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 entrepreneurial skill acquisition.