News
Minimum wage: Finance minister submits template to Tinubu today
The Federal Government and Organised Labour on Wednesday adjourned the minimum wage talks till Thursday (today) when the negotiation is expected to continue.
The Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage postponed the session in anticipation of the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, submitting the salary template to President Bola Tinubu today.
Tinubu had on Tuesday directed the finance minister to present the cost implications for a new minimum wage within two days.
The President gave the order at a meeting with the government negotiation team led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, at the presidential villa in Abuja.
Sources in the labour unions privy to the committee meeting said the parties decided to await the outcome of the presidential template before proceeding with further negotiations.
A source who attended the meeting said, “The meeting has been adjourned until Thursday. We showed understanding because we all know that the president gave the minister of finance 48 hours to come up with a minimum wage. So, we decided to give them the time. We will be meeting by 2 p.m.”
A top labour official who is a labour representative on the tripartite committee explained that the template was crucial to the minimum wage negotiation.
The source, who cannot be quoted because he was not authorised to disclose information to the media on the negotiation, expressed confidence that the talks would record good progress once the presidential template is presented to the parties.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, had hinted that the President wished to know the financial implications of the new minimum wage in 48 hours.
Briefing journalists on the presidential directive, the information minister said, “We were all there to look at all issues, and the President has directed the minister of finance to do the numbers and get back to him between today and tomorrow so that we can have figures ready for negotiation with labour.”
Idris assured of the president’s readiness to accept the committee’s resolutions, adding that “The president is determined to go with what the committee has said and he’s also looking at the welfare of Nigerians.
“Government is not against or opponent of labour discussions; the government is not an opponent of wage increase, but what is there is that government is always there to ensure a balance between what government pronouncement is and what the realities are on the ground.
“And therefore, we will work assiduously to ensure that whatever promises the government makes are promises that will be kept. That is the idea of this meeting.”
Furthermore, he said Tinubu directed the government representatives to work collectively with the organised private sector and the sub-nationals to achieve a new affordable wage award for Nigerians.
Idris explained, “The President has given a marching order that all those who have negotiated on behalf of the Federal Government and all those who are representatives of organised private sectors, the sub-nationals to come together to have a new wage that is affordable, sustainable and realistic for Nigerians.
“The wage is not just that of the Federal Government; as I mentioned earlier, the sub-nationals are involved, the organised private sector is involved; the Labour stepped out during that procedure. Now we have come back to the negotiation table.”
The minister assured that all hands would be on deck to present a new minimum wage for Nigerians in one week.
“All of us will work together assiduously within the next week to ensure that we have a new wage for Nigeria that is acceptable, sustainable and realistic,” Idris said.
Despite the intervention of the leadership of the National Assembly, labour embarked on a nationwide strike on Monday and Tuesday, crippling economic activities nationwide.
Banks, airports, public schools and courts were shut, forcing the Federal Government to convene an emergency meeting to find a way out of the impasse.
Following a meeting with the SGF, National Assembly leaders, and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, on Monday, the unions announced on Tuesday the suspension of industrial action for five days after President Tinubu agreed to pay a national minimum wage higher than N60,000. The tripartite committee pledged its readiness to convene daily until a new minimum wage is announced.
In an interview on Channels television, the President of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo, said the unions would not insist on its N494,000 demand, indicating that the labour leaders were willing to accept a reasonable compromise.
Though the union leader refused to mention a specific amount, he said the new minimum wage must equal purchasing power to the value of N30,000 in 2019 and N18,000 in 2014.
Meanwhile, airlines lament the revenue loss incurred during the two-day strike declared by the labour unions.
The action forced airports to shut down, resulting in scores of cancelled flights and huge financial losses.
The Chief Operating Officer of United Nigeria Airlines, Osita Okonkwo, highlighted the severe impact of the strike on UNA’s operations.
He said, “For two days, we didn’t fly. Ours (revenue loss) runs into millions. We do about 24 flights every day, and for two days, we didn’t do 48 flights. I can tell you it runs into millions.
“Our passengers were continuously informed of the situation. Our call centre was busy 24/7. The fallout now is what do we do with passengers who want to continue with their businesses because they have lost two days and all want to travel tomorrow (today)?
“And then, we have passengers booked to travel tomorrow (today). We are trying to accommodate as many as we can. Where possible, we put in additional flights. But you know capacity, you can’t stress it too much. Most flights are full now because of what happened in the last two days. It is not like we are against the strike, but everybody is feeling the situation of the country.’’
Okonkwo canvassed that essential services should be exempted from strikes, lamenting the plight of stranded passengers.
“It is understandable what labour is doing. But essential services should be exempted from this type of strike. Hospitals, and air travel, because some people had connecting flights. Some were stranded in Asaba, and they were supposed to go to Europe,” he noted.
The Chief Operating Officer of Ibom Air, George Uriesi, also expressed concern over the financial losses recorded by the local airlines during the labour action.
“There was a massive loss of revenue. If you were going to take N100 of revenue a day, and you don’t fly at all, you will probably make N2 or N3. And then there’s more to it because we must accommodate all the people that didn’t fly. So, you may be unable to sell seats for a long time because you’re dealing with a backlog,” he explained.
The Assistant General Secretary of the Aviation Round Table, Olumide Ohunayo, emphasised the strike’s broader impact on the aviation industry.
“It’s not only the airlines. The aviation industry lost lots of money due to the strike. The airlines, airport terminals, concessionaires, taxi drivers, and others. In fact, the entire ecosystem lost millions of naira, even the charter flights.
“Some flights were cancelled. People are now forced to reschedule flights and see if they can get seats on a future date. And in getting those seats, ticket prices have jumped due to the rush to get seats.” he stated.
Pointing out the long-term economic effects on the aviation sector, the Chief Executive Officer of Centurion Security Limited, John Ojikutu, said, “The domestic airlines will lose some money, and that will affect the economy. The kind of money I’m talking about is not coming from local airlines because they contribute virtually nothing. If you compare the money they make from ticket sales to the money we make from foreign airlines, that is where the problem is.
“In the next two, three days, they would have cleared all those passengers, and we would now go back to our normal aviation problems, which are fuel and ticket fares,” he said.
News
The Great Recalibration: How President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Is Restructuring Nigeria for a Stronger Tomorrow
By RT HON
CHINEDUM ENYINNAYA ORJI
“You cannot build a house for tomorrow on the weak foundation of yesterday. We must lay new blocks, even when the rain is falling.”— Adapted from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Three years into his presidency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has embarked on what may be the most deliberate economic and governance recalibration Nigeria has seen in a generation.
He came into office on May 29, 2023 with a clear declaration: “Fuel subsidy is gone.” In that single sentence, he signaled that the era of deferring hard choices had ended.
Restructuring, at its core, is about rearranging the house so it can stand longer and serve more people. For Nigeria, that meant confronting distortions that had weakened public finances, scared investors, and made planning impossible.
The first pillar of this restructuring is fiscal discipline. By removing the costly petrol subsidy and cutting electricity subsidies, the administration stopped the bleeding of trillions of naira that once vanished into opaque payments.
The results are already visible in the numbers. The fiscal deficit narrowed from 5.4 percent of GDP in 2023 to approximately 3 percent in 2024, while federation revenue rose from ₦16.8 trillion to ₦31.9 trillion.
That new revenue is not sitting idle. It is being channeled into roads, rails, power, and social programs that touch ordinary citizens directly. More than 2,700 kilometers of roads are under construction or rehabilitation nationwide.
The second pillar is monetary credibility. The unification of exchange rates and clearing of a $4 billion FX backlog restored confidence in the naira and in Nigeria’s commitment to market-based policies.
That credibility has produced tangible dividends. The stock market surged nearly fivefold to a record 250,000 points, market capitalization grew, and international rating agency Fitch upgraded Nigeria from B- to B in April 2025.
Foreign investors, who had stayed on the sidelines, are returning. New oil and gas investments are being announced, domestic refining capacity is rising, and fuel imports are falling, easing pressure on our foreign exchange.
The third pillar is sectoral transformation. Recognizing that oil alone cannot carry Nigeria’s future, President Tinubu approved a Presidential Petroleum Reform and Value Optimisation Taskforce to design the next phase of structural reforms in that sector.
The Taskforce is not another talking shop. It is a time-bound technical body charged with delivering execution-ready blueprints to unlock capital, improve transparency, and position Nigeria as a leading global energy investment destination.
Beyond oil, the February 2026 launch of the Nigeria Industrial Policy marks a decisive shift toward manufacturing, value addition, and job creation. The goal is a $1 trillion economy in five years, driven by inclusive and decentralized growth.
This is restructuring with a human face. Through NELFUND, millions of Nigerian students now have access to loans to stay in school. The CNG program is reducing transport costs and easing the burden of subsidy removal on households.
Governance itself is being rewired. The Renewed Hope Ward Development Plan is mapping economic potential across all 8,809 wards, ensuring that planning starts from the grassroots and moves upward to the state and federal levels.
Such decentralization matters. When wards have data, they have a voice. When local governments have more resources, service delivery improves. That is how accountability becomes real, not theoretical.
On security, the administration has intensified operations against banditry, insurgency, and criminal gangs. The link is clear: no investor builds factories where there is no peace, and no farmer feeds the nation where there is no safety.
A good example is the renewed engagement with Ogoni communities. By addressing historical grievances, the government is creating the conditions to restart oil exploration in a way that benefits both the people and the treasury.
Critics are right to point out the hardship. The cost-of-living squeeze has been severe, and inflation remains a challenge. But restructuring is not magic. It is medicine, and medicine often tastes bitter before it heals.
What distinguishes this moment is political will. Previous administrations discussed these reforms for decades. President Tinubu chose to act in the first week, knowing the political cost, because the economic cost of delay was higher.
The international community has noticed. The World Bank’s April 2026 Nigeria Development Update and the IMF’s 2025 Article IV Consultation both acknowledge significant progress in restoring macroeconomic stability.
More importantly, Nigerians are beginning to see the logic. A stable currency means businesses can plan. More revenue to states means more projects in communities. More transparency means fewer excuses.
The central test ahead is jobs. With 3.5 million Nigerians entering the labor force each year, the restructuring must now translate into employment-intensive growth. The industrial policy and infrastructure push are designed for exactly that.
This is not about one man or one party. It is about laying a foundation that no future government can afford to ignore. Institutions, rules, and incentives are being reset.
History will judge this period not by the pain of the transition, but by whether we used the pain to build something durable. The early signs suggest we are.
President Tinubu’s restructuring is far from complete, but it has already changed the trajectory. Nigeria is no longer drifting. It is recalibrating, with purpose, toward a future where our resources work for our people, and where governance finally matches our potential.
RT HON
Chinedum Enyinnaya orji
APC House of Representatives Candidate for Ikwuano Umuahia Fed. Constituency writes from Amaokwe Ugba Ibeku, Abia State.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has announced the demise of its Enugu State Sector Commander, Corps Commander Franklin O Agbakoba.
This is contained in a statement issued by FRSC Deputy Corps Commander in-charge of Enugu State Operations, DCC Kyrian C Okolo, on Friday in Enugu.
“FRSC Enugu State Sector Command received the sad news of the demise of CC Franklin Agbakoba on Thursday, July 30,2026.
“The late Sector Commander died at Niger Foundation Hospital, Enugu where he was receiving treatment.
“His corpse have been deposited at the Eastern Medical Center, Enugu,” he said.
Until his death,CC Franklin Agbakoba made inter-agency collaboration and partnership his legacy and promoted safer roads within Enugu State.
The family’s head, Imo Aguiyi-Ironsi, made the demand during an interview with Arise News on Thursday.
“I think the family needs apology. The family needs to be compensated. We need sincere apology. We need sincere reconciliation,” he said.
He described his uncle as a visionary leader who was wrongly punished for a coup he had no role in.
“He was a man of vision. He was a detribalized Nigerian. He was a good leader,” he said.
Imo Aguiyi-Ironsi noted that his uncle’s tenure as Head of State was brief and ended violently.
“He occupied the seat of head of state for only six months, and he was taken away from us.
“Not because of a sin he committed, because he wasn’t part of the January 1966 coup.”
According to him, Aguiyi-Ironsi’s death resulted from his position rather than any wrongdoing on his part.
“Only because of his position as the most senior military officer, he was told to take charge. And then that cost him his life,” he said.
He expressed hope that his appeal would reach those with the power to act on it.
“Well, I hope there are people who are in positions to make this happen that are listening to you tonight,” he said.
Aguiyi-Ironsi served as Nigeria’s Head of State from January 16 to July 29, 1966, taking charge in the aftermath of the January 15, 1966 coup that had claimed the lives of the country’s political leadership.
He survived that coup and helped crush the mutiny, but his later decision to centralise power under Decree 34, along with his failure to prosecute the plotters, fuelled resentment among northern officers.
He was killed on July 29, 1966, alongside his host, Lieutenant Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, in a mutiny by northern soldiers that became known as the July counter-coup
The directive was contained in a memorandum dated July 13, 2026, and signed by the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Kabir Akanbi.
Addressed to litigation staff, legal practitioners, court registrars and lawyers, the circular said the order took immediate effect and formed part of efforts to uphold professional standards within the apex court.
The memorandum read, “I am directed by the Honourable the Chief Justice of Nigeria to notify all Litigation Staff, Legal Practitioners, Court Registrars, and Lawyers that the use of the title ‘Barrister’ as a prefix to names is inappropriate and inconsistent with the standards of professionalism expected within the Supreme Court of Nigeria.”
It further directed all affected officers to immediately stop using the title in official correspondence and other official materials.
The memo stated, “Consequently, all officers concerned are hereby directed to discontinue the use of the title ‘Barrister’ before their names in all official correspondence, records, documents, identity materials, and any other official engagements with immediate effect.”
The memorandum added, “Heads of Departments and Unit Heads are requested to ensure strict compliance with this directive by all officers under their supervision. Please be guided accordingly.”
The directive comes weeks after the Council of Legal Education cautioned prospective lawyers against wearing wigs and gowns or presenting themselves as qualified legal practitioners before they are formally called to the Nigerian Bar.
The council said such conduct undermined the dignity of the legal profession and warned that violators could face disciplinary measures.
It also reminded candidates that the use of legal regalia is governed by the Rules of Professional Conduct and is reserved for duly qualified legal practitioners
The Enugu State Government says it has intensified fight against quackery across all health professions, particularly in the laboratory practice within the state.
The Commissioner for Health, Prof. George Ugwu, revealed this on Friday while receiving the National President of Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), Dr. Casimir Ifeanyi, on a courtesy visit to his office in Enugu.
Ugwu decried the growing trend of unprofessional practices and establishments where laboratory services are combined with pharmacies, patient treatment areas, provision stores, and other unauthorised activities.
According to him, such practices are unacceptable and dangerous to public health.
He reaffirmed the government’s resolve to eliminate quackery especially in laboratory practices and operations through sustained monitoring, regulation and enforcement.
The commissioner also commended the association for its dedication to promoting excellence in medical laboratory science and public health advocacy.
He assured the team of the ministry’s willingness to collaborate with professional bodies whose activities align with the government’s vision of delivering accessible, quality, and people-centred healthcare services across the state.
Ugwu stressed the remarkable strides recorded under the administration of Gov. Peter Mbah in transforming the health sector, including investments in healthcare infrastructure, workforce development, primary healthcare revitalisation and improved service delivery.
He urged the association to remain steadfast in upholding professionalism and ethical standards, emphasising that stronger partnerships between government and healthcare professionals remained essential in building a healthier Enugu State.
Earlier, Ifeanyi, who made the visit with some members of his national executive and Enugu State Chapter of AMLSN, briefed the commissioner on the association’s forthcoming AMLSN Annual Public Health Lecture.
He solicited the state government’s goodwill, support and participation in the event, which would be held in Enugu.
“The annual lecture is aimed at advancing quality healthcare delivery, promoting public health awareness, and fostering stronger collaboration among healthcare professionals and government institutions,” he said.
He noted that the association remained committed to improving professional standards and supporting initiatives that would enhance healthcare outcomes for residents of Enugu State and Nigeria at large.
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