Labour Leader No. 1, Chief Michael Imoudu

By Funmi Komolafe

Imoudu, the doyen of the labour movement was born in Sabongida Ora, Edo State on September 17, 1902.
Several industrial unions affiliated to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have sent messages of congratulations to the Labour Leader No. 1.
In its message, the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers, said, the labour movement appreciates the courage of Pa Imoudu, especially during his challenge of the colonial railway managers.
The National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees, stated that the fundamental roles played by Comrade Michael Imoudu in the colonial and post-independence Nigeria for the emancipation of the proletariat, will ever remain indelible in our minds and continue to serve as a source of energy and inspiration in the struggle for better conditions of employment and qualitative education.
The President of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Associated Institutions, Comrade Ivor Takor, who is also the Deputy Treasurer of the NLC commended Pa Imoudu for his selflessness and commitment not only to the struggle of the working class but also the political independence of Nigeria.
As Imoudu marks his centenary anniversary, union leaders have called for a higher national award for the Labour Leader No. 1.
The General Secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Comrade Joseph Akinlaja, said: It is unfortunate that government has not accorded him his dues. I am not surprised though. The perception of government is anti-labour. It is very difficult for government to think about honouring labour leaders. In developing countries irrespective of labour's opposition to government, they still see labour as a social partner.
The General Secretary, National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Products, Comrade Emma Ugboaja said: For those of us who are committed to trade unionism, he is a solid beacon of light and a wonderful inspiration that has shown that you don't need to go overseas for treatment. You don't need to accumulate wealth or stolen money to live long. We are happy for him.
Imoudu's birthday is being celebrated in the labour movement because of his outstanding contributions to the struggle for the nation's independence and the improvement of working conditions for workers. During his active days, Imoudu who was an employee of the Railways, was imprisoned. While in prison, he mobilised prisoners against the colonial government and the prisoners embarked on hunger strike.
In 1945, he along with other union leaders embarked on a national strike to put pressure on the British colonialists to pay workers a cost of living allowance in order to cushion the effect of the second world war on workers.
Imoudu was a former President of the Railway Workers Union and first President of the independently formed Nigeria Labour Congress.
Also today, former Labour Minister, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia will mark his 70th birthday anniversary. Dr. Ogbemudia, a former Governor of the old Edo and Delta states was Labour Minister 1994-1995.

17 September 2002

Bristol Palin’s Failed Reality Show Received $354,348 In Taxpayer Dollars From Alaska

By Alyssa Rosenberg

The continuing move of the entire Palin family into reality television careers is an amusing downfall story, but it took a serious turn today with the news that the state of Alaska had provided $354,348 in subsidies to Bristol Palin’s most recent venture into the genre, her Lifetime show Bristol Palin: Life’s A Tripp, which had such dreadful ratings it was yanked from its slot after two episodes. It’s one thing for the entertainment industry to effectively subsidize the Palins’ careers, given the relatively limited appeal they have in the aftermath of Sarah Palin’s political career. But it’s another for Alaska to spend money to attract a show to the state that probably would have filmed there anyway.
If the purpose of film and television production credits is to keep jobs in-state or to convince companies that otherwise might not have produced shows in a state to consider filming there, it’s not remotely clear why Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp would have been a good candidate for those credits. Alaska is Palin’s childhood home. It’s where her parents continue to live, though Todd Palin’s stint in reality television this fall might mean that the family is gravitating more towards Los Angeles. And it’s where Levi Johnston, the father of Bristol’s child, continues to live. If she was retreating from an attempt at a career in California and reestablishing her life near her support system, Alaska was the most logical place for her to do it, even absent a subsidy program. That the show got tax credits from the state suggests more an eagerness to distribute them to whatever project came along than a real effort to attract new and unexpected business to the state.
It’s true that the show generated some revenue for the state, though it’s hard to tell if it was enough to justify spending those subsidies on this particular program, rather than attempting to attract another show to Alaska, or holding off on spending it at all. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, which broke the story of the tax subsidy, notes that the production reported spending $995,275 in Alaska, though not all of that money went to people who live in Alaska, and about $500,000 of that spending went to on-camera talent for the show. The benefits of the program were not exactly broad, or oriented towards creating a lot of new, long-term Alaska jobs.
I understand why states try to lure away productions from California, and to get some of those jobs for their own citizens. But with almost every state offering some form of incentives, it’s easy for productions to shop for the best deal and to pit those subsidy programs against each other in a way that could minimize the economic benefits the states receive from hosting those productions. And if one of the marks of a viable industry is that it can survive without being subsidized, some states are finding it difficult to get their film programs truly off the ground—after Michigan cut its incentives, a new and expensive studio in Pontiac is finding itself without clients. If states are going to pony up to attract film and television productions, they should be clear about what kind of benefits make the programs worth it for them, or they should consider orienting those credits programs to ends beyond economic ones, like improving the numbers of contracts going to women and minority-owned businesses or projects in the industry. The welfare of Bristol Palin and the future of Alaska’s film and television industry are not one and the same.
ThinkProgress

SNAPSHOT: Davido again?! New photo with “groupie” surfaces

inShare

by Hauwa Gambo
Just when you are about to fall in love with him, out comes the trash.
So here it appears, yet again, he is caught, very literally, in bed, with a fan – many on social media are already referring to as “another groupie.
(READ Davido is out with ‘Feel-Alright’ HERE)
The first time (eight months and 17 days ago apparently) we ignored the story, when he was reportedly caught by a young university student in Ghana who took a photo of him in the bedroom with her while he was asleep.
It’s barely six months and we’re, like, seriously dude?
YNaija.com

‘Pastors in politics will liberate Nigeria’

 by James Azania, Benin 

National Vice Chairman (South-South), Action Congress of Nigeria, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, on Wednesday, called on clerics and other men of God to participate actively in politics.

Ize-Iyamu, who flayed clerics absence in politics, said their involvement would help to uplift the quality of governance in the country.

Speaking ahead of the conferment of an honourary doctorate degree on him and four other Nigerians by the Benson Idahosa University, the ACN chief said it was erroneous for clerics to shy away from governance.

He said, “For me, the more Christian people come into government, the more chances of Nigeria liberating itself from the darkness that we have seen now. But if we continue to leave politics because we think it is dirty, then we should be ready to continue to remain in the dark.

“The nation’s realistic growth and development must hinge on positive encouragement of decent men to hold public offices. There is an urgent need for improvement and therefore it is expedient that Christians participate actively in decent politics, devoid of corruption, thuggery and other forms of criminality, in order to improve the living standard of the people.”

ThePunch

Messi’s Goalscoring Record “Broken In 1972″ By An African Football Star

Lionel Messi has been showered with praise after establishing a new world record by scoring 86 goals in a calendar year.
Regardless of what you might think of calendar year as opposed to season-by-season records, you can’t help doffing your cap to the diminutive Argentine for his goal tally. At the age of just 25 he is already a legend of the game, and even Gerd Mueller – the man whose record he took – has paid homage to him.
Yet it seems that Messi’s latest entry in the footballing record books might have to be scrubbed out: the Zambian FA have claimed that one of their own legendary strikers put the Barca star’s tally in the shade way back in 1972.

Godfrey ‘Ucar’ Chitalu scored an astonishing 107 goals for Kitwe United that year, the same year that Mueller hit the previous mark of 85. Yet, while Muller was feted for his brilliance, Chitalu was not recognised outside his homeland and it is the German’s record that has stood for the last 40 years.
After a glittering career on the pitch, Chitalu was awarded a FIFA special award, and went on to become Zambia coach until he was tragically killed in the 1993 plane crash that wiped out an entire generation of the national team’s finest footballers.
The Zambian FA are now trying to bring Chitalu the recognition he deserves for his achievement by trawling their archives for evidence of the 107-goal haul.
“We have this record, which has been recorded in Zambian football, but unfortunately it has not been recorded in world football,” a spokesman says. ”Even as the world has been looking at Lionel Messi’s record, breaking Gerd Mueller’s, the debate and discussion back here has been why Godfrey’s goals are not being recognised.
“What we are doing is, we have commissioned an independent team locally to go back into the archives and record minute by minute each of those goals.
“The team that we have put together is going to calculate all of those goals, recording whichever game or tournament they were scored in, we will then send that to CAF and FIFA so that we can show that, while Messi’s record is there, while Mueller’s record is there, the actual record holder in terms of goals per calendar year is actually an African, it’s actually Godfrey Chitalu.”
The Zambian FA have also reportedly contacted FIFA who said they had heard of Chitalu’s claim and are “checking on it internally”.
InformationNigeria.org

CNN: Where BlackBerry is still hot: Nigeria

Africa, specifically Nigeria is the ‘bright spot’ for Research in Motion (RIM), makers of the Blackberry handheld device. RIM’s market share in America has dropped to 1.6%, but in Nigeria BlackBerrys are still hot. We had previously done a feature on the Blackberry phenomena in Nigeria. Read the post here: Blackberry fever: Why Nigerians are still crazy about the Blackberry
In the video embedded, Waldi Wepener, Regional Director Africa RIM, explains to Vladimir Duthiers of CNN why Blackberry is hot still in Nigeria. He says, “I think Nigerians are kind of entrepreneurial and social in spirit, which plays quite well always to the always on, always connected services you get with RIM.”
CP-Africa

Pastor Tunde Bakare’s son & NYSC commandant trade slaps in NYSC Ondo camp

Story written by Stella Dimoko Korkus for Encomium Magazine about Pastor Tunde Bakare’s son

It was with tension and on edge that those who witnessed this exchange of slaps whisper this gist. According to them, ‘coloured trousers had been banned within the camp and the camp commandant spotted Pastor Tunde Bakare’s son, Segun Bakare in black trousers. When apprehended, the lad asked the commandant if he didn’t know he was the son of Tunde Bakare, the popular preacher. The commandant immediately delivered a slap on the face of the young man and Segun replied with his own slap.

Segun’s mum had given the commandant a number to call when she dropped off her son in camp, so immediately this incident occurred, the commandant called Mrs Bakare and after a few words, the phone was handed to Pastor Tunde Bakare himself. After hearing what had happened, Pastor Bakare asked that his son be disciplined for disobeying camp rules. The phone was on speaker and Segun heard his father’s instructions and as soon as the phone call ended, he went down on his knees and started begging. The matter has since been resolved.
Naijaurban