The Nigeria Union of Mines Workers (NUMW) has sent a message of condolence to President Muhammadu Buhari over the death of his Chief of Staff, Alhaji Abba Kyari, who died on of Covid-19 infection on Friday. The Union described Kyari’s death as a very sad loss to the nation while praying for the repose of his soul.
In a message signed by the President of the Union, Comr Hamza Mohammed, the Union commended health workers, corporate and individual donors while calling on government to double its efforts to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus, saying that healthcare facilities must be urgently increased while the safety of healthcare-givers must also be strengthened.
While he agreed that the lockdown was imperative in order to stop the spread of Covid-19 virus, Comr Hamza emphasized the need for government to provide food for the masses, stating that provision of food is necessary if starvation will be averted. “Under the current circumstance, the people cannot fend for themselves any longer, they need food or else they starve,” adding that the Union considers it a right of the masses to be provided with palliatives which will cushion the economic effect of the stay-at-home directive of Mr President. “In so far as the government directs the citizen to stay at home, it must also provide food for the citizen especially in the selected states like Lagos and the FCT where the lockdown has since been in force.
Comr Hamza described as lies, claims by the Ministry of Humanitarian affairs that it sent palliatives to all households. He advised the ministry to desist from telling lies to Nigerians regarding palliatives in the view of the coronavirus pandemic.
While describing the pandemic as having serious consequences on the economy, he called on the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc Olamilekan Adegbite and the Minister of State, Dr Uchechukwu Ogah to do more to activate the potential of the mining sector for economic regeneration and activation, stating that if properly administered, the Nigeria mining sector can play a very crucial role in the highly desired restoration of the economy.
“We are optimistic that the post Covid-19 is soon to be here, and that it is a time when the Arc Adegbite-led management of the Ministry must prove that they have been preparing the sector to play its role for national economic development,” he said, adding that the Nigerian economy must be prevented from going into recession which can be caused by the current challenges imposed of the coronavirus.
While pledging the readiness of the union to work with government to address challenges of the sector, Comr Hamza said the administration should double its efforts to address myriad of issues bedeviling the sector.
