SSANU declares 7-day warning strike from Monday
VARSITIES workers will begin a nationwide strike on
Monday, as the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities
(SSANU) has declared a seven-day warning strike over the non-payment of
the Earned Allowances of the non-teaching staff in the universities as
agreed in the 2009 FGN/SSANU agreement.
The strike is to begin across the country on Monday, November 10, if steps are not taken to resolve the issues involved, SSANU National President, Comrade Samson Ugwoke, has said.
To this end, the union has written President Goodluck Jonathan and the Minister of Education, Professor Ruqquatu Rufai, stating that the strike will affect all Federal and state universities across the country. Copies of the letters were sent to the Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu and the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC).
According to the letters, which were made available to Nigerian Tribune on Tuesday, the strike is triggered by the failure of the government to make provision for the payment of the Earned Allowance in the 2013 budget, a development described by Comrade Ugwoke as a fundamental breach of the said agreement.
Another issue that triggered the strike is the report of the Committee on NEEDS Assessment of Nigerian public universities, most especially the curious manner in which the government raised a white paper on the report of the committee, which impacts directly on the continued existence of its members without any invitation or input from the union.
In the letters, signed by Comrade Ugwoke and dated November 27, (to President Jonathan) and 30 November, (to Minister of Education), the union said the suspended strike would begin on December 10 if pragmatic steps were not taken to resolve the issues between 3 December and 12 a.m on 10 December.
The strike is to begin across the country on Monday, November 10, if steps are not taken to resolve the issues involved, SSANU National President, Comrade Samson Ugwoke, has said.
To this end, the union has written President Goodluck Jonathan and the Minister of Education, Professor Ruqquatu Rufai, stating that the strike will affect all Federal and state universities across the country. Copies of the letters were sent to the Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu and the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC).
According to the letters, which were made available to Nigerian Tribune on Tuesday, the strike is triggered by the failure of the government to make provision for the payment of the Earned Allowance in the 2013 budget, a development described by Comrade Ugwoke as a fundamental breach of the said agreement.
Another issue that triggered the strike is the report of the Committee on NEEDS Assessment of Nigerian public universities, most especially the curious manner in which the government raised a white paper on the report of the committee, which impacts directly on the continued existence of its members without any invitation or input from the union.
In the letters, signed by Comrade Ugwoke and dated November 27, (to President Jonathan) and 30 November, (to Minister of Education), the union said the suspended strike would begin on December 10 if pragmatic steps were not taken to resolve the issues between 3 December and 12 a.m on 10 December.
Boko Haram: ‘FG not opposed to dialogue’
THE Minister of State for Defence, Mrs Olusola
Obada said on Tuesday that the Federal Government has not ruled out
dialogue with the Boko Haram sect, provided the members are ready to
come out from their hiding places.
The minister, who made the disclosure while welcoming the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Chris Cooter and the Canadian military attaché, Colonel J.G Savard in her office, asked the Canadan government to assist in taming the menace of the terrorists in the country even as she warned terrorists in the northern part of Mali to embrace dialogue or face the wrath of ECOMOG Force.
She explained that as much as the government is ready and willing to use dialogue to restore peace to the part of the North where the sect is unleashing mayhem, the leadership of the Boko Haram sect has not helped matters by staying underground.
“For our local problem, we even believe that some of the elements over there in Mali are having an influence here. We shall be happy if you can assist in training troops. We are hoping that all these things will become a thing of the past. As much as we aspire to bring things under control or eradicate them, we also believe that if these people are known, there is nothing stopping us from dialoguing with them. But for now, we don’t know them but you can be assured that the president and the government are not averse to bringing peace to the country through dialogue. So we are not closing that option,” she asked.
Obada said Nigeria is a united country that will remain one, irrespective of the security challenges facing her. She said the goal of the government is to restore peace into the areas where the sect is attacking as soon as possible.
On the Mali problem, the minister disclosed that both President Goodluck Jonathan and his Burkinabe counterpart are the mediators in the crises and once it becomes expressly clear that the dialogue has failed, the ECOMOG Force would storm the northern part of Mali with a view to flushing the terrorists out once and for all.
The Canadian High Commissioner had in his speech recalled the bilateral commission between Canada and Nigeria and said of later, both countries have seen the need to take it to a higher level covering areas like security. He said it was because of the importance attached to Nigeria on the continent that is making Canada see the need to work with the country on problems in the sub-region and in the whole of Africa.
“We have taken note of your great role in West Africa and in Africa, particularly your role in working with ECOWAS, African Union, and the International community to restore constitutional order and democracy in Mali. We had the same co-operation with you in Sudan. Our visit today is to exploit how we would be able to assist and expand cooperation with the ministry (of Defence).”
The minister, who made the disclosure while welcoming the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Chris Cooter and the Canadian military attaché, Colonel J.G Savard in her office, asked the Canadan government to assist in taming the menace of the terrorists in the country even as she warned terrorists in the northern part of Mali to embrace dialogue or face the wrath of ECOMOG Force.
She explained that as much as the government is ready and willing to use dialogue to restore peace to the part of the North where the sect is unleashing mayhem, the leadership of the Boko Haram sect has not helped matters by staying underground.
“For our local problem, we even believe that some of the elements over there in Mali are having an influence here. We shall be happy if you can assist in training troops. We are hoping that all these things will become a thing of the past. As much as we aspire to bring things under control or eradicate them, we also believe that if these people are known, there is nothing stopping us from dialoguing with them. But for now, we don’t know them but you can be assured that the president and the government are not averse to bringing peace to the country through dialogue. So we are not closing that option,” she asked.
Obada said Nigeria is a united country that will remain one, irrespective of the security challenges facing her. She said the goal of the government is to restore peace into the areas where the sect is attacking as soon as possible.
On the Mali problem, the minister disclosed that both President Goodluck Jonathan and his Burkinabe counterpart are the mediators in the crises and once it becomes expressly clear that the dialogue has failed, the ECOMOG Force would storm the northern part of Mali with a view to flushing the terrorists out once and for all.
The Canadian High Commissioner had in his speech recalled the bilateral commission between Canada and Nigeria and said of later, both countries have seen the need to take it to a higher level covering areas like security. He said it was because of the importance attached to Nigeria on the continent that is making Canada see the need to work with the country on problems in the sub-region and in the whole of Africa.
“We have taken note of your great role in West Africa and in Africa, particularly your role in working with ECOWAS, African Union, and the International community to restore constitutional order and democracy in Mali. We had the same co-operation with you in Sudan. Our visit today is to exploit how we would be able to assist and expand cooperation with the ministry (of Defence).”
FG approves issuance of copyright levy
RESPITE seems to have come the way of producers of
intellectual properties in Nigeria as the Federal Government has granted
the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), approval for the issuance of
the Copyright (levy of materials) Order 2012.
The approval, which permits the implementation of a regime of levy on some materials capable of being used to infringe on copyright, was granted in accordance with the provisions of Section 40 of the Copyright Act, Cap C28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The section empowers the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) to make an order to be published in the official gazette of the Federal Republic of Nigeria regarding the payment of levy in respect of any material used or capable of being used to infringe on copyright in a work.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Assistant Director, Public Affairs of NCC, Vincent Oyefeso, a copy of which was made available to the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja.
The approval, which was reportedly conveyed to the Director-General (DG) of the NCC, Mr Afam Ezekude, in a letter reference, NCRC/DSD/10/I, dated November 15, allows the commission to issue the Copyright (levy of materials) Order 2012 by publication of same in the official gazette.
The materials regulated by the levy imposed by the new Copyright Order include storage media like audio cassettes, mini discs, CDs, DVDs, blu-ray, SD memory cards, video cassettes, USB flash drives, among others.
Others include photocopying machines, MP3 players, digital juke box, mobile phones, among others.
According to statement, the proceeds of the levy would be payable to a special fund to be created by the commission in line with Section 40(3) of the Copyright Act.
“The commission is expected to disburse the funds to beneficiaries who are essentially approved collective management organisations (CMOs) subject to retaining 10 per cent of the collected levy for administrative purposes of agencies that will be involved in the implementation of the scheme.
“The order also permits the commission to retain 20 per cent of the fund for anti-piracy purposes; and 10 per cent for promotion of creativity,” it stated.
The DG in the statement, noted that the compulsory levy provision was one of the pro-author provisions of the Nigerian Copyright Act, aimed at controlling acts of piracy and copyright abuses, such as excessive photocopying and unauthorised reproduction of copyright works being carried out in circumstances that could not be subjected to voluntary licensing by right owners, but which activities undermined the legitimate interests of copyright owners.
“The new Copyright Levy Order is thus informed by the need to compensate right owners for the loss that they would obviously suffer from the illicit copying of their works, and to maintain an acceptable international standard of protection that would ensure the betterment of the lot of authors,” he stated.
“In order to address concerns of legitimate users of materials which are subject to the levy, and other activities which may not undermine the interest of authors, the new Levy Order provides for the Minister (in this case, the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation) to exempt any class of materials from the payment of any levy. In addition to such exemption, the levy payable under the new Order does not apply to materials manufactured in Nigeria for purposes of export. Similarly, Institutions that represent persons with disability as may be approved by the Minister are also exempted from payment of the levy”.
The approval, which permits the implementation of a regime of levy on some materials capable of being used to infringe on copyright, was granted in accordance with the provisions of Section 40 of the Copyright Act, Cap C28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The section empowers the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) to make an order to be published in the official gazette of the Federal Republic of Nigeria regarding the payment of levy in respect of any material used or capable of being used to infringe on copyright in a work.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Assistant Director, Public Affairs of NCC, Vincent Oyefeso, a copy of which was made available to the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja.
The approval, which was reportedly conveyed to the Director-General (DG) of the NCC, Mr Afam Ezekude, in a letter reference, NCRC/DSD/10/I, dated November 15, allows the commission to issue the Copyright (levy of materials) Order 2012 by publication of same in the official gazette.
The materials regulated by the levy imposed by the new Copyright Order include storage media like audio cassettes, mini discs, CDs, DVDs, blu-ray, SD memory cards, video cassettes, USB flash drives, among others.
Others include photocopying machines, MP3 players, digital juke box, mobile phones, among others.
According to statement, the proceeds of the levy would be payable to a special fund to be created by the commission in line with Section 40(3) of the Copyright Act.
“The commission is expected to disburse the funds to beneficiaries who are essentially approved collective management organisations (CMOs) subject to retaining 10 per cent of the collected levy for administrative purposes of agencies that will be involved in the implementation of the scheme.
“The order also permits the commission to retain 20 per cent of the fund for anti-piracy purposes; and 10 per cent for promotion of creativity,” it stated.
The DG in the statement, noted that the compulsory levy provision was one of the pro-author provisions of the Nigerian Copyright Act, aimed at controlling acts of piracy and copyright abuses, such as excessive photocopying and unauthorised reproduction of copyright works being carried out in circumstances that could not be subjected to voluntary licensing by right owners, but which activities undermined the legitimate interests of copyright owners.
“The new Copyright Levy Order is thus informed by the need to compensate right owners for the loss that they would obviously suffer from the illicit copying of their works, and to maintain an acceptable international standard of protection that would ensure the betterment of the lot of authors,” he stated.
“In order to address concerns of legitimate users of materials which are subject to the levy, and other activities which may not undermine the interest of authors, the new Levy Order provides for the Minister (in this case, the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation) to exempt any class of materials from the payment of any levy. In addition to such exemption, the levy payable under the new Order does not apply to materials manufactured in Nigeria for purposes of export. Similarly, Institutions that represent persons with disability as may be approved by the Minister are also exempted from payment of the levy”.
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