Jonathan Vatsa, a former commissioner for information and culture in Niger state, says the proposed wedding of 100 girls in the state will go on despite public outcry.

Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, the speaker of the Niger state house of assembly, had dissociated himself from the wedding after Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, minister of women affairs, threatened to sue him.

The minister said the development was unacceptable, arguing that the girls should be in school or learning vocational skills.

Sarkindaji, who had provided financial support and was billed to host the event on May 24, withdrew his involvement.

The speaker said it was at the discretion of the girls’ parents and traditional leaders to proceed as they deemed fit.

Addressing journalists on Wednesday, Vatsa, a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC), advised Kennedy-Ohanenye not to go into “issues that she knows nothing about”.

He said the minister knew nothing about the situation of the girls and should have done due diligence before issuing threats.

“No amount of threat of court action can stop these parents from giving out their daughters in marriage after receiving the necessary supports,” Vatsa said.

“The minister should have done her investigation first to know if these girls have attained the age of marriage by law or if they were being forced into marriage before going to the air to threaten the speaker, who is merely offering assistance.

“You cannot just sit in an air-conditioned office in Abuja and be threatening people without knowing what these orphans are going through after losing their parents to insecurity and those whose parents cannot afford their marriage expenses even though they have attained the age for marriage.

“Does the minister have any plans for people whom she has never seen or known about their plight, or is she trying to encourage prostitution in the area?

“You don’t play politics by interfering with the people’s culture and tradition; more so that these girls have suitors who want to marry them.

“I am sure the speaker, being a trained lawyer, is not afraid of going to court. The speaker is not giving the girls out in marriage but just rendering support to the families, and there is no law in Nigeria that forbids someone from giving assistance towards marriage. That is why I said the minister is fighting a lost battle.”

Vatsa said banditry activities across 12 LGAs of the state have produced over 5,000 orphans, widows, and widowers.

He urged the minister to visit Niger and “see the sufferings of these orphans, the majority of whom are girls.”.

He urged Sarkindaji not to succumb to any threat, as “the people will feel disappointed if you withdraw your support for them”.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says it has received 150 stranded Nigerians repatriated from the Chad Republic.

In a statement on Wednesday, the agency said the repatriated Nigerians include 71 children, 48 females, eight infants, and 23 men.

The agency said the evacuated Nigerians arrived at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Tuesday at about 8:30 pm.

“The Nigerians were assisted back in a voluntary repatriation exercise programme by the United Nations International Organisation for Migration (UN’IOM) on Tuesday, 14th, 2024,” the agency said.

“The flight Air Cargo with registration number SU-BUR landed at the cargo wing of Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, at about 2030 hours.

“The profiles of the returnees indicate that 23 males, 48 females, 71 children, and 8 infants arrived in Nigeria aboard the flight.

“Some of the returnees demonstrated their joy at the success of their return back to Nigeria. Agencies on the ground to receive the Nigerians were NEMA, Immigration Services, Nigeria Port Health Services, FAAN, and the Nigeria Refugee Commission.”

Last year, 104 stranded Nigerians were repatriated from N’Djamena, the capital of the Chad Republic.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has rejected the N48,000 proposed by the Federal Government as the new minimum wage, saying it does not make any sense.

The TUC President, Festus Osifo berated the FG’s proposal while speaking in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.

Osifo said the federal government was not being serious in the negotiation with the workers.

According to Osifo, the least federal workers are already earning up to N77,000, saying proposing N48,000 at the moment is ‘abysmal.’

He said, “Before President Muhammadu Buhari left office, the last person in the federal ministry was actually earning N42,000.

“If you now factor in the wage award of N35,000 that was given, N42,000 plus N35,000 will give us N77,000, so as of today what the least federal government worker earns is N77,000.

“So, the question that we now ask is that if the least federal government worker is earning N77,000, why are you now coming to present N48,000? It does not just make any sense,” he said.

Osifor challenged the Federal Government to come forward with data backing the N48,000 proposal and convince the union members on how that amount reflect the reality of the average Nigerian worker.

Recall that earlier on Wednesday, the labour unions walked out of the ongoing minimum wage negotiations with the government and the Organised Private Sector following what the union leaders described as a ridiculous offer by the government.

The TUC leader said that at the meeting, the labour unions proposed a N615,000 minimum wage which they gave a breakdown of how it was arrived at.

He said that the government on its part presented N48,000 with no breakdown of how it can cater for the needs of the Nigerian workers.

According to Osifo, failure to back the N48,000 proposal up with data shows unpreparedness on the part of the government which was why the union leaders walked out of the meeting.

He said that the union members still maintain that all conversations around a new national minimum wage must be concluded by the end of May.