-year-old woman, Aisha Usman, after she accidentally fell into a collapsed pit latrine at her residence on Sunday.
The Public Relations Officer of the service, Alhaji Saidu Mohammed, told the Latest Reality Metro in Kano on Monday that the incident occurred while the woman was trying to use the rest room at her residence in Sharifawa in Gaya Local Government Area of the state.
He said that the service received a distress call from a relative shortly after the incident around 6.45 p.m. on Sunday after which it swung into action.
He added that “upon receiving the information, we quickly dispatched our rescue team and a vehicle to the scene at about 7 p.m.”
He expressed joy that the woman was rescued without sustaining injuries.
He added that “we rescued the woman and handed her over to the husband.”
Mohammed advised residents to be cautious in using pit latrines to avoid future accidents.
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

People suffering from diabetes run two- to five-fold risks of heart failure if they have excess fat in the heart, which harms the cells’ essential ability to produce energy, a new study revealed.
Diabetes and obesity are often characterised with excess fat in the heart, which is the most energy-hungry organ in human body.
According to the study, conducted by researchers at University of Iowa (UI) and published in the latest edition of journal Circulation Research, lipid overload in the heart causes numerous small, misshapen mitochondria that don’t produce energy as efficiently as normal mitochondria.
Healthy heart cells, like a combustion engine, consume fuel molecules to create necessary energy to keep the heart pumping.
But diabetes reduces the heart muscle’s metabolic adaptability and causes heart cells to overuse fat as a metabolic fuel, which ultimately leads to mitochondrial and cardiac damage.
“Diabetes, which affects almost 30 million Americans, significantly increases the risk of heart failure,’’ said study leader E. Dale Abel, professor of internal medicine at the UI Carver College of Medicine.
Researchers have detected that increased amount of fat in the heart triggers dramatic changes in the structure and function of the mitochondria in the heart.
The findings said that prolonged lipid overload increases the levels of damaging substances called reactive oxygen species (ROS).
Excess ROS alters the activity of several important proteins that work to control the size and shape of mitochondria, thus disrupting the mitochondrial network, the study said.
It found that if ROS in normal heart cells is removed, mitochondria becomes four times as large as normal, indicating that ROS levels are inversely proportional to mitochondria size.
In conclusion, cardiac lipid overload, which disrupts normal mitochondrial structure, would damage energy production and heart function. (Xinhua/LR News
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.
End of the road for Don Waney or Wani(middle).In the picture are Ikechukwu Adiele and Lucky Ode

Here lies Don Wani, the notorious kidnapper, murderer  and criminal, with his other gangsters.
Along with his gang, Don Wani, real name Igwedibia Johnson, was accused of being the mastermind of the  New Year killing in Omuku, Rivers State. Children were among the 23  people killed in cold blood.
Don Wani: In real life

He was killed on Saturday by a joint force of Nigeria’s security agencies  at a border town between Rivers and Imo state.

The outgoing General Officer Commanding 6 Division, Port Harcourt, Maj.- Gen. Enobong Udoh,  paraded the corpses and arms and ammunition of the deceased gang members on Sunday in Port Harcourt. 
He said security agencies, complying with the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, trailed Don Waney and his gang members to their hideouts in Enugu.
“We are happy to inform that Don Waney, a notorious cultist, kidnap kingpin and mass murderer who masterminded the murder of 23 worshippers returning from cross over service is dead.
“We traced Waney and some of his gang members to their hideout in Enugu town where they rented apartment and lived with other people in the neighbourhood like normal people.
“The criminals were killed after a combined team of troops of 82 Division Army, Enugu and personnel of Department of State Security (DSS) raided his hideout to arrest him and his members,” he said.
Udoh said the criminals on sighting the advance of security operatives to their residence attempted to escape through the back door of the apartment, but were shot by troops.
He said others shot dead were Waney’s second-in-command, Ikechukwu Adiele, and another suspected gang member, Lucky Ode.
“One of them died on the spot while the other two who sustained gunshot wounds eventually died on their way to the hospital.
“Intelligence showed that the gang was already perfecting plans to attack churches, schools; army and police locations and residents of Omoku town before the raid on his hideout,” he said.
The GOC listed weapons recovered from the gang at their hideout as three AK 47 assault rifles and eight AK 47 magazines, among others.
The Commissioner of Rivers Police Command, Zaki Ahmed, said the successful operation was proof of the  commitment of security agencies to rid the state of criminals.
He said that security agencies were working in synergy to ensure that people live in harmony and peace and go about their businesses without fear of molestation.
“Young men and women should desist from joining up with gangs because at the end of the day the law would catch up with them,” he warned.
Latest Reality Metro reports that the gang members had been on the run after the army raided their  camp and recovered cache of arms including seven decomposed human skulls on Nov. 21.
Don Waney and his gang members received amnesty from the Rivers Government in 2016 but later went back to crime.
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

Doctors in Kogi are angry over the inability of the state to pay their full monthly salary and have resolved to shut hospitals on Monday.
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has directed its members to resume strike on Monday over state governments’s failure to meet their demands.
Dr Godwin Tijani, the Chairman of the association, said in Lokoja on Sunday that the inability of the state government to pay the doctors’ full salaries was unacceptable.
Besides, Tijani said all the doctors’ associations and union dues as well as members’ cooperative society contributions were not remitted in full whereas 100 per cent taxes were deducted from their salaries.
Tijani added that even some doctors were yet to be paid.
“Congress, therefore, resolved that all her members across the state should resume total and indefinite withdrawal of healthcare services from all hospitals in Kogi, with effects from 12:00 midnight on Sunday, Jan 7, 2018.
“We want government to give a definite time line for the full implementation of adjusted CONMESS (new salary structure) for doctors in the state civil service and the accrued arrears since January, 2014.
“Congress will reconvene once the state government responds appropriately to the aforementioned demands,” he said.
Tijani, however, appreciated the commissioners for Health and Finance and others who were at the congress to douse tension and ensure peaceful resolution of the matter.
He also commended their members for their patience and understanding.
It would be recalled that the Kogi NMA had suspended an earlier strike over the demand on June 22, 2017 following the state government assurances that it would meet their demands.
It gave the government up till Dec. 31, 2017, to meet the demand or face strike. LR News
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