Members of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage have been urged to approach the final stage of their assignment with honesty, patriotism, respect, and accommodation in the national interest.
Chairman of the committee, Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji, who made the call during the 4th plenary meeting of the Tripartite Committee, also emphasised the need to move beyond emotional appeals and embrace rational thinking, considering the numerous competing demands from citizens.
He urged members of the Committee to focus their minds on doing the right thing even when such a decision is difficult and goes against our position.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Head of Press, National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission, Emmanuel Njoku, the Chairman, a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, acknowledged the friendly, cordial, and informative nature of the assignment so far, expressing optimism that the remaining work will be completed with a sense of responsibility and love for country.
He encouraged robust discussions, understanding, and acceptable recommendations for a new National Minimum Wage.
The chairman stressed the importance of prioritizing the country’s interest, even when decisions are difficult and go against personal positions, emphasising that the Committee’s guiding principle should be “country first” and national interest.
He said: “The build-up to today in undertaking this national assignment has been friendly, cordial, educative, and informative which gives me a safe comfort that we shall run the remaining part of this national duty with a sense of responsibility and love of country.
“I will crave the indulgence of each one of us and solicit a robust discussion with a greater understanding of each other’s position and put forward an acceptable recommendation for a new National Minimum Wage.
“No matter how difficult the decisions are for everyone, there must be a decision. In this drive, the philosophy of country first and National Interest should be our guiding principle.
“We are all gathered here as leaders with massive and wide knowledge and experience on this matter and are representing the interests of our various constituencies in this assignment but today as far as all of us are concerned we only have one constituency which is Nigeria.
“For this reason, we must muster the courage to take responsibility for our decisions based on available information, data, the state of the economy, our level of production, and the level of inflation so that our recommendations for a new National Minimum Wage will be fair, realistic, affordable, implementable, and sustainable.”
Goni Aji expressed optimism that the spirit of give-and-take will prevail, leading to fair, realistic, affordable, implementable, and sustainable recommendations for a new National Minimum Wage.
He also referenced recent comments by former NLC President Comrade Adams Oshiomole and current President Comrade Joe Ajaero, who emphasized the need for policies that improve Nigerians’ quality of life and general well-being.
Alhaji Goni Aji agreed that the committee’s final recommendations should include policies that diversify the economy, check inflation, and boost agriculture to increase production.
“I agree with them that our last phase of the conversation should not throw this out so that a strong recommendation can go forward along the line of their thoughts” he noted.
The chairman urged members to focus on agreeing to a new minimum wage based on available knowledge, facts, figures, and data, aiming to conclude the assignment in the next few days.
Comrade Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) led a delegation of his team to the corporate headquarters of Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation newspaper titles in Lagos, last Thursday. The unionist who has had stints as a classroom teacher, reporter on the Labour beat before veering into activism spoke extensively with our top editorial staff, clarifying the ideology behind the NLC; attempting a prognosis of the minimum wage crisis, its nuances and question of who is right and wrong within the debate; the crisis between Congress and the Labour Party; and the first year of the Tinubu administration, among others. Excerpts:
To what do we owe this visit?
It is a home coming for me. When I was elected as the NLC President, I wanted to start this mission to visit the media houses as a form of homecoming, at least to explain the intricacies of the job we do at the NLC because there seems to be a lot of misconception that the NLC exists only for strikes. And if we don’t tell people what we do, you’ll hear questions like when are you going on strike? It’s a wrong perception, so we needed to correct that. At the NLC, it’s a job where you can’t spend one week out. Something must come up. Each time we said we would start this media tour, something would come up and we would put it on hold. It was either people were sacked there or there was one policy or the other that you needed to tackle. But this time around we said no matter the situation, we would be around to visit some media houses and then take another break and by the time we resume the tour, we will visit the others. So, The Nation happened to be among the few we said we have to visit first and foremost before taking a break.
It’s a homecoming and we feel we need to be here to interact with our people for us to know what is happening and why we behave the way we behave.
If my father is the president of the country tomorrow, we won’t be at par. There is no way we are going to agree. That is how difficult the office is because you have principals from every worker even those earning N1 and they are hungry. So they (these subgroups) must put pressure on you and some people have to maintain stability in the nation and do some other things. So, midway, you people must disagree but at the end of the day, we have to agree in the interest of the nation or what some people call compromise. But when you look at the corporate image of the country and the stability of the country and you want us to meet halfway, it is subjected to various interpretations. So, we felt we should come here and meet with you, especially to shed more light on the vexatious issue of the minimum wage.
What informed the N615, 000 monthly proposed as minimum wage?
Talking about the minimum wage, there have been lots of interpretations. But do we have a choice? We don’t have a choice. Like what we presented to the Federal Government, N615, 000. But if you ask us to represent the same thing today, it’s going to increase. (general laughter). And the reason is this:when we were presented that (N615K) areas like tariffs had not increased.So where are we going to get money to pay for the tariff and these things that are happening? We gave them provisos that look, if the indices remain the way they are,it is still N615K.But if they (indices) come down as we are negotiating, we will look at it (proposed minimum wage). Of course, N30K is a lot of money in any currency but the value of our currency is not there. Ordinarily, you can say if somebody is paid N30K it is big. But you can’t earn $30K in the USA or £30K in the UK because their economy is in order. Inflation is checked to a certain level. But in our own case, as we are earning this N615 now, in the next two weeks, things would go high. So those are some of the things affecting us but some people may think that we just woke up from sleep and said give us N615K.
In arriving at N615K, we allocated N40K for accommodation. Whether you stay in Orile (a suburb of Lagos) occupying a room and a parlour, for a family of husband and wife and four children, that’s what the federal government approved. So if you have a grandmother or mother-in-law, you’re on your own because we didn’t factor in those ones. And we assigned N500 per person for that family of six per meal. I want somebody to tell us that if you eat at mamaput there, let’s assume you eat without meat. So that N500 per person is N1, 500 per person in a day for six persons and in a month, you are going to have N270K for feeding. We looked at medicals. We said, assuming that there is not going to be surgery or anything complicated, let’s put N50K. We looked at education, let’s hope that you don’t send your children to private school, we put N50K. We then looked at utilities as in the electricity bill, we said N20K, and that was before the tariff increase. But if you buy a unit of N20K now, for those of you that use it, you know how long it would last. We now looked at gas, kerosene energy components.If you pay N15K 0r N17K to fill a gas cylinder now, within two weeks, it’s gone and in a month you fill your cylinder twice. So we allocated about N30-35K. So that is the breakdown. We didn’t make provisions for communication because you are not supposed to use GSM,so, your boss can’t even call you. You’re not supposed to take any form of refreshment or even buy soda. Or even pay offering in the church or tithe. In this our calculation, you’re not supposed to have a car because you cannot fill a tank with N30K or even service the vehicle, not even a motorcycle. So those are some of the things that make up this N615K, bearing any other increase or inflationary trend or the rate at which the currency is being devalued and we have placed it before the federal government for negotiation. Of course, when there is an offer, there is usually a counter offer. We expect the government to disapprove of it and say this one you are asking we cannot accept. But you (government) say it will create inflation. But we say inflation is already here with us. Of all other components, wage has remained constant. In other words the price of everything is going up whether transportation, school fees, accommodation and so on. So, should wage remain constant and still be able to take care of other variables? So those are the conditions we found ourselves in and we felt that if we don’t explain ourselves, nobody will know and we are not going to assume people know and that is what is driving us all over. If all these factors are checked, we will be arriving at another thing.
Based on the explanations you have given nobody can argue with the things you have said. But in a country where the N30K minimum wage some state governments have not been able to pay, in fact the bulk of them are not even paying it. Do you really think that despite the fact that we have agreed that these things are of necessity, do you see a situation where the federal government can pay N615K? So the question is the issue of affordability. What information do you have that convinces you that the government can pay?
Well, I quite understand the position you have taken. I think there are a few state governments that are not paying or some are paying in breaches. But on the issue of whether they can pay, yes they can pay if they get their priority right. They can pay. In fact, in the National Assembly, their wages have almost tripled. If you come to an economy and you’re having this issue of affordability and or what not, everybody must be disciplined. We are talking about state governments that can’t afford and others can afford it. But the wage system in Nigeria is the same thing whether you are a governor of Sokoto, Kebbi, or Lagos, they pay the same wage and then nobody has considered that since I’m coming from a state that cannot generate N1billion in revenue a month; I’m not supposed to earn this amount of salary. So, let’s earn according to the revenue of my state. If you go to the State Houses of Assembly, even councilors , they have the same level of payment. Now, the issue of minimum wage is a benchmark for which others can pay because if you leave it open, some starts will not even pay N10K. If the current N30K was a product of legislation, it would have been a different matter entirely. That’s why the state governments have been kicking that the minimum wage should be sent into the concurrent list so that they can decide whether to pay N5K or not as minimum wage. But ideally, the states are supposed to pay above the minimum wage. If you check, states like Edo, while we are paying N30K, they are paying N40K. Some others are paying N35K. Most states are paying more than N30K. The N30K minimum wage is for people on Level 1 Step 1. Of course, in the employment relationship these days, it is only when you start getting to Level 4 that you still see people working at that level, especially those who came in with O’Levels. So, in most instances, it is difficult to find anybody earning N30K; it’s from N35K and above. Even when these complaints came during the Buhari era, and he released money from the Sovereign Wealth Fund for the state governments to pay salaries, they didn’t use it to pay salaries, rather they diverted it. So, it’s not all about whether there is money, but it’s just priority. It doesn’t matter to some of them. And I can recall that during the May Day programme when I went to deliver the lecture in Edo State, Governor Godwin Obaseki said workers are suffering. But while you are still negotiating, we are going to start paying N70K. But when the Federal Government approves, we are going to implement it. Now that shows the willingness to pay and move ahead. However, on this N615K, that is what a worker needs to survive without savings. We had to present it. I can’t present a wage system for a worker where we remove accommodation, what will I tell them ?or where I will remove feeding. It is bad enough that we are saying that we want to feed somebody with N500 per meal. Besides, the index that the United Nations brought was that no human being can survive on less than $2 per day. And if you look at $2 per day for six members of the family, in a day you are having $12 and in 30 days, you’re having $360 for feeding based on the global index that no one can live on less than $2 per day. This one we are talking of tariff now, what they use in measuring tariff is inflationary rate and the foreign exchange and these things are not constant variables. If you increase tariffs today, it will lead to inflation and that further increase leads to inflation and it becomes a merry-go-round. Once those factors are checked, things can change. Remember, in this calculation, we did not factor in payment of taxes. If you watch now they are talking about 0.5 percent cybersecurity tax on all transactions. So these are factors. What we presented was just based on the cost of living index. Should we have asked for a wage that somebody would just use to eat and nothing else? That’s what informed what we asked for. But if other variables are checked and brought down, the figures will change.
You have proposed N615K, let’s assume now that the government says ok, we have heard you. Give or take, we cannot afford more than this amount, say N80K. What would be your stand then?
N80K is big money in any currency. But we say you have to check this and that so that at least we can go to work and come back. If you spend N3K every day from N80K, you may not be able to go to work and come back. So, we have to look at that. When the current government first came into power and they removed subsidy, we made a proposal of CNG as the alternative source. If you have Lagos roads flooded with CNG busses, anybody that is paying N3K may just need N1K to go to work and back. Now, you have checked that problem of transportation even the market women carrying their products whatever they are expending as cost of transportation is going to reduce. If the subsidy was not withdrawn when it was withdrawn, may be N80K would have been a very big boost for us. But that singular action of removing the subsidy affected many other things. So if we look at issues that have multiplier effects and address them, that N80K itself is big money and people will clamour for it. It’s not just the figure such as millions or thousands that matters; it’s all about what it can purchase and what we can take home with it. If they call us now we are ready. And I remember we had a proviso that wages should no longer be reviewed every five years. If you are talking of N80K, and that is what we can do now, we have a short time review period because if you leave it for the next five years, from the way things are, because N30K lasted for five years and it lost its meaning. If you are looking at any wage now, and we have maybe a two year duration, we can say after two years let’s have a reopener clause to determine we should increase it by three percent and if we decide to do it arithmetically, the percentage of the inflation if it is 3 percent, we adjust the wage based on that and we will not be breaking our heads on this matter. All we need to do is to look at the percentage of inflation every year and it will self-adjust and look at all those issues. We should not be dogmatic in our wage system and figures.
Are you saying with that kind of template, the wage bill can come down?
Yes all things being equal, although things are never equal in economics. (General laughter).
The Federal Government has about one million workers on its payroll and a wage bill of about N240-N250million monthly, so if the N615K you are asking for is implemented, how much do you think the government can pay?
Part of the problem is that each time there is subsidy or fuel increase in place, there is usually an intensive fight. There are times either they reverse or they reduce. This time around, they said Ajaero go and negotiate wages. You know how much we are realising every day in trillions. So in trying to go and negotiate wages, we are conscious of the fact that this is the only way we receive money. And that trillions have been coming in because if that singular issue of subsidy was not touched, my people won’t be asking for more than N150K today by way of demand. But the moment it (subsidy) was touched, we were asked to go to the table to go and negotiate wages. And momentarily, we moved into 35 percent wage award which they are paying to about N35K today, pending when we are going to go into wage negotiation. If things remain the way they are today, we can even ask for more and not reduce.
Are you discussing outside of the forces of wages alone since you are talking about other variables that could bring down the cost? For instance, you mentioned CNG; those are areas that can help moderate the economy. If you double the wage to N60K, that would help some people but a lot of people are outside the wage framework and would be left behind and that would further put pressure on the wages. Again, it brings down inflation because it would also generate inflationary spiral. So are you discussing outside of those wage structure because ultimately if you are talking of those variables the fact of the matter is that you also need to get the government to commit to the CNG programmes,NHIS for instance that would take off the burden of out-of-pocket expenses to services healthcare for workers and so on.
Between June last year and now , within three months we would have flooded the roads with CNG buses. In fact, at a stage we had to bring in Innoson, which started producing vehicles that are CNG compliant. It is usually double. What you need to bring is a conversion kit and you can switch over top CNG or to PMS. And Nigeria’s gas deposit is such that it can last for the next 500 years; it’s clean energy. If we had achieved that in the first six or three months, you wouldn’t need to go to the street transportation fare would have just crashed. Now, if that was done before the removal of fuel subsidy, no Nigerian would resist and nobody would have known that there is removal of subsidy. But by the time you removed it prices were going up with no alternatives in sight.
We equally consulted people who are in that field and said we have gotten a bank to finance this at N320 per vehicle and then you can pay back for a period of three years as workers. We met with the federal government. The same people that were asking us about the meaning of CNG , they brought their own consultants who presented a bill of N800 and they set up a committee on that. And the committee as at today is not labour and government because there is disparity and then one may be faulting the ones we brought and say they are quacks or whatever. So, between that time and now, that assignment has not been concluded and they said they released some money for bringing in some CNG buses because transportation is at the centre of this thing. If that had happened, we won’t be asking for this amount today. But we made such proposals, even the issue of tax relief. If you check now, the taxes you are saddled with are a lot. Why will somebody tax your housing or do they expect you to live on the streets? Why will somebody tax your medical expenses? So if you’re sick you won’t go to the hospital? So, we are asking for tax holidays. When we were discussing with the government, we were the same people that said the refineries in this country must work. Those are the alternatives we had provided before now. If you stop the importation of PMS and all these products, you will reduce the pressure on foreign exchange. Some of these things would have brought our demands down. So, we are not looking at it from one point; we are taking it holistically. If ABCD is done, this would be the position and vice versa. So we are open for debate to discuss measures that can address this.
So, how far have you gone with the negotiation with the government?
You know we have done the necessary field work. There were consultations across the six geopolitical zones and then we brought out the factors. And the negotiating now said NLC, TUC, go and bring your position. That was when we went to harmonise our position and came up with N615K. From that time till date, they were not calling for a meeting. But after May Day, precisely last night (last Wednesday), they sent us messages for a Zoom meeting scheduled for May 15th. But I don’t know how we can negotiate real wages from a Zoom meeting? As some of you will remember that at some point a certain amount was being peddled either N1billion or N2billion or N800million for the committee to meet. So, you can see that if there is a Zoom meeting on this subject matter, the extent to which it is going to achieve our aim or target is another thing because I don’t want a situation whereby you will be in a Zoom meeting and somebody will shut you up and not allow you to contribute.
What is the bone of contention between Labour and the Labour Party?
Ordinarily, if not for greed, corruption, you won’t hear anything. Labour Party all over the world is owned by the trade unions whether the Labour Party in the UK or anywhere else. The bone of contention or what some of the people are saying about the ownership or whatever is not in doubt. I think in around 1918. Wallace Johnson, a Sierra Leonean journalist was the first person that touted the idea of Labour Party. Around 1945, the likes of Michael Imoudu formed the first Labour Party. He repeated it in 1963-1964. But in 1987, Pascal Bafyau came up with another Labour Party, which came about fourth position during the IBB political experiment. In 2000, at the NLC National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, that was when we decided to have another Labour Party. Then NLC President Adams Oshiomhole tried to advise that we join other parties, and I think we overruled him. But the question then was that if we came up with a Labour Party that the government in power then would not recognise or allow to scale through the registration. So we now came up with the Party for Social Democracy (PSD). That was how we registered the party then. And at the first convention we changed the name to Labour Party. So the issue of ownership wasn’t in doubt. The first National Chairman was the President of National Union of Banks, Dan Nwuanyanwu. When he left, because he took the certificate from us to do some verification at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he brought back the certificate. The certificate is still in my office now. The second chairman of the party was Abdulsalami Maku, the then General Secretary of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE). Even the last one, Abure was a State Secretary of the National Union of Post and Telecoms. Nobody has been the chairman of that party without being a trade unionist. Now even all the deputies like Apampa, who has his own faction was a tanker driver and member of NUPENG.Precisely, he was chairman of NLC in Oyo State. The other person, Madam Ladi Ilia, was the first chairperson of NLC Women Committee and President of the Non Academic Staff Union. So, it is the party of the trade union.There was no convention for Abure anywhere on earth. So when Abdulsalsami died, there were two or three deputies. He (Abure) was an Assistant Secretary. His president then came to beg us then when Dr. Olusegun Mimiko was the Ondo State governor for him to run as Assistant Secretary under Kayode Ajulo, who was then the Secretary of the Labour Party. And when Ajulo left, he started acting. From acting, he now called for a convention in Edo State and he succeeded himself as chairman from the position of Assistant Secretary. And there were three or four deputies. That was how the crisis in the Labour Party started till date. So around 2018, there was a consent judgement. I think Ayuba Wabba then NLC President and others went and blocked their office and they took the matter to court. That consent judgement provided among other things an all-inclusive convention from ward congresses, local government congresses before you now do the national congress. And he now came out and begged Ayuba that he (Abure) needed to be there for the 2023 presidential election, that if there was a convention then the party might not stabilise before the election. And he (Abure) signed an MOU with Ayuba. Then I wasn’t president yet. In that MOU, he agreed to hand over on the 27th of June 2023 after the presidential elections. So it was within this period that I emerged as the NLC president. On that 27th I wrote a letter to him to remind about the MOU. But he started dodging and he hasn’t handed over. We asked him about ward congress, local government congress, and state congresses, but he doesn’t want to do anything at all. So, I think last month, we read in the newspapers that he wanted to do a National Convention and that was when we were alarmed. That was why people protested at the Labour Party office. I don’t go there. Because people protested there, he started calling us names. That the money he kept somewhere that the NLC people have collected. I don’t know the bank he went to do the withdrawal. And he brought in almost three trucks of DSS and the DPO in Sabo Police station there.Journalists were all there. So I don’t know when the NLC went to carry the money. Instead of addressing the issue he is grabbing at the straw. At first, he wanted to go and do the convention in Abia State. I think it has changed. Why you want to do the national convention of a party in a village in Nnewi, is what I don’t know. There was no list of delegates who were going to do the convention and the process that produced the delegates remained unknown because there were no forms in the first place. No journalist was allowed in. So, he came out to say he is the National Chairman at a National Convention where there was no presence of INEC. If you are in my shoes and you are the custodian of the party what will you do? The party has institutional membership. As trustees of the party are we going to watch the way things are going? That is why we told him that look, things don’t happen that way. Inasmuch as I will not be NLC President and running the party, even as an institutional automatic member of NEC, I have not attended the NEC meeting. So there is no conflict in the role we are playing. But we don’t understand why the Labour Party should charge people N30million or N10million for nomination form. The main basis for which we formed the party was to take care of the less privileged. That is ordinary Nigerian workers who can’t afford that money can contest elections. And we realised that objective in 2023 with okada riders going to the NASS. It is only in the Labour Party that such things can happen because we gave those forms for free to about two of them and today they’re in the NASS. We gave forms to peasants, farmers, because we felt we were running a party for them and then suddenly, someone is charging somebody N10million. Where do you expect people to get that kind of money? So, I wish to reiterate here that there is no conflict whatsoever and whatever thing you are seeing is propaganda.
You have dealt with the formation and ownership of the party. We are talking about systems here. You have the NLC and then you have the Labour Party. The Labour Party has its own constitution and in that constitution there should be a mechanism for resolving issues like this. That is why people are alarmed that the NLC has no role resolving the issues that the Labour Party is facing. Issues should be resolved in the way that the constitution has spelt out. That is why people are alarmed that you (the NLC) are resorting to self-help. Are there no people in the Labour Party that can challenge the leadership of the Labour Party?
Well, this is a party with a difference. It is a party with institutional membership and it’s not like any other party you know. And I want you to note that even the court judgement was clear about this. It was the same constitution that gave us roles even as NLC President, NLC Secretary and whatever including the roles in the party and even those in the state. That is why I am telling you that there is a different configuration of the party. Now, unless it happens tomorrow and if you are a trustee of any organisation, you don’t watch helplessly. Now, what you are seeing as interventions are not takeover of the party by the NLC to run it. Like I tried to explain to you, yes, some of our past leaders assumed positions there but you will not see me making statements on behalf of the Labour Party. And that was why we deliberately formed a political commission. All the things happening in the Labour Party or that you are hearing are not coming from the desk of the NLC President.
You won’t read a statement on this their lingering disagreement from the NLC President or the NLC General Secretary. No. We have a Commission specifically meant to interface with them and report back because if as the president I will be the same person issuing out statement and would be the same person that would preside over the resolution of conflicts, there is already a conflict. So it’s the Commission that is interfacing with the party over what is happening and they are not doing it with a view to taking over. And then, if you now see total dictatorship in the Labour Party, where you don’t have ward congresses as required in democracy and there is nobody in the ward who will elect the local government officers or even at the state level? If you don’t have state delegates, how do you now have delegates for the national convention? Even if we come around to it, we are not interfering in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and we can’t even say a word about what is happening in the All Progressives Congress (APC) or any other political party. This is the way the Labour Party is and the way it was conceived for the interest of the working class. So, each time there is a violation, we intervene and say no go and do it right but it is not taking over and running the party.
When you were attacked in Imo, there was public outcry. With the benefit of insight would you have adopted a different approach in your intervention in that state?
If I go to Imo now, I will be more prepared. (General laughter).
How?
If I knew they were going to attack me, I would have increased my security because I had security then. I even met with the DG of DSS in Abuja before going for that trip. I had 13 policemen and about seven naval personnel, whom they withdrew officially before attacking me.
These security personnel accompanied you to Imo?
No. They were the ones on ground in Imo. Now what happened in Imo was a case of labeling a class of workers as ghost workers even when they come to work every day. The wage bill in Imo was about N1-2billion and somebody said, no I will not pay more than N700million. The people that couldn’t get it were tagged ghost-workers and pensioners. Unfortunately, it all started before me. When the issue was on, the State Chairman of the Labour Party had to run from the state. Attempts were made to deal with him at the secretariat and in his house. So, we had to look for the person next to him to be acting chairman in Imo. I remember Ayuba at the NEC meeting we decided to send people to the government in Imo state. They said Ajaero go and I said that is my state. They now asked the deputy, who is now the current governor of Kebbi State ,Nasir, to lead the delegation and he went to see the governor and he had an agreement with the governor. One of the agreements was that they were going to do biometrics between the union and the government to ascertain how many people were affected by the policy. But it was not done in the case of Imo. And then we took a decision at the NLC NEC meeting on Imo, Rivers, Kaduna, Osun and Abia; that we were going to picket them and do protest rallies in those states. So, we went to Port Harcourt. Nyesome Wike, after telling us that we were not wanted but when we arrived, he said, give me five minutes. We had a meeting with him, resolved the matter and in fact, he even denied that he was occupying our secretariat because the police vacated before we went there. Then we went to Kaduna where we had a real tough battle with Governor Nasir El Rufai again. Then, it remained Imo and Abia when I emerged as the president of the NLC. I remembered that in Imo State before we addressed it we had elections in the whole states of the federation of NLC leadership. The Commissioner of Information in Imo Emelumba Mbadiwe called me and said Ajaero , we don’t want candidate A. So, on the day of the election they sent thugs there to disrupt the election. The workers informed us and we said go ahead with the election. I now called the Road Transport Union and others, instructing them that if your people are there withdraw them. They now sent the DPO of the Imo State House of Assembly to go there and disperse workers, telling them that this is power from above. On the basis of that because nature abhors vacuum, we set up a Caretaker Committee. We did the same in Abia and Osun States, because we couldn’t conclude elections there. Later the Imo state government said they didn’t recognise the Caretaker Committee. Of course, you know that the state government is not the one who will tell us those to appoint in the Caretaker Committee. That was how the problem in Imo started. If our Caretaker Committee issues statements the state government would ask their own stooges whom they support to write a counterstatement. It then appeared as if there were two NLC excos in Imo state: one reporting to the state government and the other reporting the NLC. So on May Day the Caretaker Committee wrote to apply for venue for the rally but nobody gave them a venue as such, so we now asked them to use our office. And they were in our office when they were attacked. Some people were hospitalised. That was the second attack. On the basis of that we responded to what was happening in Imo state. Thereafter, we signed an agreement with the governor again on how to set up committees to verify these claims about ghost-workers, which he didn’t do from that May Day till November when this attack came, we now said ok, we will be in Imo state. At the end of a joint NEC meeting with TUC, we decided to inform all unions asking their members to present a list of affected workers. From the local government alone, I had over 1, 000 names with their names, phone numbers and also asked them to indicate the last time they were paid. Some had not collected their pay in over three years because they call them ghost-workers. From the NUT alone, we had about 3, 000 in that order. So we said all these people being owed come, let’s go to Government House and meet with the governor assuming his commissioners are not telling him the truth. It was on arrival that I was attacked. I was just arriving at the NLC secretariat when the attack came. Even tomorrow if you ask me whether I would take a similar action, I will say yes. I was even in my house when someone told me that people were being attacked and the burden of leadership demands that I should step out and that’s what I did. Ordinarily, I could have avoided being attacked because the first people that arrived there were attacked and they seized their phones. But I had to step out. That’s exactly what happened. Whether the scenario or situation comes up in another place and if I will go there or not; I will go because I have been assigned to do this job.
It seems to me that you rehearsed very well for this outing because we were all expecting an Ajaero that would be banging the tables and all…
(General laughter)
In the next couple of weeks the Tinubu government will be one year in office. How do you rate the government in terms of its performance? Also insecurity is an issue which the government promised to tackle. We complained that we don’t have enough police but both public servants and private citizens move with hordes of security personnel and sometimes you find one individual having a retinue of over 10 personnel at their beck and call. For instance you had about 13 policemen and seven naval officers assigned to you to go to Imo alone…
(General laughter).
Wait sir, I don’t have one. I drove to this office alone.
The opinion out there is that you are against the current APC ruling government outright and you don’t seem to see anything good in this government. How will you react to that? Besides you were advised one time that you should wait till 2027.
(General laughter)
I would have avoided assessment of his one year in office because I can only talk from the point of view of Labour. I don’t want to go into general assessment or politics. If you watch May Day, the president’s speech was delivered by the Vice President (Kashim Shettima). He said I’m not taking your patience for granted. Contrary to whatever anybody might think of, we know we have been patient with this government; very, very patient. If I wasn’t the person there… I have been called all manner of names. Unknown to you people have called me an APC member, just as many people believed I have been settled behind closed doors. But that’s the world we have found ourselves. These are things that go with this office at any point in time. So, if you are occupying this office you must take blows. But the fact is that Mr. President tried to even justify us when he said we should wait for him in 2027. If not for that statement, we rallied one day and said, ok, we were not going to rally the second day. We wanted to prove something that day. It simply shows that the NLC decides when to take an action and when to withdraw. Apparently Mr. President was not happy. Some Nigerians called us names for not coming out the second day. So, in my position you can see that I’m neither here nor there because you still take directives from your members. If I’m assessing Mr. President for one year in office from the point of view of Labour, I can tell you pointblank that we are yet to get the wage he promised. In fact, he used the word living wage when he was inaugurating the committee. He promised to give Nigerian workers a living wage and everybody was full of expectations. But it has not happened close to the end of one year. So, you can see that, that anxiety is still there that Mr. President has not been fulfilled. We are still very anxious and as we are await something better so that we can take it back to workers. The cost of living has gone very high and as partners we suggested this issue of CNG and other measures to solve it and which has not happened. But if these things happen, you can be sure of our support. I think we have done continuous assessment; we are only waiting for the menu to be served. We have calculated our scores for Mr. President so when we get the main exams we will take it further from there.
Yes, we have acknowledged the issue of wage awards. We acknowledge the fact that work is still ongoing with the Port Harcourt refinery. All these things are work in progress so to say but the actual result has not come out. So it is difficult to do this assessment midway. I told you I don’t want to go into the issue of politics. NLC is made up of members who belong to various political parties. It’s not all NLC members that are in Labour Party. For the first time in my life I had to attend a political rally where I went to campaign for an APC member in Kebbi. I’m a Nigerian, and as such, I can support anybody I so wish. Because we realised that the PDP was taking over Kebbi and we had a colleague, a former deputy chairman of NLC running for governorship. At a point, we had to be partisan under APC and as luck would have it he emerged as the governor. We told him he should carry out the things he is supposed to do. I was in Edo state when Comrade Oshiomhole ran for the governorship. He ran on the platform of Labour Party before they now brought about the amalgamation of political parties that delivered him. We equally produced the state chairman in Niger State as deputy governor, which is APC-led. You know, all these areas are under APC. After the election there were inaugurations and people were telling me I had to go to Abia. And I said no.Instead I was in Kebbi for the inauguration of the governor there. So, we are still independent as human beings to support who we want to support.
Is there no contradiction there? Is that why Labour should not form a political party? Because how can you leave your party that you have formed and pitch a tent with another party’s candidate? It’s a contradiction.
You see, we believe in merit and stand by it. I don’t want to go any further. I would have told you Otti was the MD of Diamond Bank. We hold people by the way they related with workers in the past. I don’t want to go too much into that so it doesn’t seem as if that’s why we are here. Workers know them and each time we discover those that are with them we support them. It equally shows in the manner of the wage you paid or the way you related with us. So, there is no contradiction whatsoever. There are people that have working class orientation or share our ideologies. We can’t abandon them because of the choice of their political affiliations because we know wherever they are, whether in APC or anywhere, they will remember their backgrounds.
Still talking politics, during the 2023 general elections you were accused of playing dirty politics with your support for Peter Obi. Of course, Obi lost in that election. In 2027, if Obi decides to seek reelection, are you still going to throw your weight behind him?
What did I say in 2023? I wasn’t the NLC President when Peter Obi emerged, I met him there. I remember being asked by journalists to give my opinion especially on the issue of subsidy. That if Peter Obi had emerged and removed the subsidy what would happen? My response then was that it would be worse for him than today because you can’t claim to share one ideology to run on a platform we provided and you still go ahead to do ABCD. These are issues that came up and had no bearing with whoever emerged as the NLC President. If another person had emerged as NLC President I’m not sure he would do anything different from what I’m doing. But in all the campaigns they did in Labour Party, you would not see me anywhere near there. But the NLC uses the Labour Party as a platform to look at people that are worker-friendly and we supported such even before we emerged.
There are candidates who have been using the LP as a special purpose vehicle for their political aspiration and not necessarily workers-friendly…
We noticed that that is the current fad now. So you need to understand now that you can’t use a platform to pursue your own ideology separate from what we stand for as a party.
The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has called on the Organised Labour and governors to sheathe their swords and wait for the Tripartite Committee on the National Minimum Wage to finalise its assignment.
Speaking in Lagos, the Director-General (DG), Adewale Smatt Oyerinde, who made the declaration following the media dispute between Organised Labour and some governors on the National Minimum Wage, said: “We are concerned with the ongoing worrisome pattern of accusations and counter-accusations between governors and organised labour on the issue of the National Minimum Wage. It is unfortunate.
“It is instructive to note that the Tripartite Committee that was constituted to negotiate the National Minimum Wage is yet to finalise its assignment and waging a war or negotiating on the pages of newspapers could be counterproductive for stakeholders.
“This seeming war of attrition on an issue that is programmed to be respectfully negotiated and consensus reached is not only unnecessary but also disrespectful to the entire Technical Committee.”
While expressing concerns at the slow pace of the National Minimum Wage negotiation, the NECA DG said the committee is worried over the recent adjournment of the meeting.
He said: “This protracted delay has the potential to further promote agitation and fester distrust among stakeholders.
“We urge the government to, without delay, recall the Tripartite Committee to continue its assignment as soon as practicable.”
On the recommendations of the Organised Private Sector of Nigeria, Oyerinde averred that employers were in support of a new National Minimum Wage, as an increase in wages could also promote economic activities, stimulate consumption and enhance the capacity utilisation of businesses.
“However, such an increase must take into cognizance of the parameters as enshrined in International Labour Organisation (ILO) Minimum Wage Fixing Convention 131 of 1970, which includes the needs of workers and their families and economic factors.
“An appropriate balance between these two sets of considerations is important to ensuring that minimum wages are adapted to the national context, and that the effective protection of workers, level of productivity, ability to pay and the development of sustainable enterprises are taken into account,” he said.
Prince Adewole Adebayo was the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) during the last general election. In this interview with GBENGA ADERANTI, he speaks on the demand for an upward review of the minimum wage of workers by organised labour, the government’s social investment programmes and the lingering fuel crisis.
What is your impression of the ongoing negotiation for a new minimum wage between the government and organised labour?
The dialogue between labour and the government has no focus. Both sides have their negotiating tactics; some of the numbers they are throwing around appear unrealistic. However, the two parties should realise that this debate arose from the problems associated with the purchasing power of the Nigerian currency, the naira. When you listen to the president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Mr Festus Osifo, particularly all the comparative analysis he has been making, you will realise that he is talking about the performance of the economy in general, even though he has been focusing on microeconomics in terms of what his members need to get from their employers. What is causing price instability is the purchasing power of the naira. There are two ways to help the purchasing power of the naira. One, you can stabilise the currency to kill hyperinflation and inflation, so that the naira can maintain its purchasing power from January to December.
The second thing you can do is to come from the welfaristic point of view by focusing on what the workers are worried about. What exactly do they spend their money on? If the average worker has access to housing, say at seven per cent of his salary; has access to medical care at five per cent of his salary; has access to education of four to five children at six per cent of his salary; and he can now deal only with food and the issue of transportation. By having employment, you have access to some facilities. This is the system I grew up to know in Lagos State under the late Lateef Jakande administration; with things like the Lagos State Transport Corporation (LSTC). So, if you have all these things packaged, say, 25 per cent to 35 per cent of your salary, you won’t worry too much about the argument over the figures. With a minimum wage pegged at N615,000, the 37 governments will need about N8 trillion, if you have a million workers out of over 200 million people. So, the various tiers of government will be spending N615 billion every month in a year, this will amount to about N8 trillion, just paying minimum wage, which doesn’t make any sense.
If they cut it in half, it still doesn’t make sense. If they cut by one-third, one-quarter, it still makes no sense. Let’s say there is a magical space where you are just printing money, the way a minimum wage of N615,000 monthly will appear today is not as it will sound in four years. Mr. Osifo or his successor will come back to say the N615,000 monthly is a joke. It can’t take us anywhere.
So, the intervention we are making is solving the problem of the price of labour. You cannot solve the problem there because it is too narrow a space. Where you can solve the problem is the amount of social investments you need to make in the economy such that those employed, those semi-employed and the unemployed, the skilled workers and those with low skill will have a minimum floor below which they cannot fall.
What is your comment on the Tinubu administration’s attempt to re-engineer the social investment programmes to improve the welfare of the people?
We don’t have the same ideology; they are throwing money on non-existent products. Whether you pay salary, allowance or grants like we did during the Udoji Award or you give loans, what is the essence? Remember during the Udoji award, where once you get it, everybody runs to UTC or Kingsway Stores to buy bicycles, for instance, and the price of these goods skyrocketed. Meanwhile, in China, if you join the civil service, they will not give you any Udoji Award; they will provide you with bicycles because the bicycles come with the job.
In the colonial government, if you are an Assistant District Officer, School Officer, Health Officer or Forest Ranger, all these are tools. After getting the job, they will be directed to the staff quarters and the school your child would attend. In this way, your welfare is already adequately catered for.
So, in your view, the basic needs of the people, such as education, shelter, and health care, which appear to be in short supply, should addressed differently?
We have to organise our politics and government around them. We are organizing our politics and government around sharing money. In Abuja, the states come to share, and the local governments, under ALGON, also come to share. The TUC and labour also come to collect their share. It is still the principle of sharing money, not sharing value, and not creating anything. Remember, if you are talking about stakeholders in the country, labour is superior and senior to the government of the day. I can be president tomorrow; I will still meet labour there because it is continuity. Everything you need to do to make life easy for labour must be done by labour members themselves.
If the government is to address the problem sustainably, what is the best approach to follow, in your opinion?
It is a social investment. First, we must stop worrying about who is a worker or who is not. They have to first look at Chapter 2 of the constitution and say if, under this constitution, I have been given a mandate to come and govern Nigeria. What are the promises of the Constitution? What is the minimum that Nigerians should expect? Do we have the resources to put them there? By that, you now know that you need new hospital beds and new roads. During the Second Republic, all the governors understood these social investment elements. Then, all the state governments had their own school board, scholarship board, and water resources and water gets to houses even in rural areas. What we are doing now is a monetary government where we share money. We assume, for example, that Mr Osifo, the TUC president, is an important person in Nigerian leadership because he is collecting three times the money in FAAC now, than in 2019, that there is the availability of funds; not knowing that it is not up to what you are collecting before. This is the illusion of money because it is not the money you collect per se that matters; it is the purchasing power of the money and the allocative efficiency of that money in the economy. So, you will see that a state in the North with 20 per cent of the revenue of the states in the Niger Delta is making more progress because its allocative efficiency is better, while the other states may be spending their money on politics and things like that.
In other words, you are saying these social investments must come as a package for the citizens in general…
The way our constitution is crafted is not related to your job. It is related to your being a citizen. While I was growing up, I schooled in Lagos and Ondo during the era of the late Jakande and the late Michael Adekunle Ajasin. I was too young to be employed by anybody. I was about five years old in primary school and was not employable. But the government was interested in whether I had eaten or not before we started class. When we got to school, they first gave us bread, beans, and milk. When they were chasing you around in primary school to give you that inoculation, it wasn’t that you were going to be employed by them; it was required that the government made sure you were not blind or crippled.
If you were the president today, how would you address the lingering fuel crisis in the country?
What I will do is broaden the philosophy. Don’t follow the party manifesto. Follow the constitution. To succeed as president today, you must follow Chapter 2 of the Constitution. If we follow that chapter, Nigeria will be a different country.
As debate rages about the ability of the federal and state governments to afford higher living wages, the stalemate underscores the need to balance financial constraints with fair worker compensation
High expectations are mounting among workers following President Bola Tinubu’s pledge to implement a living wage. During this year’s May Day celebrations, also known as Worker’s Day, the President proclaimed an end to the era of workers awaiting a living wage. The President’s proclamation was conveyed to workers by Vice President Kashim Shettima. Yet, a pressing question looms among many workers: What exactly constitutes this promised living wage?
Speculations have arisen, suggesting that the Federal Government is considering a minimum wage ranging between N100,000 to N150,000. However, this figure, which lacks independent verification, falls short of the demands advocated by organised labour. The organised labour, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), is advocating for the Federal Government to implement a minimum wage of N615,000 for workers. This proposal, according to labour, is deemed essential to ensure Nigerian workers receive a decent living wage that aligns with prevailing economic conditions.
Both labour unions have presented this figure to the tripartite committee, established in January to negotiate the new minimum wage. President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, emphasised that the proposed N615,000 minimum wage may undergo adjustments due to the Federal Government’s decision to exempt certain Nigerians in Band A from electricity tariffs. Ajaero further stated that the two labour unions might reassess the amount during future committee meetings tasked with negotiating the new minimum wage.
Since the removal of subsidy on premium motor spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, and the floating of the country’s currency last year, there has been a noticeable increase in the prices of goods, particularly essential commodities. This surge has prompted labour agitations, as workers across various sectors voice their concerns regarding the need to improve their welfare amid rising living costs.
According to recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s inflation rate climbed sharply in March, reaching a 28-year high of 33.20% in annual terms. This significant increase is primarily driven by soaring food and energy costs, despite efforts by the central bank to curb inflation through successive rate hikes. The removal of fuel subsidies and the resultant hike in fuel prices have contributed to the overall inflationary pressure, exacerbating the already challenging economic conditions faced by many Nigerians. As a result, there is mounting pressure on the government and policymakers to implement measures that will alleviate the financial burden on citizens and address the root causes of inflation in the country.
The prevailing economic challenges in the country have intensified calls from workers for a living wage, reflecting their pressing need for financial stability amid rising living costs. A minimum wage serves as the legally mandated minimum compensation that an employer must pay to its workers. The current minimum wage in Nigeria stands at N30,000, which was enacted into law during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari. However, this minimum wage expired in April of this year, necessitating the formulation of a new wage structure.
Anticipations are high for the establishment of a new minimum wage, expected to commence in April of this year following the deliberations and agreement reached by the tripartite committee. Once finalised, this new wage framework will require endorsement through legislation and subsequent signing into law by President Tinubu.
Paying an individual below the minimum wage is a violation of the law, constituting an illegal act. However, despite this legal mandate, some state governors have recurrently flouted the law by failing to remunerate workers in accordance with the minimum wage requirements. Labour unions have highlighted the persistent issue of some governors disregarding the law by continuing to pay workers the outdated N18,000 minimum wage, which was signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011. This disregard for the stipulated minimum wage not only undermines the rights of workers but also perpetuates financial hardship and inequality among the labour force.
What is a living wage?
A living wage refers to the income necessary for an individual or family to sustain a decent standard of living and avoid poverty. Unlike the minimum wage, which is mandated by law, a living wage exceeds this threshold and is not legally enforced. This income level is designed to cover essential expenses such as food, shelter and other basic necessities. It varies based on economic factors such as inflation and the cost of living in a particular area. However, there is no fixed figure for a living wage, as it fluctuates depending on who is calculating it and the prevailing economic conditions.
Despite the lack of a precise numerical value, there is a general consensus among workers that a living wage should be sufficient to lift individuals and families out of poverty and provide them with financial stability. According to economists, the primary objective of a living wage is to enable employees to earn a sufficient income to maintain a satisfactory standard of living and prevent them from slipping into poverty. They propose that it should ideally cover expenses in a way that no more than 30% of this income is allocated towards housing costs. As a result, living wages typically surpass the legal minimum wage significantly. They are designed to provide adequate coverage for fundamental needs such as food, housing, childcare and healthcare, ensuring individuals and families can afford a decent quality of life.
The concept of living wages has historical roots, dating back to early America when workers advocated for higher pay to meet their basic needs. It is crucial to distinguish living wages from the minimum wage, which represents the lowest amount of compensation mandated by law. While the minimum wage sets a baseline for employee earnings, a living wage strives to offer a more comprehensive and sustainable income that fosters financial stability and well-being. Supporters of living wages contend that they have the potential to enhance productivity and boost employee morale within organisations. By providing workers with a wage that covers their basic needs, they argue that employees may feel more motivated, valued and invested in their work, leading to increased productivity and job satisfaction. Additionally, higher wages may reduce employee turnover rates, saving costs associated with recruitment and training.
However, critics of living wages raise concerns about their potential negative impact on the economy and employment levels. They argue that implementing higher wage requirements could place financial strain on businesses, particularly small enterprises, leading to reduced profitability and potentially forcing some companies to downsize or cut jobs. Moreover, critics suggest that higher wages may lead to increased costs for consumers, as businesses may offset the expense by raising prices for goods and services, thereby potentially contributing to inflationary pressures. Ultimately, the debate surrounding living wages revolves around finding a balance between supporting workers’ financial well-being and ensuring the overall health and competitiveness of the economy.
Can the federal and state governments pay?
There are apprehensions regarding the capacity of both the federal and state governments to afford the wages that Nigerian workers rightfully deserve. Past occurrences indicate that certain state governments may encounter challenges in meeting the agreed-upon wage standards established at the national level. An illustrative instance is the aftermath of the removal of fuel subsidies and the fluctuation of the nation’s currency, resulting in heightened living costs.
In response to these economic shifts, labour unions advocated for wage adjustments to alleviate the financial strain on workers while awaiting the implementation of a new minimum wage. This scenario underscores the complexities involved in balancing the financial capabilities of governments with the need to ensure fair compensation for workers amidst evolving economic conditions. Following negotiations and the looming threat of strikes, the federal government eventually acquiesced to pay workers a wage award of N35,000 for a period of six months. President Tinubu granted approval for this payment to federal workers in the wake of the removal of petrol subsidies.
As per the agreement, the government committed to disbursing this sum to civil servants over the course of six months. Thus far, payments have been made up to January 2024, fulfilling the terms of the arrangement. Ten states have thus far embraced the wage award for workers, aligning with the federal government’s decision to implement the N35,000 payment. These states comprise Lagos, Ekiti, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ondo, Enugu, Ebonyi and Adamawa. By adopting this wage award, these states demonstrate their commitment to providing fair compensation to their workforce in line with national standards.
The TUC President Festus Osifo has strongly criticised states such as Imo, Delta, Benue, Katsina, Kebbi, Anambra and others for their failure to honour wage awards for workers, despite receiving substantial allocations from the federation account. He highlighted that, as of March and April, federal workers in the public sector are yet to receive the N35,000 wage award from the federal government. Despite improvements in federal allocation, some states have failed to remit any payments to their employees. Given the challenges faced by both federal and state governments in meeting the N35,000 wage award, questions arise about their ability to afford a living wage for workers. The resolution to this query remains uncertain, with the answer likely to become evident in the forthcoming months. This situation underscores the ongoing struggle to balance the financial constraints of governments with the imperative of providing adequate compensation to workers.
It did not come as a surprise that the federal government could not announce a new national minimum wage during this year’s May Day celebrations. Indications to that reality emerged few days earlier when the president of the Trade Union Congress, (TUC) Festus Osifo said negotiations were yet to be concluded by the parties.
“So certainly, May 1, will not work for the pronouncement of the new minimum wage”, except the government wants to pay the N615,000 recommended by organised labour, he had said.
That prediction has come to pass. But on the May Day, both the government and organised labour traded blames on the reasons for the inability to announce the much awaited new wage regime. The government blamed lack of consensus among the tripartite committee. But organised labour accused the government of refusal to reconvene the meeting that was adjourned for the issue to be finally resolved.
Some complications seemed to have been injected into the minimum wage negotiations when the federal government on the eve of the May Day, approved salary increases of between 25 to 35 per cent for public servants on the remaining six consolidated salary structures. It also approved pay rise for pensioners under the Defined Benefits Scheme DBS.
The measure raised mixed feelings within the labour force. The NLC did not take kindly to the announcement as the measure was seen to have seemingly thrown spanners into the wheels of the minimum wage negotiations. NLC president, Joe Ajaero betrayed that feeling when he lamented that the nation should have been in a new minimum wage regime as we celebrate the May Day since discussions were supposed to have been concluded before that day.
“I think the announcement now appears mischievous because there is no minimum wage increase the government is announcing. For them to announce it now, is an issue we are worried about at NLC and even at the TUC”, Ajaero said.
But the fears raised by the NLC appeared to have been dispelled by the explanation from the president of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Tommy Okon. He had told reporters that the salary increase has nothing to do with the minimum wage but to close the salary gap that existed in some ministries, departments and agencies.
That may well be the case. But the timing of the salary increase for that category of civil/public servants on the eve of the May Day did create considerable suspicions.
Nonetheless, the dominance of the new minimum wage in all discussions during the May Day celebrations gave further credence to the position that the increases had nothing to do with it.
President Tinubu in his speech said the government was poised to give workers better living and working conditions buoyed by fair living wage. He noted that in spite of concerted efforts, the tripartite committee on national minimum wage was unable to reach consensus on the issue at their last meeting.
“This shall be resolved soon and I assure you that your days of worrying are over. Indeed, the government is open to the committee’s suggestion of not just a minimum wage but a living wage”, the president promised.
This should be something to cheer. The moot question however, is what should be a living wage for the Nigerian worker? Organised labour spoke along the lines of a living wage also. For them, a living wage is one that will at the least, keep the worker alive. It is not a wage that will make you poor and poorer. It is not a wage that will lead you to the hospital every day because of malnutrition. Neither is it a wage that will make you borrow money in order to go to work.
By their calculations N615,000 is that living wage for a worker with six family members. They did their calculations based on the cost of accommodation, feeding, transportation, school fees and associated expenses.
Can the federal government and the private sector afford that pay? Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy has emphatic No as the answer. That is the point at which the government and organised labour may continue to disagree. And there are sufficient grounds for disagreement.
The government is yet to make an offer for organised labour to consider. But labour is pilling pressure on the government to ensure that the new minimum wage regime does not exceed the end of May 2024.
But whatever fears entertained by labour on possible delays in the commencement of the new national minimum wage was allayed by the Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha in her May Day speech. She had said although the tripartite committee was yet to finish its work, workers will not lose anything as the new minimum wage will take effect from May 1, 2024.
In spite of this promise, the exact amount to be paid as the minimum/living wage will continue to be thorny in the discussions. The government has kept to its chest what it considers the minimum/living wage. It is perhaps, frightened by the huge proposals from labour. But sources close to the centre of power indicated that between N60,000 to N70,000 is being considered as the new wage. How this will sit with organised labour is anyone’s guess.
The N615,000 wage increase demanded by organised labour appears unrealistic given the wide gap between it and the N30, 000 minimum wage that expired last month. The Minimum Wage Act which was signed by former President Buhari in April 2019 is to be reviewed every five years.
By the provisions of that Act, the national minimum wage is due for review. It is also due for review on account of the far-reaching policies initiated by the Tinubu administration since it assumed office last May. Such difficult policy measures as the removal of subsidy on petrol, the floating of the Naira in the foreign exchange market and of late, subsidy removal on electricity have come with debilitating consequences on general standard of living.
Not only did they fuel spiralling inflation in manners never witnessed before in the country, their toll on the general standard of living has been quite telling. In the face of these existential challenges, the wage of worker has remained stagnant. That has been the raison d’être for agitations for a new national minimum wage.
Consensus exists between the government and organised labour on the imperative of a new minimum wage that will enable the worker afford his basic needs. Perhaps, that is what the references to a living wage is all about. But can the Nigerian economy in its current form sustain a living wage regime for the worker? Put differently, how far can the speculated N70,000 new minimum wage go in sustaining the least paid worker given the current economic realities of the country?
Even as the amount proposed by organised labour would appear outlandish, that being speculated as the possible offer by the government cannot by any dint of the imagination be taken for a living wage. It is patently incapable of enabling the worker cope with escalated prices of general goods and services. The average worker cannot live well with such a wage regime.
But the reality is that the government is seriously constrained. It is constrained by the resources to pay a living wage in the true sense of it. It is also constrained by the fear of further inflationary trend which unguarded wage increases will engender.
So even as organised labour’s demand for substantial salary increase for workers has serious justification, that figure is by no means sacrosanct. The TUC leadership spoke along this line when they said the recommendation is just a proposal that is subject to negotiations.
The government must show good faith to the negotiations and reconvene the tripartite committee without further delay. It should be forthcoming with its offer on the minimum/living wage. It is wrong to shroud its proposal in secrecy and expect progress to be made by the committee.
But, the government found itself in this quagmire because of the fundamental policy changes it initiated in many fronts-policies that led to high inflationary trend and the erosion of the real income of the people. Curiously, these policies did not sufficiently factor in the material conditions of the poor citizenry. The seeming high minimum wage demanded by labour is a response to the escalated rise in the prices of essential goods and services.
Had these policies been approached on incremental basis, the adjustments in wages would not pose the threat of jolting the system as a N615,000 minimum wage is bound to. The government should negotiate and find common ground that will make life worth living for the average worker. Things are really hard and time is of essence.
Beyond wages, social intervention measures to cushion the effects of the excruciating economic conditions must also come into serious calculation.
A foundation member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has advised the organised labour to avoid economic consequences of the stagflation which N615,000 minimum wage they are demanding for will trigger off.
He gave the advice in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, May 5, while reacting to the new minimum wage being demanded by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC).
Instead of the N615,000 minimum wage demanded for by labour, Okechukwu, former Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON) appealed to labour to go for mortgage housing.
Arguing that “the amount is unrealistic”, Okechukwu cited Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, to avoid stagflation which will wipe out social welfare policies being put in place by the federal government.
He further said that the blatant refusal of some states to pay N30,000 and that the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) had frowned on 25 and 35 percent increase recently approved by the federal government.
“Whereas one agrees with the working people that the neoliberal policies like fuel subsidy removal is no doubt taking its toll on our living conditions; however unrealistic minimum wage is not a better deal than mortgage housing for all, one of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as the core take away from fuel subsidy removal quagmire. “Okechukwu retorted.
To avoid the dire economic consequences of the stagflation labour demand will trigger off, Okechukwu counseled that “labour’s collective bargaining should be mortgage housing for all, affordable health and education facilities and channeling of funds to mass transport infrastructure of CNG and Electric Vehicles, not unrealistic minimum wage difficult to implement under stagnated economy already at the lowest ebb of growth.”
The APC chieftain further said that experience and meaningful economic indicators gazette that N615,000 minimum wage will further debilitate the living conditions of workers, escalate gross unemployment, and reduce purchasing power parity of the same vulnerable working class, making nonsense of the Labour proposal.
The NLC president, Comrade Joe Ajaero in a statement on May 2, 2024, said it took the organised labour wide consultations to arrive at the N615,000 minimum wage family monthly upkeep as proposed.
Though Okechukwu agreed that the basket tabulation of monthly family upkeep proposed by the NLC is appetising, he urged labour to rejig their collective bargaining strategy to fire-up and compel President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to retool his mortgage housing program, which will better soften the prevailing economic hardship.
“It is my humble opinion, since necessity is the mother of invention that labour should instead of unrealistic minimum wage, demand as a matter of urgent national importance from President Tinubu; that a greater percentage of fuel subsidy removal accruals be utilised for mortgage housing which will benefit the greatest number of working people across federal, sub-national units, the formal and informal private sector.” Okechukwu submitted.
Hammering out a new minimum wage deal will not be easy despite the enthusiasm and willingness of the federal government to pay workers a living wage. The 37-man tripartite committee set up since January to secure the deal has made very heavy weather of the negotiations. They now have barely a month to determine by how much they hope to supersede the current minimum wage of N30,000, which has lasted much longer than anticipated. Organised labour is asking for N615,000 monthly pay for workers; but they know full well that they cannot get it, not even if they embark on one-year industrial unrest. The federal government has not given a specific response, but governors, who are members of the wage committee and important stakeholders, have suggested that they would only agree to a wage increase they can pay sustainably. Already, they struggle to pay the appallingly unrealistic current minimum wage, while many states still owe their workers.
If negotiations were not stalled, or did not suffer hiccups, a deal should have been reached in less than four months. Though the government has promised to backdate the deal to April, and administration spokesmen are curiously optimistic about reaching a deal acceptable to all, organised labour and observers have decided to keep their fingers crossed. The unions have a concrete case by indexing their demands to inflation rate, and the federal government, despite organised labour’s skepticism about state governors’ priorities, is a little more wary about its capacity to meet union expectations. Nothing at the moment suggests the governments can go as high as a quarter of the N615,000 demanded by the unions, but perhaps the federal and state governments have a joker they are keeping close to their chests. May 2024 will, therefore, be tough, and June harrowing. Hopefully industrial unrest can be averted. But if not, whatever deal is secured by ‘arm-twisting’ will be, in the words of the governors, difficult to implement.
The unions insist that if employers, particularly governors, reorder their priorities, states should be able to pay the living wage eventually agreed. But what of private sector employers, many of whom are struggling to stay afloat and have had to cut staff and rationalise costs? It is unclear the unions will have a ready answer to this dilemma, especially in view of their proposal that any organisation which employs five workers and above should pay the new minimum wage. Tough time lies ahead, both for the government which has struggled to rein in expectations and the unions which have exuberantly raised expectations. Costs are rising, inflation is raging with unabating severity, and the general economy, not minding the reeling global economy, is in dire distress. Before June, the situation will be much clearer, whether a deal is reached and can be reached or not.
One of the reasons for the troubled relationship between the government and the unions, regardless of the NLC’s politicisation of union grievances in the past few months, is the abnormal structure of the Nigerian polity and economy. Until the country’s structural imbalance triggered by the 1966 coup d’etat is corrected, the recurring wage disputes and other battles between the government and organised labour will not abate. Quite apart from the dangers of NLC immersing itself in politics and diluting as well as distorting its raison d’être, the problem with the stalled wage negotiation is actually not the salaries demanded or the ability of states to pay. The problem is that more than five decades of running the country along stifling unitary lines unattenuated by democratic governance have imposed gross inefficiency and waste upon the system and produced a slew of unimaginative governing elite. The problem is worsened by a sense of entitlement which a section of the ruling elite has adopted as its philosophy.
Until the country is politically recalibrated and economy restructured in line with federalism to put an end to the command and unitary Nigerian structure, the federal, state and local governments will always assemble in Abuja every month to share revenue. Revenue allocation is an abominable system that encourages inefficiency, indolence, sense of entitlement, and warped politicking. Since the various tiers of government will always have a pool of money to share, there will be no incentive to elect a competent president, governor or local government chairman. Worse, the worst kind of lawmakers will populate the parliament, and servile and groveling judges will be appointed to subvert and pervert the justice system. The current Nigerian structure is not working, is unworkable, and no matter how much tinkering it is subjected to, will still not work. If the current administration can muster the courage to do something about the structure and build a consensus across the regions, it may be possible to redress decades of inefficiency and wrongs that have skewed the economy and impoverished the country. In his contributions to the debate on minimum wage, former Edo State governor and one-time labour leader, Adams Oshiomhole, suggested that the unions must look beyond the single objective of getting wage adjustment to advocating policies and programmes that would promote sustainable wealth creation and conduce to industrial harmony and peace. The Edo North senatorial district representative can’t be righter.
The current set of labour leaders falls far short of the example set by the Sen. Oshiomhole set, but they have and are pursuing a justifiable cause. They may lack depth and substance, and have little understanding of the nexus between peace and development, seeing how they are fixated on their singular goal of either winning political office or simplistically pursuing wage adjustment with little understanding of its dynamics, yet they have the public on their side. If a deal is not reached this month, and inflationary pressures continue to hammer Nigerians, the public will likely rally behind labour. However, the silver lining is that Nigeria has a president who understands the issues and possesses the boldness to implement reforms and redirect the system. If he gets the national cooperation he needs, and can buy time with a fairly amenable wage deal, he will probably leave the country far better than he met it despite years and tons of vilification.
Sub-nationals to adopt Justice Sector Summit resolutions
Governors yesterday sounded a note of caution to workers against unduly high expectations from the minimum wage negotiations.
States will pay only implementable and sustainable wages, they said, but expressed commitment to improved salaries for workers.
Members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) said they would ensure workers in their states earn more than they currently do.
The Federal Government on January 30 inaugurated a 37-man Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage.
It was tasked with recommending a realistic national minimum wage that aligns with the current economic realities, but an agreement is yet to be reached.
The governors are represented by one each from the six geo-political zones on the committee, which also has Federal Government officials, the labour movement and the Organised Private Sector (OPS).
“As members of the committee, we are reviewing our individual fiscal space as state governments and the consequential impact of various recommendations to arrive at an improved minimum wage we can pay sustainably,” the governors said.
Their position is contained in a communique issued on Wednesday after a virtual meeting – the same day workers marked May Day across the country.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is demanding a N615,000 national minimum wage per month.
It said the figure was a product of a painstaking effort through which it captured the cost of living of Nigerian workers and masses in all parts of the country.
Labour said the figure was essentially an outcome of independent research conducted by the NLC and Trade Union Congress on the cost of meeting the primary needs of an average family.
The current N30,000 minimum wage expired on April 18.
Minister of Labour and Employment (State) Nkeiruka Onyejeoacha told workers that the new minimum wage when approved will take effect from April 1.
Vice President Kashim Shettima also told workers at the May Day rally that the Federal Government is committed to a living wage for workers.
He hinted that the tripartite committee had not agreed.
But Labour threatened a showdown should the minimum wage issue not be resolved by May 31.
Former NLC president, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, urged Labour to make realistic and affordable wage demands that will also be sustainable.
While the talks continue, some governors have announced new wages for their workers.
Edo Governor Godwin Obaseki announced N70,000; his Cross River counterpart Bassey Otu promised N40,000.
The NGF, in the communique signed by the Chairman/Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, indicated that governors can only pay what they can afford.
It reads: “The forum celebrates with workers across the country for their dedication to service and patience, as we work with the Federal Government, labour, organised private sector and relevant stakeholders in arriving at an implementable national minimum wage.
“While we acknowledge various initiatives adopted of recent by way of wage awards and partial wage adjustments, it is imperative to state that the 37-member tripartite committee inaugurated on the National Minimum Wage, is still in consultation and yet to conclude its work.
“As members of the committee, we are reviewing our individual fiscal space as state governments and the consequential impact of various recommendations, to arrive at an improved minimum wage we can pay sustainably.
“We remain committed to the process and promise that better wages will be the invariable outcome of ongoing negotiations.”
The meeting also discussed the revised National Policy on Justice (2024 -2028) from the just concluded National Summit on Justice held April 24/25 in Abuja.
“Members agreed to consider the submissions from the summit as may concern their individual states, including recommended legal amendments, administrative improvements, and policies to strengthen the justice sector.
“Also, the forum committed to looking into issues bordering on the remuneration of state judicial officers and the infrastructure of the courts,” the communique adds.
The governors commiserated with their colleagues Dapo Abiodun (Ogun) and Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers) over the petrol tanker and gas explosions that occurred on April 26 and 27 in both states.
They called for proper maintenance of trucks, especially those fitted to convey Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
The governors recommended appropriate training for truck drivers and resolved to engage relevant ministries, departments & agencies (MDAs) to align the activities of federal regulators with the operations of officials at the sub-national level.
The communique adds: “Members received the outgoing Country Director, Mr. Shubham Chadhuri, and the incoming Country Director, Mr. Ndiame Diop, of the World Bank, to discuss the Bank’s vision for transitioning.
“Mr. Chadhuri appreciated the forum for the strategic role it continues to play in coordinating collective action for developmental change.
“He (Mr. Chadhuri) applauded the non-partisan character of the forum, the professionalism of its secretariat, and state governments’ commitment to mutual accountability mechanisms such as performance-based financing interventions by the bank.
“Members expressed confidence in the choice of Mr. Diop, to lead the collaboration going forward and look forward to a sustained and deepened relationship.
“The forum received a presentation from the National Human Capital Development (HCD) Program – Core Working Group Secretariat, led by Ms. Rukaiya El-Rufai and Dr. Ahmad Abdulwahab.
“Both highlighted the marginal progress made by States and its contribution to Nigeria’s Human Development Index (HDI), especially across health, nutrition, education, and labour force participation.
“Having reviewed the previous program design and national strategy, a revised governance and implementation roadmap was proposed to scale up impact and ensure sustainability.
“Members pledged to support the effective domestication of proposed revisions to the national HCD strategy.
“Members received a briefing from Mrs. Oyinda Adedokun, Programme Manager, State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) Federal Ministry of Finance Programme Coordination Unit.
“The briefing highlighted states’ performance in implementing advocated reforms relating to land administration, the regulatory framework for private investment in fibre optic infrastructure, services provided by investment promotion agencies and public-private partnership units, efficiency and transparency of government-to-business services under the World Bank financed programme.”
Anambra civil servants angry over Soludo’s absence
Atiku, Obi seek better welfare package for workers
Some governors yesterday joined workers in their state capitals to celebrate May 1, an annual global event to recognise workers’ achievements.
From Ikeja, Lagos State to Yola in Adamawa State; and Ibadan, Oyo State to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, civil servants openly showed happiness as their governors announced their preparedness to pay a new minimum wage to be announced soon by the Federal Government. Cross River State workers were told at the celebration ground in Calabar that the lowest earners among them would from this month go home with N40,000.
While Ebonyi State civil servants got a 10 percent pay rise, their colleagues in Ogun, Delta, and Bayelsa states were told that appropriate wages to be paid to them were being worked out by committees.
In states like Delta, Taraba, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Imo, Plateau, Kaduna, and Enugu, the governors highlighted their efforts so far at bettering workers’ welfare and their desire to do more.
For instance, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State announced the commencement of housing loan disbursement to civil servants while Uba Sani of Kaduna State said a N500 million loan scheme would be unveiled for workers in the state.
The governors who described well-motivated workers as catalysts for the growth and industrial development of any society, however, enjoined them to be more dedicated.
Athough labour leaders in some of the states hailed the governors for improving their workers’ welfare, they, like Oliver Twist, said they could do better.
•Lagos
Celebrating with the workers at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan,
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said his administration had demonstrated that ‘’the interest and welfare of the people come first and remain the ultimate goal’’ of all its actions.
In a statement titled ‘’Workers’ Day: Sanwo-Olu promises to pay new minimum wage,’’ the governor ‘’praised all the committed, dedicated, resilient, and passionate workers for their contributions across all sectors in building and shaping the state, even in the face of challenges.’’
Sanwo-Olu also spoke on the lingering fuel scarcity, also listed social services being delivered by his administration to make life better for residents.
He reiterated that he received assurances from the authorities that there was enough fuel at tank stations for distribution to retail outlets.
On social services, the governor said: “This year’s theme, ‘People First,’ resonates deeply with our administration’s philosophy, which is underpinned by our firm belief in prioritising the welfare of our people.
“Through various measures, policies, and initiatives, we have demonstrated that the interest and welfare of the people come first and remain the ultimate goal of all our actions.
‘’Our response actions are geared towards mitigating the impact of these trying times and offering support to both our workers and citizens alike.
“We have been steadfast and intentional in implementing our social intervention programmes, providing crucial assistance to those in need throughout the state. From subsidised food items through our Ounje Eko, and Eko Cares initiatives, to incentives on social services, we have made tangible differences in countless lives.
“Healthcare initiatives that ensure access to quality medical services for all, transportation support, and educational opportunities for our children exemplify our commitment to creating a Lagos where everyone has a fair chance to thrive. Our dedication to putting people first extends beyond mere words.
“As we look towards the future, I want to reaffirm our commitment to building a more inclusive and equitable society in which the interests of workers receive the attention it deserves.’’
Chairperson of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Lagos State Council, Funmi Sessi, and her Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Gbenga Ekundayo, praised Sanwo-Olu for making workers’ welfare a priority of his administration.
Sanwo-Olu’s counterpart in Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, said his administration would do all in its power to come up with a decision on a new wage.
Abiodun said a meeting with labour leaders in the state would be held to arrive at a decision that would be favourable to both the government and the workers.
He added that his administration has paid N128.3 billion as pension and gratuities to both local and state government retirees.
“On minimum wage, your ever-responsive administration has done a lot of work, which is aimed at arriving at a position that we can sustain in line with our inclusive style of governance.
“We will soon be calling a meeting with the organised labour leaders to finalize the Ogun State Government Minimum decision,” Abiodun said.
•Oyo
In Ibadan, Governor Makinde, who also assured of his readiness to key into the planned national wage, said his administration had been responsive to workers’ welfare.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Bayo Lawal, added that his government would not fail in the payment of salaries and pensions on or before 25th of every month.
He commended the workers for ensuring an atmosphere devoid of incessant industrial actions
Makinde also urged the workers to reciprocate his administration’s good gesture by being more dedicated and committed.
The celebration took place at Lekan Salami Sports Complex, Ibadan, the state capital.
•Cross River
Governor Otu, who announced N40,000 new wage for the least-paid workers in the state, appealed to workers for patience over the gratuity backlog
He explained that the new wage aligns with the realities of the time in the state rather than sentiments.
“Owing to the peculiarity of Cross River State regarding its lean finances occasioned by low statutory federal allocation and aggravated by unfavourable state GDP(Gross Domestic Product) to debt servicing ratio, the new wage implementation is in line with the realities of the time rather than sentiments,” he said at the U.J Esuene Stadium in Calabar, the state capital.
On the gratuity backlog which dates back to 2014, the governor said : “Government is presently on the verge of concluding necessary arrangements for the staggered payment of outstanding gratuity to its retired workers.”
He goodwill and solidarity with the workers and emphasised the importance of a strong relationship between the government and its workforce to create wealth and improve livelihoods.
The governor called for increased productivity among workers, highlighting the importance of reciprocating the government’s efforts.
NLC chairman in the state, Gregory Olayi and his counterpart in the TUC, Monday Ogbodum, called for prompt attention to promotions of civil servants, payment of gratuity to retirees and recruitment to the state civil service.
•Imo
Governor Hope Uzodimma promised to implement the new minimum wage when approved.
“As soon as the committee finishes their job and the Federal Government approves it, Imo will be one of the first states to be guided by that decision,” the governor promised.
He noted that the least-paid worker in the state takes home N40,000 above the current minimum wage of N30,000.
He said retired permanent secretaries and workers have been paid their gratuities.
•Akwa Ibom
Governor Umo Eno declared every first and third Friday of the month as work-free days to enable workers to engage in farming.
Eno said N16.1 billion has so far been released for the payment of arrears of gratuity.
He ordered the immediate release of billions to further defray the backlog.
“We will continue to do our best to ensure that workers’ welfare receives priority attention,” he said.
•Plateau
Governor Caleb Muftwang said his administration had cleared over N11 billion salary arrears it inherited from his predecessor and established a reliable system for salary disbursement.
These, according to him, had restored the morale and stability of the state workers.
Mutfwang, who was represented at the event by the Head of Service, Rauta Dakok,said the government had been intentional in taking decisions to minimise the economic hardship faced by the people .
“While the timely payment of salaries is a fundamental responsibility rather than an achievement, we reaffirm our commitment to the welfare of our workers. Efforts to address outstanding gratuities, death benefits, and pension backlogs dating back to 1986 commenced in December 2023. We pledge to continue these endeavours within the scope of our available resources,’’ he told the workers at the Rwang Pam Stadium in Jos.
Eugene Manji, the state chairman of the NLC lamented that bad leadership put Nigeria in its current economic crisis.
He requested the implementation of the circular on domestic allowance officers on GT 15 and 16 at the state and local government levels.
•Delta:
In Asaba, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, said his administration would set up a committee to look into workers’ demand for salary increase.
He commended the workers for their support and industrial harmony across the state.
His words: “I have listened attentively to your requests and I have taken note of same; they are, no doubt, legitimate demands and as a responsible government, I will deliberate with my team on how best to address them within the limits of resources available to us.
“As a government, we have prioritised the welfare of our workforce because it is my belief that a happy and well-motivated workforce is not only a catalyst for the growth and industrial development of any society but also the bedrock for extended family setting and communal cohesion.
“This administration has already demonstrated its commitment to the welfare of serving and retired civil servants and we will continue to do so through our policies and actions.’’
Ofobruku on behalf of the organised labour praised Oborevwori for honouring workers by attending the event in person.
He commended the governor for his commitment to the welfare of workers and pensioners and pledged their continued support for his administration’s MORE Agenda.
•Rivers
Governor Siminalayi Fubara, who promised to implement the new minimum wage being put in place by the Federal Government, acknowledged workers as critical human resource that ontributes immensely to the sustained long-term economic growth of the state.
Fubara said: “We promised not to neglect the interest and well-being of our workers within the limits of available resources, and we have not faltered on this promise.
“Let me assure you that we are going to work with the Federal Government to implement necessary measures, including the continuation of the free bus services and the provision of necessary palliatives to ameliorate the current hardship faced by ordinary citizens.
“We are also committed to implementing the increase in workers’ salaries recently approved by the Federal Government as soon as the parameters are made available.’’
The governor was bestowed with an award as the Labour Champion of Rivers State and named the most labour- friendly governor.
*Anambra
Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s absence from the Alex Ekwueme square in Awka, venue of the May Day celebration, infuriated the workers who had hoped to channel their demands directly to him.
They declined to hold march past when called upon by the Master of Ceremony but elected to boo Deputy Governor Onyekachukwu Ibezim, who was there as Soludo’s representative.
The workers claimed that Soludo deliberately did not attend the rally because he was afraid of addressing a long list of NLC and TUC demands.
They repeatedly shouted “No” to the appeal for the march past, insisting that their morale was low.
The deputy governor, who later addressed the workers after they were calmed down , assured that their grievances would soon be addressed.
“Governor Soludo as a worker-friendly governor is aware of your plights. You will definitely hear from him soon,” he said.
Earlier, the workers called on Soludo to suspend the deduction of the contributory pension from their salaries to ensure industrial harmony in the state.
They also expressed worry over what they called improper introduction and implementation of the contributory pension scheme.
•Niger
In Minna, Governor Mohammed Bago said that his government was working hard to increase the salary of workers and improved welfare the welfare of other residents of the state.
Bago, who was represented by the state’s Head of Service, Salisu Abubakar, appealed to labour unions to show some understanding with the government as it work out strategies to address some of their demands.
The state chapter of the NLC left the usual worker’s parade for prayers and lectures in honour of the two of its late former chairmen, Adams Erena and Yahaya Ndako.
The session and lectures which held at the Justice Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre, Minna.
•Borno and Enugu
In the two states, the NLC called on the state governments to address the welfare of some pensioners, who they said received less pension that is not more than N4,000.
While the state chapter in Enugu said some retirees receive only N1,000 monthly, the Borno chapter said it is N4,000 for some in the state.
Governor Peter Mbah, who was represented by his deputy, Ifeanyi Ossai, empathised with Nigerian workers in the current hardship they face.
He stated that his administration was aware of their challenges but pleaded for their understanding and more patience.
On pensioners that were yet to be paid in various parastatals and corporations, the governor promised to look into the matter.
•Bauchi
In Bauchi, Governor Bala Mohammed reaffirmed his administration’s commitment at improving civil servants’ welfare.
He assured that his government would do everything possible to make sure that the Civil Service remained vibrant and result- oriented .
“We have in the last few months introduced Service Charter contract to be executed between the State Government on the one hand and the civil servant on the other hand. That informed our decision to promote the best hands within the service to the position of Permanent Secretaries in strict compliance with State Character, so that all can be carried on board,” said Mohammed who was represented by his Deputy, Mohammed Jatau,
•Kaduna
At the Murtala Mohammed Square in Kaduna, Governor Uba Sani flagged-off the implementation of a N500million revolving loan for civil servants.
The governor, who symbolically presented dummy cheques of the loan to some workers , said more economic empowerment initiatives would soon be unfolded for workers.
The governor also assured the labour unions that his government would continue to prioritise workers’ welfare .
He added: “As part of our economic empowerment packages for Kaduna State civil servants, we have commenced the implementation of the N500 million revolving loan scheme. Other economic empowerment initiatives will soon be unfolded for workers in Kaduna State.
‘’We are attracting investments to create job opportunities for our citizens. We are training and retraining workers to put them in good stead to contribute effectively to the economic development of our dear state.’’
•Kano
NLC in the state workers demanded payment of the backlog of N75 billion that accumulated since 2023.
It also asked for autonomy for the third tier of government and payment of wage award by the government of Abba Yusuf.
“The issue of the backlog of unremitted pension contributions by some organisations is alarming, with a staggering accumulation of over 75 billion as of May 2023.
‘’The much-sought local government autonomy is crucial to the development of our state. It is pertinent to solicit the support of Kano state government in partnering with the agitators to make local government autonomy a reality,” said the congress Chairman , Kabiru Inuwa.
•Taraba
Governor Kefas re-emphasised his desire to ensure that workers and pensioners in the state got their dues regularly.
“Payment of gratuity and regular payment of pensions is a must because a worker is worthy of his wages. I have given order for prompt payment of salaries and implementation of promotions” he told workers at the Jolly Nyame Stadium Jalingo venue of the May Day celebration.
Kefas added that his administration recognises the need for reforms to streamline administrative processes and therefore called for support from the workers.
NLC Chairman in the state Peter Jediel, urged the Kefas government to continue to put the people first before any other thing.
He also called on the governor to address pending issues bordering on capturing of retired teachers and local government workers for pensions.
Other demands are payment of withheld union dues by the immediate past administration, settlement of arrears of local government workers, staff promotion for local government and primary school teachers as well as the disparity in the payment arising from implementation of the minimum wage.
•‘Katsina
Governor Dikko Radda expressed deepest appreciation to all the incredible workers across Katsina,’’ adding their dedication and tireless efforts were what drove the state forward
He said: ‘’ I join all workers across our great state in celebrating your dedication and immense contributions to building a better Katsina.
‘’My administration is dedicated to improving the lives of all Katsina residents. We are diligently working on on-going labour reforms that prioritize worker safety and wellbeing, particularly as our climate evolves.
‘’We share your concerns about food insecurity and the broader security challenges we face. ‘’My administration is taking significant steps to address the lingering hunger through the food task force and other agricultural programmes.’’
Workers demanded the state government’s clampdown on dealers sabotaging fuel distribution in the state
•Jigawa
Governor Umar Namadi, represented by his Deputy, Aminu Usman, congratulated the workers on the May Day celebration.
He explained that his administration had introduced agricultural policy for workers and retirees to enable them survive.
On their part, the workers called on state government to ensure that the migration to the IPPMS payment platform was conducted in such a way that they would not affected by any hidden charges, unnecessary bottlenecks.
“When civil servants smile , the whole state smiles; when the economy of civil servants improves, the state’s economy improves; and when civil servants in Jigawa state suffer , the whole state suffers , “ they said.
Atiku, Obi hail demand better welfare packages for workers
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last year’s election, Atiku Abubakar and his counterpart in the Labour Party, Peter Obi, have showered praises on the workers .
Both leaders, in a separate message yesterday, acknowledged their contributions to the nation’s growth even as they recognised the struggles the workers have faced in getting the rewards due to them.
According to Atiku, as the workers join their counterparts across the world today to celebrate International Workers Day, “it is a sobering truth that the plight of the Nigerian worker remains dire.”
Obi hailed the workers steadfast even in the face of adversity and challenges.
The former Anambra State governor said: “As we come together to celebrate Workers’ Day, I am filled with an overwhelming sense of pride and admiration for each and every one of you who continue to stand tall and steadfast in your commitment to building our great nation, even in the face of adversity and challenges.
“Today, as we honour the hard work, dedication, and resilience of workers across the country and beyond, I am reminded of the incredible strength and spirit that defines us as a people.
“Despite the countless obstacles and hurdles that may stand in our way, you, the backbone of our society, remain unwavering in your resolve to contribute to the growth and development of our beloved nation.’’
