SPDC WARNED FOR NOT EMPLOYING PEOPLE FROM DELTA AGAINST ITS VACANCIES WITHIN THE STATE

Yenagoa — Ijaw youths have issued a 21-day ultimatum to Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, over what they described as the alleged refusal of the company to employ youths from its Egbemo-Angalabiri host communities in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. Rising from a meeting of the six clans in Ekeremor council and Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, central zone in Yenagoa, the youths threatened to cripple activities at the company's base in Warri, Delta State and Port Harcourt, Rivers State, if the oil company fail to meet their demand. The youths in a statement by Rawlings Ezetu, Dennis Ofiyou and representatives of the various clans followed the alleged refusal of the company to accede to the pleas of prominent indigenes of the area, including the royal fathers to employ qualified graduates from the area. Lamenting the alleged insensitivity of the company to indigenes of its host communities, IYC cited the case of four youths from Egbemo-Angalabiri in batch 13 2007/2007 Shell intensive training programme 2 (SITP 2), who after successfully completing their training in electrical/production operation and mechanical/production operation in 2008 were yet to be offered employment by the company.

Culled from the The Nigerian Vanguard Newspaper

THE NIGERIAN ENTREPRENEURS FORUM LOOKING TO CREATE 150,000 PLUS JOBS

The Nigeria Entrepreneurs Forum, NEF, says plans have been concluded to create about 532, 800 new businesses that will translate into the provision of job opportunities for millions of youths in the country.Sidney Inegbedion, NEF president, who disclosed this when he led his members to Samuel Orton, minister of state for trade and investment in Abuja, said the forum will hold a training programme on ‘How To Start Your Own Business’ on June 9, in Abuja. Inegbedion said no fewer than 200 participants would be trained bi-weekly in Abuja before spreading it to other parts of the country for others to benefit, saying, “We hope to create new businesses by educating 200 persons fortnightly in the 36 states plus the FCT, and creating 532, 800 new businesses in the next few years. “These new businesses are expected to start employing two to five persons, thereby creating employment opportunities while building wealth.” According to Inegbedion, the Forum has signed a memorandum of understanding, with the National Economic Reconstruction Fund, NERFUND, for his members to access micro loans of between N100, 000 and N5 million as well as small and medium enterprises, SMEs, loans of N6 million to N100 million for productive ventures. The NEF organises entrepreneurs’ development programme during the last week of each month to train participants the basis of business start up, how to write business plan, manage existing business and leadership training. He therefore solicited the ministry’s assistance in securing full registration from the Corporate Affairs Commission and office accommodation, among others, saying the registration had particularly become imperative because of the number of foreign collaborations the organisation was having.

For more information, visit http://www.nigeriaentrepreneursforum.com/

 Nigerian BusinessDay

350,000 JOBS TO BE CREATED WITHIN THE SOLID MINERAL SECTOR....IS IT POSSIBLE??!!

It was a huge surprise to the nation when President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, during Democracy Day celebrations announced that about 350,000 additional jobs had been created in the minerals and steel sector, a sector which is struggling to come out of the woods. According to him, about 350, 000 additional jobs were created, arising from the activities of newly registered operators. Jonathan also said: "We increased the number of investors in the mining sector due to the transparent manner in which titles are now issued on a first come-first served and use it or lose it basis. This announcement was taken with a pinch of salt as not many believed in the sector's potential to create such job opportunities, in spite of the minister's constant assurance that the sector has the capacity to create employment and ensure greater revenue for the nation, and so the questions on the lips of many remains, how, when, where and what statistics were used to gauge the 350,000 jobs said to have been created. These questions were brought to the fore when the House Committee on Solid Minerals led by its chairman, Hassan Isa Mohammed, paid a working visit to the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr Musa Mohammed Sada, to find out how the ministry came about employing 350,000 in the sector.

Sada said the 350,000 employments were from registered cooperative groups, with some involved in quarry and gemstone mining. He added that because these operatives were licenced, there was an accurate figure of those benefiting from the available job opportunities especially in the chalk making cottage industries in several communities now. He said these registered cooperatives were what informed the cottage industries' programme of one programme in each local government , adding that quite a number of states had started implementing the programme including Kogi, Osun and Rivers States among others. These cooperatives were further encouraged and sponsored by the Sustainable Management Minerals Resource Project (SMMRP)with the 10 million US dollars allocated for the development of Artisanal and Small-scale Miners (ASMs) Cooperatives.

The chairman, Isa Mohammed, in his response assured that the sector had the capacity to get over five times what the oil sector was getting if its resources were properly harnessed. President Jonathan,also said: "We have initiated a programme to support private steel production outfits. This has resulted in an increase in production figures for steel and other metals to over one million tonnes, this will also be another platform for job creation both in the sector and abroad.

Culled from The Nigerian leadership Newspaper

Hmmm. so what do you guys think? especially our readers with a background in solid minerals, do you find that there really could be job opportunities within this sector?

PENCOM MAKES A CASE FOR MIGRANT WORKERS TO GET THEIR RETIREMENT BENEFITS

Director General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Muhammed Kabir Ahmad, has made a case for the protection of migrant workers in the ECOWAS sub-region through the provision of retirement benefits for them. He said this yesterday at the opening of a three-day meeting of the migrant workers working group of the Internationa Social Security Association (ISSA) West Africa chapter. He said the meeting was a representation of various sections of security organizations in ECOWAS with a view to having a closer look at the plight of migrant workers in the sub-region. He said, "as part of the ECOWAS protocols, citizens in member countries can work in different parts of the region. That is why we feel the need to sit down and discuss within the context of ISSA and International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention as to how to protect migrant workers' retirement benefits."

Ahmad said the beauty of the contributory pension scheme introduced by Nigeria in 2004 is the retirement benefits that are paid into beneficiaries' savings account and could be moved to any part of the country. He added that there was already in existence, regulations that cover migrant workers, saying, "we thought we can share this with other existing members of ECOWAS countries."

The PenCom boss further said the initiative was to protect migrant workers such that wherever they worked, they could get their benefits from the start of their work till their final state of residency. For instance, "if he is a Nigerian and worked in Ghana, he should be able to move his benefits to Nigeria," he said. In his opening address, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu, represented by the Acting Director, Socio-Security, Nwokedi Ositadinma, said the development of the sub-region cannot be achieved if the well being of the migrant workers from various countries integrated into the community are not secured during their service year.

Culled from the Nigerian Daily Trust Newspaper

2012 STATISTICS SHOW 21 MILLION NIGERIANS ARE TRAPPED IN SLAVE/FORCED LABOUR

NO fewer than 21 million people are presently victims of forced labour globally, International Labour Organisation, ILO, has said. ILO, in a statement, weekend, said these unfortunate victims are trapped in jobs they were either coerced or deceived into, which they cannot leave. According to the statement, the Asia-Pacific region accounts for the largest number of forced labourers in the world with 11.7 million (56 percent) of the global total, followed by Africa at 3.7 million (18 percent) and Latin America, with 1.8 million victims (nine percent). Head of the ILO's Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, Beate Andrees, said methodology had been revised and improved since ILO's initial estimate in 2005 and the numbers were more robust now. He said: "We have come a long way over the last seven years since we first put an estimate on how many people were forced into labour or services across the world. We have also made good progress ensuring most countries now have legislation which criminalises forced labour, human trafficking and slavery-like practices."

The release noted that "three out of every 1,000 people worldwide are in forced labour today. 18.7 million (90 %) are exploited in the private economy by individuals or enterprises. Of these, 4.5 million (22 percent) are victims of forced sexual exploitation and 14.2 million (68 percent) are victims of forced labour exploitation in economic activities, such as agriculture, construction, domestic work or manufacturing."2.2 million (10%) are in state-imposed forms of forced labour, for example in prisons, or in work imposed by the state military or by rebel armed forces. 5.5 million (26 %) are below 18 years."

Culled from The vanguard Newspaper

A GRIM DAY IN NIGERIAN HISTORY - CRASH OF DANA- AIR FLIGHT ON THE 3RD JUNE 2012

Good day my fellow bloggers, readers, and comrades. i hope you have had a fabulous week. My apologies for not updating my blog in a little while. Unfortunately, there have been a series of tragic occurrences including bombings, shootouts, discovery of bombs in universities, and sadly the demise of over 170 people due to a plane that crashed in a residential area in Lagos.

It was sobering times and caused a lot of reflection. I truly thank the Lord for giving me the courage to pursue my dreams by way of my consultancy and this blog which i hope will not only enlighten people as regards HR and HCD news, laws, facts, but will also serve as a means for people to not only learn but as well as celebrate the achievements of our nation and ultimately Africa as a whole. This week I hope to not only have lots of articles and news events uploaded for you to read but will also share free events, updates about upcoming entrepreneurs, and social endeavours being created to increase competencies and skills within Nigeria with a focus on the age group of 20 - 35.

It is my sincere hope that reading this blog has been impacting lives, enlightening people, and sharing news that we otherwise would not have been able to find anywhere so easily. I always welcome comments, advice, and tips so please do not hesitate to send me an email at insitefulsolutionsconsult@gmail.com. You can also follow me on twitter @nikkythehrguru or @nikkytheminx and on facebook as Veronica Efretei.

In the weeks to come, God give us life,  I'll be uploading contents that to celebrate, uplift, and enlighten us and I welcome your feedback.

Have a great week everybody.

NVEfretei

Nkoyo Veronica Efretei

JOB HUNTING - IS YOUR CV WORKING FOR YOU OR AGAINST YOU?

Good day Readers,

for all my Nigerian readers, happy belated democracy day!!! I kno we are going thru a lot but the fact that we live in a time that encourages free speech, writing, and gatherings is enough to celebrate this holiday!!

I was thinking yesterday about a vacancy I recently posted online. I still cannot believe some of the responses I got. CVs written so badly I couldn’t get past the first sentence, rude email addresses; hostile language through out the CV, and long rambling personal statements. So many people were disqualified before I even had the opportunity to know whether I could consider them for the job because their CVs were so horrible.

You may be at home right now wandering why you are not getting called back for interviews and it could be a simple reason of your CV not making it past the secretary's desk, much less passing HR's scrutiny and here are 22 reasons why:

• A recruiter,  manager or HR manager can’t get the gist of you and your story in less than 10 seconds
• You can’t stand to look at your own résumé because you dislike it so much.
• It is loaded with buzz words and meaningless words you copied from the Internet.
• Your CV looks like a template.
• Your CV is longer than two pages and you have only worked in 2-3 places.
• It doesn’t sound authentic – like you’re a real person who solves real problems.
• Your CV contains lies of any variety – big or little.
• Your CV contains exaggerated job titles.
• Your CV doesn’t showcase your key successes, achievements and accomplishments.
• Your CV doesn’t integrate a present-future focus along with your past employment record.
• Your CV looks like 2500 other résumés in the pile.
• Your CV doesn’t sound like you.
• Your CV lacks a flow and good organization.
• Your CV reads like a job description.
• Your CV is unattractive and in some cases, downright difficult to read.
• Your CV has a boring account of your work history.
• Your CV doesn’t provide direct evidence (proof) as to why your qualifications warrant an interview.
• Your CV contains errors (One of the worst offences).
• Your CV doesn’t represent you with excellence in your absence.
• Your CV gives the reader reasons not speak with you.
• Your CV doesn’t exemplify the very best of you and your amazing brand.


• Your CV doesn’t generate any action for you.

Culled from http://www.careerhubblog.com/main/2012/05/does-your-r%C3%A9sum%C3%A9-suck-22-things-to-consider.html

So darling readers, going thru the above points, did any of them jump out at you that you may be committing one or more of these offences on YOUR CV? If your answer is yes, it's time to redraft your CV and do let me know if you need professional advice, I'm always happy to help!

4,334 GHOST PENSIONERS ON ABIA'S PAYROLL

Umuahia — ABIA State Government has announced the discovery of no fewer than 4,334 ghost pensioners on its payroll. The government said the ghost pensioners were discovered by the consultant it engaged in February to audit the state's pensions system. The audit firm was said to have recovered over N88 million being paid to the ghost pensioners.A statement by Governor Theodore Orji' Chief Press Secretary, CPS, Mr. Ugochukwu Emezue, said the audit revealed that the ghost pensioners had been milking the state government.Emezue noted that as at February, over N88,072,529.00 had been recovered.

Culled from The Nigerian vanguard Newspaper

MECHANISM FOR ADDRESSING UNEMPLOYMENT

A mechanism that could address structural unemployment problem

It’s impossible to know precisely how much unemployment is structural and how much is cyclical, and probably there’s some of both right now. Cyclical unemployment resulting from weak demand is amenable to expansionary government spending or monetary policy. Structural unemployment is harder to fix. Structural joblessness results from things like skills mismatches, and policy to address such mismatches is inherently longer-term in scope, involving education and encouraging innovation. Expansionary policy can't reduce structural unemployment; when that's all that's left, more expansion generates nothing but rising inflation.

click here to view full economist article

 

CULLED FROM http://careergong.blogspot.com/

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN HR

"People tend to think HR is just about HR expertise, but without long-term strategic thinking, you cannot be good at HR; without a business background, you won't know what your business leaders are thinking every day. You need to know what area they are worried about, then help them design the best structure for them"

Gina Qiao

Gina Qiao is senior vice president human resources at Chinese PC superbrand, Lenovo. Read her interview with HR magazine.

What do you guys think? Agree or disagree?