FEC Approves N45b For Settlement Of Entitlements Of Ex-Nigerian Airways Workers

The Federal Government has approved the sum of N45billion for the settlement of entitlements of ex-workers of the defunct Nigerian Airways.

The Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, told State House correspondents today after the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.

The Federal Government also expressed regret over the reported deaths of some workers occasioned by the delay in the payment of their entitlements since 2005 when the defunct national carrier was liquidated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime.

He said the Ministry of Finance has been instructed to pay after setting up the modalities.

The Minister who disclosed that the Council approved the procurement of operational vehicles for Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA)and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) also revealed that the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) have obtained certifications from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) , noting that both certificates were huge achievements toward security and safety in the aviation sector.

He noted that the airport was the first international Airport in Nigeria to meet the requirement by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and NCAA regulations.

Sirika, who dismissed social media reports that he “stole or intend to spend N635million’’ on the concessioning project, said the workers in the aviation sector would be actively involved in the process so as to address all labour issues in the process.

The minister stated that the government could not fund infrastructure in the aviation sector through public budget, saying that government would continue to partner with the private sector in financing such infrastructural facilities in the sector.

In his contribution, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Chris Ngige said he briefed the council on the outcomes of the various industrial actions embarked upon by some trade unions in the country.

He commended the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Resident Doctors’ Association for suspending their strike actions while dismissing the insinuation that he once described United Labour Congress (ULC) as an illegal labour union.

Health Minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole, briefed the Council on the weekly report on the state of public health in Nigeria. He said his Ministry was presently tracking four major outbreaks in the country.

“One is Lassa fever and we are quite happy that there is a major decline in a number of reported cases; we have also not reported any deaths in the last two weeks but we still have two cases reported from Edo last week

“We still have cholera in some parts of the country, particularly in Kano, Kebbi, Borno and Zamfara but the outbreak in Borno state is the most significant of all of them.

“So far since the outbreak started we have recorded 2,719 suspected cases of cholera and we reported 51 deaths in total.

“We have started cholera vaccination in Borno state as a way of stemming the tide,’’ the Minister said

He added that the ministry informed FEC about one reported case of yellow fever in Kwara while also explaining that public health and surveillance officers were deployed to the state to access the situation with a view to commencing immunisation.

Adewole expressed gladness that the country had not reported any case of Polio since the last reported case in August 2017 and expressed confidence that, “ if we can sustain this in the next two years Nigeria will be certified Polio free and I am also certain that that would imply that Africa would also be certified Polio-free,’’ he said.

Adewole also said that the government was trying to change in a transformational way change the narrative in the health sector by preventing avoidable deaths through immunization.

He also expressed dismay that patients waited upwards of three hours to six hour before they could be attended to by doctors adding that such practice should stop. 

He added that the administration inherited problems in the health sector which led to the strikes in the health sector and that President Buhari had directed the finance minister to compile the debt in the sector with a view to clearing them.

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