By George Mgbeleke

President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, Tuesday welcomed Senators back from recess with a charge to keep faith with Nigeria amid insecurity, floods, hardship and the build-up to the 2027 general elections.

Delivering his welcome address titled *”KEEPING FAITH WITH NIGERIA”* on resumption of plenary on September 29, 2026, Akpabio said while the sittings of the Senate ceased on July 23, the life of Nigeria did not.

“When we adjourned on 23 July, the sittings of the Senate ceased for a season. The life of Nigeria did not. In our villages and towns, in our markets and on our farms, our people went on working, raising their children, pursuing their hopes and facing their fears,” Akpabio said.

“There, beyond these walls, the matches are played and the goals must be scored. This Chamber is our training ground.”

Akpabio said during the recess, families waited in anguish for loved ones taken by armed men in Marisa, at Dekera Mosque and elsewhere, while communities lived beneath the shadow of violence and floods swept away homes and labour.

He offered sympathy but said sympathy alone cannot discharge the Senate’s duty.

“To those who mourn, to those who wait and to those who have been driven from their homes, we offer our sympathy. But sympathy alone cannot discharge our duty. They are entitled to our attention, our resolve and the full force of our constitutional responsibility.”

“So long as a single Nigerian languishes in captivity, a part of Nigeria is held captive; and this Chamber cannot call itself free of the burden,” Akpabio declared.

He called on security agencies to pursue rescue of captives and protection of vulnerable communities with renewed vigour, pledging that the Senate will examine through legislation, appropriation and oversight what more must be done to end what he called “infernal assaults upon our people.”

“We cannot summon citizens to courage and then leave them to face danger alone. Their safety is a charge laid upon every institution of government, including this Senate,” he said.

On flooding, Akpabio warned that warning must lead to preparation, preparation to protection, and relief must reach those for whom it is intended.

“When a farmer loses a harvest, our country loses food it can ill afford to spare. When a family loses its home, the nation has a stake in helping that family rise again,” he said, thanking emergency responders and urging all levels of government to act in time.

On the economy, the Senate President said many Nigerians continue to bear heavy cost of living and the Senate must examine figures, forecasts and reforms with care, but never forget how economy is felt outside the chamber.

“They will judge our efforts by what changes in their lives. We must hear their concerns and answer with work that yields results,” he said, referencing the mother counting cost of a meal, the graduate searching for work and small business owners.

On politics, Akpabio noted that campaigns for the 2027 general elections have begun and parties have chosen candidates.

He called for vigorous, open contest devoid of violence and division.

“Let the candidates speak with conviction. Let the contest be vigorous; let it be open; and let every participant remember the country that must live together when the contest is over.”

“Those who seek office need not see eye to eye in order to walk hand in hand as Nigerians. We can contend without setting community against community, faith against faith or one part of our Republic against another.”

“We must reject violence and intimidation, and resist the falsehoods that travel swiftly and leave distrust in their wake. No electoral prize is worth a Nigerian life. No victory deserves celebration if it leaves the nation wounded.”

He said the Senate, comprising men and women of different parties, regions and convictions, must show the way by disagreeing with dignity and fulfilling duties throughout campaign season.

“The people sent us here to serve until the end of our mandate. There is work before us, and we shall remain at our posts in spite of the campaigns,” Akpabio said.

Also reflecting on Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary on October 1st, Akpabio said the nation will honour those who believed Nigeria could govern itself.

“We honour them most faithfully when we guard the freedom they helped secure and use it to enlarge the prospects of those who come after us. Patriotism requires clear eyes and a steadfast heart,” he said.

He charged Senators to return to duties with steady hands, work for safety of people, strength of institutions and better chance for every child of the Republic.

“Let us campaign with honour, debate with conviction and serve with humility. We have returned to this Chamber because Nigeria’s work continues. By God’s grace, we shall keep faith with her, and with the people who sent us here,” Akpabio said.

By Our Correspondent

In a bid to improve the welfare of Nigerian workers, the federal government declared on Friday that it has commenced consultations ahead of fresh negotiations on the national minimum wage..

Permanent secretary, federal ministry of Labour and Employment, Dr Kamil Shoretire, who disclosed this during a capacity-building workshop for labour correspondents in Abuja, said that although the government had not announced a timetable for the formal commencement of negotiations, background consultations were already underway.

He said: “We are yet to announce the timetable for that, but background discussions are already ongoing. When it’s time to get the press involved in what has been proposed and what is being negotiated, it will be revealed to you,”.

The permanent secretary stressed that the consultations were part of wider efforts to address wage and allowance issues across different sectors, noting that collective bargaining discussions were also ongoing with workers in sectors such as health and education.

According to him: “Various discussions with health, education and other sectors that have lots of issues in terms of wages and allowances are ongoing and they are being fast-tracked so that the ones that are agreed will reflect in next year’s budget,”.

The permanent secretary also disclosed that the Federal Government had responded to a complaint filed against it by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) at the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

He said, Nigeria met the September 1 deadline set by the ILO to respond to outstanding issues raised in the complaint.

“Let me start with the ILO. We have met the deadline. We have responded to the request from ILO. I was there when a complaint was filed by the NLC against the Nigerian government at the ILO on some of the labour issues that are yet to be resolved in the country.

“We responded at the ILO, but we also got that certain areas were not addressed or were pending. So those ones were the ones that we got a deadline on September 1, and we have responded accordingly”, he said.

The NLC had petitioned the ILO at the International Labour Conference in Geneva, alleging violations of workers’ rights under the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949, otherwise known as Convention No. 98.

By David Owei, Yenagoa

As part of efforts to enhance the capacity of its staff to effectively lead and regulate the oil and gas industry, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), on Thursday inaugurated its LearnFest Lecture Series, a platform for continuous learning among staff and oil and gas industry stakeholders.

LearnFest, an initiative under the Nigerian Content Academy (NCA), a specialised knowledge-sharing and training arm of the agency, will provide trainings on the mandate and inner workings of the Board.

Attended by all staff at the corporate headquarters in Yenagoa, the three-hour event was focused on raising awareness of the different directorates of the organisation, their constituent divisions and departments, as well as their specific responsibilities and how they function individually and collectively to advance corporate goals and objectives.

In a promo video, the Academy explained that NCDMB’s knowledge is spread across seven directorates and each has its own mandate, processes, expertise, responsibilities, and way of creating value.

It added that knowledge becomes more powerful when it does not exist in silos but moves from one department to the other with handshakes of different units.

According to the Academy, LearnFest is intended to help staff understand “how everything fits together,” the big picture, with respect to the mandate of the Board as well as institutional processes, practices, culture, and relationships. “When we understand what others do, we collaborate better, support one another better, and work as one integrated ecosystem,” it added.

In opening remarks at the event, the Director, Capacity Building Directorate, Engr. Abayomi Bamidele, stated that the LearnFest Lecture Series was informed by the need to create an understanding of Nigerian Content tools and processes among staff and other oil and gas industry stakeholders.

Industry players, he explained, need to understand and interpret the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010, operational principles as enshrined in the NCDMB Guideline for Nigerian Content Human Capital Development Implementation Strategy, the Nigerian Content Compliance Certificate (NCCC), Nigerian Content Plan (NCP), statutory reporting and matters relating to expatriate quota.LearnFest, he pointed out, “will make our work easier.”

He disclosed that industry operators and service companies, industry associations such as the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN), academic institutions, and ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), have been writing to the Academy to express interest in sending their staff for the specialised training provided there.

Engr. Bamidele further stated that the NCA is building a faculty, and that the Lecture Series is a way of preparing the grounds for its take-off. According to him, “The people presenting [the lectures] could form part of our faculty,” and those attending the event are expected to give feedback on the suitability of such resource persons for the said roles.

He also said that the Management of the Board has approved the use of the Board’s purpose-built facility in Opolo, along the Opolo-Elebele Road in Yenagoa as a centre for the NCA training programmes.

In the first presentation under the Lecture Series, the Manager, Planning and Policy Development Department, Engr. MofeMegbele, spoke on the theme “Understanding the Activities and Processes of the Planning, Research and Statistics Directorate,” with subheadings such as “Operating Framework for Planning Research and Statistics (PRS),” “Overview of Planning and Policy Development Department (PPD),” “Expatriate Quota,” and “Inter-Directorate/Division Relations,” “Research and Development Programme,” “Technology Commercialisation and Innovation,” “Overview of R&D Infrastructure,” “NOGIC JQS/NOGIC JQS User Communication,” “NCCF Objectives,”and “E-Marketplace and Stakeholders Engagement.”

He said the Directorate comprised two major Divisions, namely, PPD and Research and Statistics Development Division,” both of which are headed by General Managers. PPD, he explained, was established in September 2018 under Section 70 of the NOGICD Act, and has been responsible for “policies and guidelines for internal and external stakeholders,” whose implementation it also monitors.

The LearnFest Lecture Series will hold monthly for the next nine months, with a specific Directorate featured in each edition. Attendance, online and in-person, is mandatory for all staff of the NCDMB, while other oil and gas industry stakeholders could participate in subsequent editions.