DANIEL DAUDA, Jos and PAMELA EBOH, Awka
Sequel to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recent mass sacking of its staff, most especially the senior cadre, a group under the auspices of the North Central Conference of Autonomous Ethnic Communities Development Association (CONECDA) Youth Wing, has raised alarm that the act is targeted at people of Middle Belt and South East regions.
CONECDA called on the National Assembly to immediately intervene noting, that the action executed by CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso if not corrected will grossly create a decade of negative impact on the Nigeria economy.
This is contained in a statement signed on Sunday in Jos Plateau state capital by Mr. Paul Dekete, the North Central Coordinator of CONECDA Youth Wing covering Southern Borno, Gombe, Southern Bauchi, Southern Kaduna, Taraba, Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue, Niger, Kogi and FCT respectively.
He revealed they have it on record that more than 90 percent of the executives from Gombe State were fired! The same is also applicable to Plateau State where one of the staff was fired a day to her retirement date.
According to him, “In Plateau State alone, out of a total number of 10 executives from Plateau, 8 were sacked 70% executives, 30% non-executive and we viewed it as a deliberate attempt targeting the Central part of the country mostly Christian minorities by the CBN Governor.
“In Plateau State, the affected persons are at various cadre at the apex bank such as Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors, Principal Managers, Assistant Managers and Deputy Managers who were affected by the restructuring exercise of the CBN.
“In Gombe State, five (5) people cutting across Deputy Directors to Assistant Directors cadre were all dismissed courtesy the re-organization of the bank.
“In Benue State, we are aware that five (5) persons were affected at various cadre in Benue State. Very painful is that Mr Onoja Ameh who was transferred from MSD to Awka Branch last year December was involved in a terrible accident in April this year during which he almost lost his life on his way back to Awka after visiting his family in Abuja and is still recuperating when he got sacked as well as a widow who is currently nursing her trauma”, the coordinator narrated.
CONECDA further stated that CBN’s actions demand a clear course of correction and urged the National Assembly to make their findings to ascertain the rationale which triggered mass retrenchment public.
The statement read in part: “The National Assembly should investigate the CBN to understand the rationale behind the mass sacking and the criteria used.
“The CBN must follow established procedures for staff reduction as laid out in its Human Resources manual and best practices worldwide.
“The insensitive termination letters should be withdrawn and replaced with more appropriate documentation that reflects the employees’ work records.The terminated staff deserve fair compensation to mitigate the economic hardship they face.
“All termination decisions should be reviewed to ensure compliance with CBN HR policy and public service rules. This may involve reinstating some employees who were dismissed without proper justification.
“With most of the casualties arising from the Middle Belt and the South Eastern regions of the country, we call on the Governor’s of these regions to as a matter of urgency step into the ugly development to unravel the mystery behind the motive with a view to correct it.”
Cubana Chief Priest urges Ndugbo to address region’s security challenges
Meanwhile, reactions have trailed popular Highlife musician, Flavour hosting of his late father’s funeral rights on Enugu on Saturday.
It was gathered that Flavour, an indigene of Umunze in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State buried his father in his native home before returning to Enugu for the rites.
Recall that Flavour was bred in Enugu where he spent the greater part of his youth and adult life before music and fame took him to Nigeria’s entertainment city of Lagos.
Speaking out on his Instagram page, a renowned businessman and socialite, Cubana Chief Priest, cited insecurity in Anambra state as the reason the Highlife maestro was forced to host the event in Enugu, instead of his country home of Anambra.
Chief Priest, who attended the funeral on Saturday appealed to South easterners to come together to address the region’s security challenges, describing the situation as “no longer child’s play.”
He stressed that despite the issue of marginalization, that South Easterners cannot afford to destroy their own homeland.
He wrote, “This amazing funeral was supposed to be happening in Umunze, Anambra State, but here we are in Enugu managing it.
“Umunne, we need to come together and fix this; it’s no longer funny. We cannot destroy our own because we are being marginalized.”
The funeral, which took place on Saturday, was attended by various celebrities and dignitaries.
An Enugu based socialite who spoke on condition of anonymity regretted a situation where people are scared to hold traditional events in the villages because of fear of being kidnapped or possibly killed.
He said, “Anambra has people that can make this state a London of some sort. I don’t know how we got here and it’s regrettable. People even hold traditional marriages abroad these days. I am a witness. Imagine someone like Flavour hosting his father’s funeral rites in Enugu.
“You can imagine the boom in business this occasion would have brought for hotels and transporters. I can only pray we get out of this some day soon.”
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