Hunsu: Labour should be more proactive in engaging government

A former President of National Union of Textile and Garment Workers of Nigeria (NUTGWN), Oladele Hunsu, in this interview with SUNDAY OJEME, speaks on the brewing controversy between organised labour and Federal Government on a new minimum wage and sundry issues Labour has threatened to go on strike again over breakdown in minimum wage negotiation. Do you think the action is necessary? In the contest of the issue at hand, I want to say the strike is necessary, because you recall there is what we call a breakdown in negotiation…

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Real estate: Developers eye opportunities in mid-tier market

While other real estate developers are closing shops due to the nation’s unimpressive business climate, others have put on their thinking caps, eyeing opportunities in untapped segment of the market.  Dayo Ayeyemi reports   Despite the downturn in the real estate sector, many developers and investors have been creating a niche market for themselves to ensure that they keep their heads above water, not minding huge vacant properties in the market. To them, empty properties adorning Ikoyi and Lekki,  Lagos and Maitama and other highbrow districts in Abuja are built…

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PIGB: Stakeholders demand urgent presidential assent

Concerned stakeholders as well as legal professionals have again reminded the country’s leadership of the urgency in endorsing the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), a document, which delay has resulted in the country losing over N3 trillion annually in oil and gas sector.   Re-echoing the urgency last week during a Nigeria Bar Association Roundtable on Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Reforms, the discussants including lawyers and oil and gas experts, said assenting to the bill would an create efficient and effective governing institutions with clear and separate roles for the petroleum…

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Minimum Wage: More headaches for governors

Just a few weeks after the last nationwide strike, signs of more public disorder are currently hovering as federal and state governments apply tactical delay to forestall the implementation of new minimum wage anytime soon. NFG reports reports   In the last two weeks, developments around clamour for a new minimum wage appear to have finally put paid to an early implementation.   Just while organised labour was still trying to fathom Federal Government’s stance on the report it received from the Tripartite Committee on New Minimum Wage, the governors…

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NSITF: PenCom effects N43.81bn transfer into workers’ RSAs

Following its prudent supervision of activities at the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), the National Pension Commission (PenCom) perfected the transfer of N43.81 billion from the fund to workers’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) during the third quarter of the current year.   According to a report obtained by New Telegraph, the amount covers 635 NSITF members’ applications received during the quarter under review.   The report noted that all applications were processed and computed amounts were transferred to the RSAs of the NSITF members.   “From inception to date,…

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CPS: Retirees’ account active fund records net growth of N181.43bn

The Net Assets Value (NAV) of the Retirement Savings Account ‘Active’ Fund under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) has recorded a net growth of N181.43 billion (3.39 per cent).   Findings by New Telegraph revealed that the figures under the scheme’s portfolio performance moved from N5.35 trillion as at March 31, 2018 to N5.53 trillion as at June 30, 2018.   In the same vein, the RSA ‘Active’ fund recorded a Weighted Average Rate of Return (WARR) of 8.17 per cent (annualised) as at second quarter 2018, representing a significant…

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Research: Nigeria, others battle $160bn insurance gap

    The horrible state of insurance penetration in the country has been further highlighted alongside other emerging market countries. According to a new research from Lloyd’s and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), an estimated $163 billion of assets are underinsured in the world today, leaving an exposure gap that poses a significant threat to livelihoods and global prosperity.   Londonlovesbusiness quoted the research as listing Nigeria, Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia and Egypt as individually having an insurance penetration rate of less than per cent.  …

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Nigeria, Kenya in race to boost global insurance premium

Following foreseeable improvement in human and infrastructure development in the future, Nigeria and some other emerging economies are sure to contribute immensely to the global insurance premium, according to a study published by Swiss Re Institute’s sigma. The study, which is part of the institute’s 50th year anniversary, also revealed that global insurance premium continued to rise in 2017 with emerging markets leading the way. According to Swiss Re Group Chief Economist, Jerôme Haegeli, “for the next decade, the shift to China is likely to continue. Given the impressive number…

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Kidnap: How ‘DSS’ aided N1m ransom payment

An Anglican Bishop serving in Edo state has lamented the kidnap by Fulani herdsmen of one of his clergies, who is the incumbent Vicar, Our Savior’s Anglican Church, Oyobunni, Okpe Kingdom, Rev. Can. Emmanuel C. Chikunie. He was eventually released after paying N1 million based on the advice of an ‘official’ of Directorate of Secret Service (DSS), who simply gave his name as Adamu. According to the details made available exclusively to New Telegraph, Chikunie was abducted on Saturday September 29, 2018 around 5:17pm along Okpe road as he was…

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Mysterious death of 32-year-old Nigerian in his older wife’s country

Gabriel Segun Ajayi, a 32-year-old Nigerian married to a 50-year-old resident of the Vologda region, died of a massive heart attack at a dance club in the city of Cherepovets, about 500 km north of Moscow.   Russian investigators thereafter launched a preliminary probe into reports of Ajayi’s death, saying that the cause of death would be determined after a forensic examination.   Earlier, the official portal of the city of Cherepovets, Russia reported that Ajayi had died of a heart attack at a local nightclub. The Nigerian Embassy in…

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