2014 NIGERIA NATIONAL CONFERENCE PRESS RELEASE

Conference takes hard stance against corruption, rape
Except otherwise decided, henceforth, judicial officers convicted of
corruption or perversion of justice will be liable to 50 years in
prison and loss of all official entitlement including gratuity and
pensions without an option of fine.
The National Conference sitting in Abuja said on Thursday that the
decision was based on the examples of some Asian countries where the
enactment of such laws helped to restore sanity, reduce corruption,
abuse of office, instill due process and the rule of law.

Still on corruption, Conference resolved that legislation be enacted
by the Federal Government that would stipulate life imprisonment for
anyone found guilty of stealing pension and any public fund.
These resolutions followed thorough consideration of the Report of the
Committee on Civil Society, Labour, Youth and Sports headed by Mrs.
Bola Ogunrinade and Comrade Issa Aremu as deputy chairman.
Conference equally resolved that a law be enacted by the Federal
Government to provide for life imprisonment with hard labour for any
person convicted of rape; while other laws should be enacted to
criminalise the use of children for child labour and for alms.

It was also resolved that henceforth, any group of workers that remain
on strike for more than four weeks shall not be entitled to and not be
paid salary for the period and any other time after the four weeks.
To revive the education sector, Conference proposed 26% allocation for
education in annual law at the federal, state and local government
levels.

It is believed that with such increased allocation, the ailing
educational system would be revived and sustained.
Conference also agreed that government provides an intervention fund
as a matter of priority to revitalize abandoned skill acquisition and
vocational training centres throughout the country.

To boost employment in the country, delegates resolved that athe
National Directorate for Employment (NDE), the Small and Medium
Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), the Community
Services Women, and Youth Employment Project (CSWYE) and Graduates
Internship Scheme be merged into a single national job creation
agency.
Conference in taking the decision, said this would lead to a
coordinated job creation approach.

Conference observed the growing incidence of casualization in the
economy that is driven in part by employers' penchant to cut cost and
enhance profitability.
It said currently, most employers of labour do not respect the legal
provision that after six months of work, the casual workers must be
permanently employed.
To circumvent this law, such employers resort to terminating the
appointment of employees after a couple of months and then quickly
re-engaging them on a fresh contract.
It was therefore resolved that all multinational companies and
government agencies that have employed casual workers for more then
six months should be mandated to take immediate steps to convert them
to permanent workers.

On the National Youth Service Corps, Conference said it should be
split into three phases for it to be repositioned for relevant youth
empowerment.
It said the first phase will be a one month orientation; followed by
six months of primary assignment, integration and industrial exposure;
and lastly, five months of vocational and entrepreneurialskill
acquisition.

Reference: National Conference