Nigerian Oil Workers Threaten Nationwide Strike From Monday

Scarcity of fuel may likely spread across the nation from Monday as oil workers brace themselves for a confrontation with the Federal Government on numerous unresolved labour issues.

Premium Times reports that the oil workers, under sponsorship of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association [PENGASSAN] and their counterparts in the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers [NUPENG], are set to begin a nationwide strike Monday.



The strike is taking place as a result of the expiration of the notice given to the government for the resolution of some labour issues affecting their members as well as other national issues affecting the operation of the petroleum industry.

An official of PENGASSAN, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, told PREMIUM TIMES that some of the contentious issues include the decision of the management of Total Nigeria to sack the PENGASSAN zonal Secretary in Port Harcourt and the lack of promotion for workers of the Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF).

According to the official, the unions are concerned that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) sent to the National Assembly for consideration and approval more than two years ago is yet to be passed.

“We (the oil workers) have sufficient reasons, based on information available to us, to believe that the law makers are not prepared to pass the law, even as the state of the country’s petroleum industry has continued to deteriorate as a result of the absence of a regulatory and legal framework for the industry,” the official said.

Information available to the oil workers, he said, has to do with a plot by the Senate to move a motion on resumption this week to demand the setting aside of further considerations and deliberations on the PIB till the next legislative session.

The PIB was one of the key draft laws entrusted by the previous legislative assembly for deliberation and approval by the incumbent legislators.

“This does not augur well for the future of the country’s oil industry, as new investments would continue to elude the country, to the benefit of other oil producing nations around the continent, if the law is not passed. This is not acceptable,” the official said.

The oil workers said they have uncovered plans by the government to go ahead with the sale of the country’s four refineries, which has always met a hard struggle by Nigerians in recent past.


For some time now, the oil workers said crude oil allocation to the refineries for local petroleum products refining have consistently reduced from 60 to 30 per cent and then to zero.

The plan by government, the unions said, is to make the refineries appear unviable and their rehabilitation impossible as a way of making their eventual sale attractive to Nigerians.

The unions are also protesting against alleged poor funding to the Petroleum Training Institute [PTI], which was established as the technology training institution for the country’s petroleum industry.

It would be recalled that last week PENGASSAN was going to embark on a three day warning strike in protest against the delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and other anti-labour activities of employers in the oil and gas sector.

Sources;naij.com

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A Story Of How Tenants Live As Prisoners In A 500 Room House

The poor and extreme conditions of living of tenants as prisoners in this vast and hugely populated building is really heartbreaking and calls for deep concern.

An entrance into one of the blocks in the ‘estate’ Photo credit: Punch Newspaper

Okoli Nwabueze (not real name) covered in sweat as he made for the narrow entrance leading outside the block, cursed and grumbled angrily.

He was deep in slumber by the time the fan in his room stopped rolling that afternoon and so couldn’t make it out on time to enjoy cool, ‘precious’ breeze.

Lacking proper ventilation, electricity supply was the only means to keep the temperature within the room normal. Last year, when he paid N140, 000 as rent and related charges for 12 months to move into Agboye ‘Estate’, a gigantic structure with over 500 rooms stretching on about four plots of land on Oduntan Street, Ketu, Lagos, this was not what he expected. The situation leaves him deeply frustrated.

“The heat inside my room is crazy,” he said, nodding his head in complete dejection. “There is no ventilation and so whenever there’s power outage the place becomes very hot. This was not what I expected when I paid for the house last year. I never knew I was moving into a prison yard. I can’t use generator or other household appliances even after paying so much as rent. This is really crazy,” he fumed.
Sources;naij.com

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Etisalat Internet Plans And Activation Code with their duration.(smartphones)

Etisalat Internet Plans And Activation Code with their duration.Etisalat 24hrs day data plan
Monetary value:N100
Mb available: 10mb
Plan validity :1 day plan 24 Hours.
Activation Code(assud):Text MI1 to 229 or dial *229*3*1#

Etisalat 1 week data plan
Monetary value: N500
Mb available: 50MB Etisalat data
Plan validity:1 week plan (7 days)
Activation code (ussd):Text MI2 to 229 or dial *229*3*4#

List of 1 month data plan

Etisalat 1 month data plan
Monetary value: N1000
Mb available:
Plan validity:Etisalat data
Activation code(ussd):Text MB2 to 229 or dial *229*2*1#.

Etisalat N2000 data plan
Mb available:500mb
Activation codeText MB3 to 229 or dial*229*2*2#

Etisalat N4000 data plan
Mb available:1.5g
Activation Code(ussd):Text MB4 to 229 or dial *229*2*4#

Etisalat N6500 data plan
Mb available:3g
Activation code(ussd):Text MB5 to 229 or dial *229*2*3# .

Etisalat N8000 data plan
Mb available: 6gb
Activation code(ussd):Text MB6 to 229 or dial *229*2*5#.

Etisalat N10000 data plan
Mb available:10gigs
Activation code(ussd):Text SM1 to 229 or dial *229*4*1#

Etisalat N15,000 data plan
Mb available:15gigs
Activation code(ussd):Text SM2 to 229 or dial *229*4*2#.

Etisalat N4000 Data Plan
Monetary value:N4000
Mb available:it is limited o.
Plan validity: Night and weekend plan.
Activation code:Text MB7 to 229 or dial*229*3*3#.

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CHEAP DATA PLAN FOR AIRTEL ANDROID USERS

How To Subscribe For Airtel New Data Plans For Android Users

Some of you Nigerian Android users must be aware of the mass petition which was fowarded to the NCC about data plans for android and how network and data providers should help in reducing the cost of acquiring data for their android device instead of the usual cost which is the same as that of computer and laptop users pay for data. Airtel has finally provided its users with a reduced cost of acquiring data for their android device.

 

So if you are a android user which also has a airtel sim or you are a full airtel user than this will be good news for you, as now you can get higher data for reduced prices, Now to get straight to the point, there are two kind of the android data package and they are;
Airtel Android 2.0 Bundle : N2000 for 2 Gigs
Airtel Android 4.5 Bundle: N3,500 for 4.5 Gigs

Yea, not so big a change right? I know that but what can we say, we need data on our android devices, so let just keep hoping and praying that one day it will be lesser as to help everyone to be able to subscribe for data for their mobile phones and be able to surf the internet like how other countries are doing.

BURN RATE
1 kobo/kb from 9:59pm - 5:59am & 1.5 kobo/kb from 5:59am - 9:59pm

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Windows Tablets For $65

What does a good cup of Java cost you these days? A couple of bucks, right? So all you need to do is give up coffee for a little over a month and you could save up enough cash to buy a new Windows tablet.

Granted these machines are not going win any speed prizes, but they are real and they are cheap. The Emdoor I8170 is 7 inch and the Ployer MOMO8 is 8 inches and they are both priced at just $65, which makes them considerably cheaper than an OEM copy of Windows OS.

I must admit, I hadn’t heard of Emdoor or Ployer before this, but they are the firms behind these two new dirt-cheap tablets. So, what do you get for $65? The Emdoor I8170 is a 7-inch tablet and Ployer’s MOMO8 is an 8-inch tablet. Both tablets feature an Atom Z3735G chip and 1GB of RAM. Their quad-core Atom Z3735G processors are superior to previous Atom processors, but they are still not quick by any stretch of the imagination. The machines come with 1GB of RAM and both come with 16GB of onboard storage. There is also a Micro SD slot included too.



You will not receive a Surface Pro-like experience from these Windows tablets, but then again, that is not what they are designed for. Hats off to Emdoor and Ployer for putting together a nifty pair of little devices for a small price.

A little gratitude also must go to Microsoft for giving manufacturers free Windows licenses to use on low-cost devices like these and also a huge Atom price cut from Intel means we are going to be seeing lots more tablets and laptops such as these coming to the table in the near future.

As always, if you would like to leave a sensible comment, then please do so in the comments section below.

[Image via umpcportal]

SOURCE: http://www.geek.com/microsoft/65-windows-tablets-cost-less-than-a-copy-of-windows-1606696/

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MasterCard to Come with Biometric Sensor

The pairing of iPhone 6 & NFC is great news for iPhone users, albeit a little behind the times, as some Android models have had this tech for a while now. But what about more standard methods of payment, like credit cards? Sure contactless payments are great for small purchases aren’t they? But are they as secure as you think?

The attraction to contactless payment cards is understandable, all you do is just wave your credit or debit card over a terminal and that’s it you’ve paid. This does have it’s downside however, as it also removes the PIN from the scenario. No PIN, means less security, ergo it is easy for someone to steal and then use your card for numerous small purchases until you block it.



How do we get around this issue? MasterCard is on the case. To combat this quandary and at the same time keeping contactless payments as easy as possible, MasterCard has recently announced the first credit card with a built-in fingerprint sensor for biometric security.

In theory the action of paying for goods or services should remain the same. When making a contactless purchase the card owner only needs to make sure their thumb is placed on the biometric sensor during the transaction. The card will obviously have the owner’s pre approved thumb print stored on it and if the thumb print isn’t detected during a transaction, then the purchase will not be processed.

The firm behind the technology, Zwipe will be releasing a version of their card for MasterCard in 2015 following on from a recent successful trial in Norway. The prototype carriers a battery attachment, which is too bulky, but in order to keep it as slim as the credit card already have in your wallet, Zwipe are working on a card that will be powered by energy from the payment terminal being used.

As always, if you would like to leave a sensible comment, then please do so in the comments section below.

[Image via absolutegeeks]

SOURCE: http://gizmodo.com/mastercard-will-offer-a-credit-card-with-a-fingerprint-1647567991

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Apple SIM Quietly Launched with iPad Air 2

After the recent Apple event, it has come to light that the new iPad includes a software-controlled SIM card, which will make it a great deal easier for consumers to change their network. Because of this, mobile carriers could be looking at a new threat to their reign of the networks.

Apple SIM has been in the pipeline for several years now and it will allow individuals to select a mobile network and pay on-screen. Apple themselves have said that it will allow people to switch networks more regularly and thereby get hold of the best deals. The iPad’s SIM is obviously marketed at those who travel, as it will be particularly useful for them. The Apple SIM will enable them to join a localised network abroad other than paying (usually high) roaming fees to their operator at in their home country.

Whenever you need it, you can choose the plan that works best for you – with no long-term commitments. And when you travel, you may also be able to choose a data plan from a local carrier for the duration of your trip…The Apple SIM gives you the flexibility to choose from a variety of short-term plans from select carriers in the US and UK right on your iPad,” said Apple.


Could Apple SIM make waves for operators and their customers?

This seems like a warning shot off the bow from Apple, in an attempt to cause a rift between mobile subscribers and their operators. I know what you are thinking, ‘tablet subscriptions only account for a small portion of revenues’ and you would be correct in thinking so. But, and this is a very big but, it is expected the technology will be introduced to the iPhone, which in the UK alone accounts for approximately a third of customers.

France Telecom’s EE is Britain’s biggest mobile operator, which has collaborated with Apple on new technology before, will be the only UK network to support Apple SIM. In the US AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile are supporting Apple SIM. Carriers may resist for a while, but they could soon face pressure from customers. If I were any of the other carriers, I would be afraid. Very afraid.

As always, if you would like to leave a sensible comment, then please do so in the comments section below.

[Image via ru.aliexpress]

SOURCE:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/telecoms/11168544/Mobile-operators-face-threat-from-Apple-iPads-SIM-card.html

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