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Tunisia’s powerful UGTT workers union holds nationwide strike

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Tunisia’s biggest labour union is staging a nationwide strike to protest against the government’s refusal to raise the salaries of 670,000 public servants.

Rail, bus and air traffic stopped while schools, ports, hospitals, government offices and state media were affected on Thursday following the strike by the powerful Tunisia General Labour Union (UGTT).

Tunisia is under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to freeze public sector wages as part of reforms to help reduce the country’s budget deficit.

International lenders have threatened to stop financing the economy, which has been in crisis since the toppling of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said the state will provide minimum services in vital sectors, including aviation, ports, buses and trains.

Tunisia’s state-owned airline, Tunis air, said it expected major disruptions to its flight schedule and urged customers to change bookings, adding that at least 16 flights could be postponed.

Chahed said the strike will be “very expensive” but the government could not raise wages disproportionately to the state’s ability to afford it.

Sami Tahri, deputy secretary-general of the UGTT, said the government is under the dictates of the IMF and has chosen the difficult solution of confrontation with public servants.

Government and union sources told Reuters news agency that the government had proposed spending about $400m on pay rises while the UGTT asked for about $850m.

Tunisia struck a deal with the IMF in December 2016 for a loan programme worth around $2.8bn to overhaul its ailing economy with steps to cut chronic deficits and trim bloated public services, but the progress has been slow.

Tunisia’s economy has been in crisis since Ben Ali’s toppling, throwing the country into turmoil, with unemployment and inflation shooting up.

The government aims to cut the public sector wage bill to 12.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2020 from the current 15.5 percent, one of the world’s highest levels, according to the IMF.

source- AlJazeera

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Foreign News

EKWEREMADU : DABIRI-EREWA PLEADS FOR COMPASSION

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AJAGBE ADEYEMl TESLIM

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Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has joined others in pleading with the UK government to show leniency with former Nigeria Deputy Senate President, Ike
Ekweremadu awaiting the verdict of the court on organ harvesting.

In a statement by Abdur-Rahman Balogun Head of Media, Public Relations and Protocols of NIDCOM in Abuja, she pleaded with the court to show compassion and sympathy in this case

” I join men and women of goodwill to plead for clemency for Sen. Ike Ekweremadu , if only even considering the psychological trauma, Sonia , the daughter, would be going through knowing that her parents are in jail because they tried to save her from a health condition she had no control over”, Dabiri-Erewa pleaded.

Dabiri-Erewa who reiterated her pleas, implored the UK government to temper justice with mercy, admitted that “mistakes have been made , and lessons learnt”.

The NIDCOM boss posited that though there is no ignorance before the law, Ekweremadu and his wife acted under natural instincts of parents to save an ailing daughter, and not for commercial purposes

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DABIRI-EREWA BAGS YET ANOTHER INTERNATIONAL HONOR

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AJAGBE ADEYEMI TESLIM

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The Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Shri Gangandharanian Balasubramanian has honored Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), for her excellent contributions to Nigeria Diaspora especially women in the area of rescue and rehabilitation, supporting democracy and legislative reforms by enabling laws in favour of freedom and non-violence.

The Indian High Commissioner stated this when He conferred the Honor on the NIDCOM Boss in Abuja, during the celebration of some Nigerian Women Achievers and the launch of Indian Women Association, Abuja Chapter.

Balasubramanian added that every woman is an achiever in all aspects of their lives and this year ‘s celebration is to recognize few wonderful achievers both in India and Nigeria. He is certain that this tradition will continue as an annual event in the years to come.

Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa expressed her gratitude to the Indian High Commission for honoring her amongst the very few Nigerian Women. She added that NiDCOM will continue to strengthen ties between Nigerian-Indian Diaspora and the Global Diaspora.

The NiDCOM boss highlighted the contributory roles of women to National Development. According to her, “ as a woman, one has to work three times harder, because your mistakes are more noticeable but as a woman I am grateful for men who support and recognize the efforts of women who are blazing the trail across all sectors of the economy”.

She concluded that the Indian Diaspora is a powerful force to its National Development and promise to do same with the Nigerian Diaspora to fast track Nigeria’s technological advancement.

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Chizoba: FG Will Demand Full Investigation into Her Death in Ethiopian Prison- Dabiri-Erewa

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The Nigerian Mission in Ethiopia will demand full investigation into the circumstances that led to the death.of a Nigerian, Chizoba Favor Eze ,in Ethiopian Prison.

Reacting to the reported death of Chizobia Eze, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/ CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) said the Commission is in contact with the Nigerian Mission in Ethiopia and the
circumstances that led to the unfortunate incident will be thoroughly looked into.

She expressed concern over the reported conditions of some Nigerians, serving various jail terms in Ethiopia, most of whom were drug related.

She also said the Nigerian Mission in Ethiopia has proposed an MOU from the Nigerian Correctional Service on transfer of sentenced persons to Nigeria with the Ethiopian authorities to complete their respective jail terms in Nigeria, and are awaiting a response from Ethiopia , adding that though Ethiopia had granted an amnesty to Nigerian Prisoners in 2019 , a number of them still found their way back to the country and allegedly still committed the same drug related crimes and were re- arrested.

The NIDCOM boss sent her deepest condolences to the family of Chizoba,
who was said to have died in Kaliti Prison , Addis Ababa, Ethiopia  on sunday March 12, 2023 following an alleged physical aggression.

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