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A call for a Safer and Healthy Work Environment

A call for a Safer and Healthy Work Environment

By Yemi Olakitan 

 

 

 

     Health, safety and security in the workplace are key issues that are often neglected in most organisations. The result of which can be disastrous both to the employees and the employers in terms of accidents, permanent disability or death. Occupational Safety and health Association, an international association of safety professionals and stakeholders recently had a conference in Lagos on the subject in order to draw attention of the public to the importance of safety and health in the workplace. According to conference consultant, Emmanuel Uwalaka, CEO of Elak Multi Resources Nig. Ltd, the issue of safety, health and security of the work environment is very important so that the problems of accidents, incalculable injury, permanent disability or even death can be prevented. The Conference which was titled: Health, Safety and security challenges of the modern workplace- Way forward had participating members from Chevron, Zenith Bank, Shell, Access Bank, Oando, Total, Nestle, Mobil and several other corporate entities in attendance. It was a gathering of concerned Nigerians from the corporate community on the issues of health and safety.

        Speaking further, Uwalaka, said the aim of the conference was to bring all employers and employees together to discuss the challenges of health and safety at the work place. The conference also creates a great platform for networking opportunities for conference participants, safety professionals and members of the association to share ideas on how to promote safety and health in the work environment in Nigeria. In his goodwill message, Dr.Olubayode Awosika, Honourable Fellow of the Association welcome participants to the conference, he said it is impossible to count the number of accidents that occur in the work place everyday neither can one count the numbers that are prevented through safety and healthy practice. He saluted newly inducted members of the association starting from fellows to graduate members, and also welcome the forthcoming new members as they join hands in pursuing the goal of providing a safety conscious mindset and culture among the employees and employers of this great country. According to him, the job of saving lives and preventing injuries, death or permanent disability in the workplace is not an individual task but a collective responsibility of all and sundry. ‘‘Occupational safety and health in the workplace is a responsibility that must not be abandoned to chance. Anybody can be a victim’’ He said.  

       Speakers at the event include Brian Greenway, Nwachucku Abraham, Harris Ibekwe, Itua Otaigbe and Dr. Olugbenga Bejide who presented different papers at the conference. The first lecture was given by Abraham who spoke on the concepts of occupational safety, tracing its history to the 18^th century England when new machines were invented for factories around the world. Many workers were facing accidents and dying in large numbers all over Europe. This development gave rise to the need for occupational safety which according to Abraham is still as relevant as it was then in our industries. The theme of the conference: Health Safety and the security challenges of the modern workplace is a pointer to the need to educate and enlighten Nigerians on the need for safety in the work place since many workers are still facing accidents that can be prevented if the necessary safety steps were taking.

    He said, laws that were enacted to protect workers in their work place must be enforced in all departments of labour. The employer must provide safety and healthy environment for the workers. The employees must follow the health and safety rules. The rights and duties of employees must be upheld in our workplace in order to ensure safety and prevent loss of lives. The chairman of the conference, Felix O Ewulo, former Director General of Ogun state Environmental Agency call on all stakeholders on the issue of safety in the workplace to pay careful attention to rules governing safety and health. He asked OSHA to continue to enlighten Nigerians through workshops, training, and conferences on the need to be safe and alive at work. In another paper presented by Mr. Abraham Nwachukwu tagged; Critical Review of the Changing workplace, he talked about the workers and his environment, the evolution of technology. According to him, the conditions in our workplace have changed as compared to the pre-colonial and post colonial era.  ‘’Our workplaces are not what they used to be, it is both a responsibility of the worker, the employer, the government  and the employee to ensure safety, prevent loss of lives and disability.’’ He stressed the need for helmets, boots, gloves, first aid boxes, education and training in our workplace in order to ensure safety. While speaking at the event, Brian Greenway, an accomplished safety professional of over 40 years experience, said one injury is far too many. He said it was important to set up training schools in Nigeria. When asked why low skilled workers who are often victims of accidents and injuries in factories are not present at the conference, Greenway said, OSHA has found it effective to get the management on board on the issue of safety. Once you get the top management of a company on board, it will be easy to get the lower cadre involved in safety management and accident prevention in the work place. He called on the government of Nigeria, safety professionals to push for safety and good working conditions in the country since many accidents, death and disability are often unreported. He also emphasised the need for education and training. As part of the conference, a drama presentation was enacted which told the story of a CEO who unknowingly inhaled a bottled chemical substance out of curiosity and instantly died. This chemical was meant for the factory. The drama was staged to buttress the fact that safety is not limited to factories alone but can occur even in executive offices.

Hoares Methodist Church Celebrates 21st Honey Service. By Yemi Olakitan

Hoares Methodist Church Celebrates 21^st Honey Service.

By Yemi Olakitan

        The Methodist Church of Nigeria, Diocese of Lagos Mainland, Hoares Memorial Methodist Cathedral, Yaba

Celebrates the 21^st anniversary of the Busy Bees Society as well as the 50^th year anniversary of the Church at the weekend.

        The honey service celebration of the society was held at the church cathedral, Yaba, Lagos.  Speaking at the service, Reverend Raphael Opoko, Secretary of the Conference of Methodist Church in Nigeria called on members of the Honey Bees Society to continue to do good and ensure their private lives reflects the sweetness of honey.  According to him, they must see to it that their lives is a blessing to the widows, the motherless, the poor and the nation as a whole. He called the members of the busy bees to emulate the Lord Jesus in all their actions. He decried the condition of Nigeria’s education and the fall in societal morality. Speaking further, the Reverend called on private mission universities to lower their tuition fee, saying some of the schools are charging very high tuition fee.  ‘‘It is the contributions, tithes and offerings of church members that built this universities and yet many of these church members cannot afford to put their children in these schools.’’ He said,

         In a statement by, Cessy Ogunaike

President of the Society, honey has association that go far beyond its use as food. In language and literature, religion and folk beliefs, honey is a symbol of sweetness of any kind. The book of Exodus describes the Promised Land as a place flowing with milk and honey. In the new testament of the Bible, John the Baptist was said to have lived in the wilderness on a diet consisting of locusts and wild honey. Honey has been known for its healing properties for thousands of years and the ancient Greeks used it for many healing people. Up to the Second World War, honey was being used for its antibacterial properties in treating wounds.

    The Honey Service committee member, Tunde Oredipe, Olutola Ajaguna, Mosun Adewiunmi,  Tayo Sarumi,  Funlola Jolaoso, Salewa Soyinka, Sola Adenuga, Tunde Adenuga

Sade Fajemisin and other members of the society were all present at the service

With NFVCB, Nollywood takes centre stage in Edinburgh, Glasgow

With NFVCB, Nollywood takes centre stage in Edinburgh, Glasgow

The Nigerian film industry otherwise known as Nollywood, at home and in the diaspora, has gone beyond finding a myriad ways just to entrench its importance and visibility in the global motion picture entertainment arena.

 It therefore deserves to be taken seriously and not denigrated, as some film scholars would also advocate. Supporting this view, Professor Onookome Okome of the School of English and Film Studies, University of Alberta, Canada states: “In Nigeria, Nollywood is popular ... It speaks aspects of social life that many live and debates social and cultural anxieties the way no other media had done before.”

In the same vein Jonathan Haynes, a professor of African Film, Video and Literature, Long Island University, the United States, has been spearheading the calls for the respect of Nollywood. He is often saying “What we need is to get closer to what is happening and describe it with precision, and there should be frames of reference to describe it.” Haynes, who has created a bibliography on Nollywood up until 2010, would always make a case for the studying and understanding of the Nigerian movie industry, in addition to proposing a framework for the development of the industry.

Not long ago, there was Scotland Film Festival at which Nigerians were hosted by the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB). It was a conference devoted to the Nigerian motion picture industry in Edinburgh, where the industry’s importance was showcased to the foreign interests. NFVCB is the National Regulatory Authority for the Nigerian motion picture industry.

The foreign organisers were excited to receive Nigerians and were more excited that Tunde Kelani's film, Maami, sponsored by the NFVCB, was being screened to the audience. Kelani, Nigerian film maker, showcased Maami, his latest film, at the Africa in Motion Scotland Film Festival in Edinburgh and Glasgow on October 30 and 31, 2012.

At the event, Kelani delivered an incisive and interactive paper on the use of indigenous language in his movies, tracing it to his studies in the film school in the United Kingdom (UK).

He said he was influenced by his fellow students from Russia, Japan and other countries, who already were doing films in their languages and subtitling them. He, therefore, experimented on it and was then convinced to also do his films in the Yoruba language.

 The second factor that influenced his choice of the genre was the fact that the people who sent him to learn the act of film making could not understand why he had to make his film in English before subtitling it to them in Yoruba. So, as a mark of respect and the need to uphold the culture of his people, he decided to make his films in his native Yoruba language.

Kelani disclosed that even in Nigeria, and with the available record from the NFVCB, the number of indigenous films has increased, especially with the Hausa, Yoruba and Edo films. That for him is a major development and growth. He commended the NFVCB for honouring him, and noted that the event was the first time that he was really being well honoured by Nigeria and outside the country.

Kelani is a highly acclaimed filmmaker and a driving force behind the hugely popular and prolific Nollywood home video sector. Working variously as director, producer, cinematographer, editor, writer and actor, Kelani has been making films in Nigeria for more than 20 years.

Okome, who delivered a paper on “The perception of Nollywood in Europe”, commended the NFVCB for attending the festival, and appreciated Ms Patricia Bala, Ag. Director-General (DG) of the Board. According to him, a lot of European students are now doing postgraduate studies in Nollywood, and the Board must, as a matter of urgency, create a platform to assist the students since the Board is a repository of information about Nollywood.

He disclosed that the foreign students would be sent to Nigeria to do their research on the industry which would eventually benefit the Board in particular and the country in general. Topics such as “The Influence of Nollywood, distribution and content” and “The Perception of Nollywood as an industry” were areas of interest from which different issues were discussed during the 9-day event.

It would be recalled that NFVCB was involved in the inauguration of the Nollywood Studies Centre (NSC) by Emeka Mba, former DG of the Board. First of its kind in Africa, and indeed the world, the initiative has been designed to digitize and archive Nollywood (and other African) films as well as literature. It was meant to facilitate access for scholars seeking to research the film industry.

Nigeria's One Party System by Yemi Olakitan

                                              Pic: Nigeria's Past Heads of State

Verily, verily, i say unto you except Nigeria is united it shall by no means enter into his true prosperity and greatness which God has prepared for his people.  It is a shame that till now, Nigerians have not realized that we are practicing a one party system although we have several political parties. We claim that this is a multi party democracy. Look at the scenario that we find ourselves, since the military relinquished power to former president Olusegun Obasanjo who ruled the nation for eight years; two terms in office, the PDP has occupied the nation's number one office consistently. President Olusegun Obasano handed over to the late former President Umaru Musa Yar Ardua who died in office and left power for his Vice President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. All these presidents were PDP candidates, the ruling party. You see, the ruling party does not have a strong opposition. We have a number of political parties who have refused to merge and cannot put together a strong opposition. 
  Without a strong opposition party, the government in power will not be on its toes. The government in power cannot be challenged and when it is not adequately challenged it cannot be held accountable. It affects the nature of our politics. We are not playing a politics of ideas and issues but of ethnicity and parochial interests which gives birth to Boko Haram and make the nation unable to tackle corruption in high places.
        We need to rise up to the challenge. Our political parties must come together to form a strong opposition to the ruling party, not because the ruling party is bad but because it need to be put on its toes, so that it can serve the people of Nigeria to its fullest capacity, and so that it can realize its full potentials. Otherwise, let it get out of the way so that another party can take its place. if it has better agenda, better ideology and a better way of serving the Nigerian people. When are we going to have a more vibrant democracy in Nigeria? How long are we going to continue with the one party system. We can not even enjoy steady electricity supply. unemployment is on top of the roof. Our political parties should stand up. It is better to have two strong and able political parties than several that are not strong enough in terms of resources and ideas that can hold our only party, PDP accountable. A WORD IS A ENOUGH FOR THE WISE