LABOUR Over 2000 N power Nasarawa journalists disown NUJ chairman’s claim over strike volunteers paid allowance in Taraba
The N-power Focal Person in Taraba, Mrs. Beatrice Kitchener, Saturday, said over 2000 volunteers have been paid their allowances under the Federal Government’s Social Investment Scheme.
She disclosed this while answering questions from journalists in Jalingo, on the activities of the scheme.
Mrs Kitchener explained that her office had updated the profiles of another 1000 volunteers who were expected to be paid their allowances any time from now.
She blamed the delay in the payment of allowances of 1000 volunteers to errors made in updating their profiles, adding that the problem had been rectified and would soon be paid.
Mrs Kitchener noted that discrepancies in bank details and profiles of the volunteers were partly responsible for their invalidation.
According to her, bank BVN details had indicated that some of the disqualified volunteers were already employed while others exceeded the maximum 35 years requirement.
She explained further that another set of over 400 volunteers, who were erroneously alleged to be absent from duty, were expected to be paid in May.
She said out of the 30,000 applications for both N-power employment and N-power empowerment from the state, 3965 applicants were successful for N-power employment category. Members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) from Nasarawa State owned media have disassociated themselves from the claim of the state`s union chairman Dogo Shama, that ‘journalists are not in support of the ongoing workers strike.’
In a statement signed by its chairman and secretary Grace Amirikpa and Abari Isa respectively made available to newsmen in Lafia,it said “We, the members of Nigeria Union of Journalists, from the state owned media disassociated ourselves from the statement by the union chairman Comrade Dogo Shama, at the Government House on Friday that practicing journalists are not part of the ongoing strike.”
The statement reads, “His claim that journalists in Nasarawa State are not part of the ongoing strike embarked upon by the Nigeria Labour Congress does not mean that the state owned media workers are not on strike because we are directly affected and we are part of the ongoing strike by the NLC.”
The statement added: “We like to inform the public that the NUJ as a professional body in Nasarawa State is made up of four arms namely: state owned media, private media, federal media and federated chapels. Therefore, only the state owned media workers are on strike contrary to the submission of NUJ chairman, Dogo Shama.”