• NLC bargains ₦497,00 as new minimum wage
• FG bans money rituals, smoking and crime scenes in Nollywood movies
• ASUU threatens to embark on nationwide strike
• Diesel price at Dangote Refinery rises as naira continues to depreciate
• Retired police officers protest at National Assembly over unpaid pensions

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn’t miss.

NLC bargains ₦497,00 as new minimum wage 

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has proposed ₦497,000 as the new and desirable amount, which they believe the government should accept as the new minimum wage.

Shortly after rejecting the federal government’s offer of ₦57,000 as the minimum wage, the third offer within a week, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have both decided to reduce their previous amount of ₦615,000 to ₦497,000 hoping the federal government will approve.

Within a week alone, the federal government has proposed to increase the minimum wage to ₦48,000, ₦54,000, and now ₦57,000, all of which have been refused by the Organised Labour, which stresses that these proposed amounts cannot cater to the needs of any Nigerian worker, especially since the inflation and high cost of living in the country.

FG bans money rituals, smoking and crime scenes in Nollywood movies

Nollywood filmmakers are about to take a different turn in producing their movies as the federal government has issued a ban on films that promote money rituals, smoking, and crime scenes.

The executive director of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Shuaibu Husseini, stated that the federal government banned these things as smoking caused health dangers and projecting sinister ways in which money can be made has a negative impact on the younger generation.

According to Husseini, the ban on these tropes had been approved by the Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa.

“The minister has approved the prohibition of money ritual, ritual killing, tobacco, tobacco products, nicotine product promotion and glamorisation display in movies, musical videos and skits,” he said.

ASUU threatens to embark on nationwide strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to strike nationwide if the federal government ignores its demands.

Prof. Adelaja Odukoya, the coordinator of the Lagos zone of the union, made this announcement after blaming the federal government for its delay and insensitivity towards the despair of the Union’s members and public universities.

“Our union assessed the outcomes of its engagements with the state and federal governments over the last few months on matters of the status of developments around the renegotiated 2009 Agreement, payment of owed salaries and earned academic allowances (EAA), unremitted deductions made by the disruptive and discredited IPPIS, proliferation of universities, and a number of other matters.”

Diesel price at Dangote Refinery rises as naira continues to depreciate

The price of diesel from Dangote Refinery has skyrocketed to ₦1,100/litre due to the unstable health of the Naira against the US dollar in the foreign exchange market.

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery recently increased its diesel selling fee from ₦940/litre to ₦1,100 after breaking the chain on April 17 when the price of diesel was slashed from ₦1,200 to ₦1,000.

Reports from some dealers have, however, shown that they purchase diesel at ₦1,200 rather than the ₦1,100, which it has been raised to.

Retired police officers protest at National Assembly over unpaid pensions

Many retired police officers have protested at the National Assembly in Abuja over months of unpaid pension fees.

The retired police officers called upon the President to remedy the ignorance of the government agencies that have refused to release their pension funds after involuntarily placing them on the contributory pension scheme.