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Tag: Wage

Wage award and callous spoilers

By condemnable inaction, most of the state governments in Nigeria continue to contribute to the increasing hardship experienced by people across the country following the controversial removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government in May. Out of the 36 states of the federation, 34 are still making excuses for their non-implementation of the N35,000 wage award approved for federal government workers with effect from September, according to an investigative report published last month.

The state governments were expected to follow the example of the federal authorities, and implement the same wage award to cushion the harsh socio-economic effects of the fuel subsidy withdrawal.

The Bola Tinubu presidency had reached an agreement with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) in October, following the dispute arising from withdrawal of subsidy on the price of premium motor spirit (PMS), and the threat of a nationwide strike by the unions. Based on the agreement, the Tinubu administration approved the payment of a wage award of N35,000 monthly, for six months, to all federal government workers, starting from September, and “pending when a new national minimum wage is expected to have been signed into law.”

The Federal Government has started payment of the provisional wage award. Reports said federal workers had received payment for September. But in many states, state government workers are still hoping for succour. State government officials were quoted as saying they were still considering the financial implication of the wage award, or that they were waiting to “see what obtains in other states,” or that they were in the process of arriving at the appropriate support for workers within the available means of the state.

For instance, Borno State NLC chairman Yusuf Inuwa was reported saying the governor “complained about a lot of issues, and he pleaded with us to let him contend with them properly before any negotiation on any wage grant.” The Acting Osun State NLC chairperson, Modupe Oyedele, was quoted as saying the state government “promised to look into the request and get back to us. We are still expecting to hear from them.” The secretary of the Zamfara State chapter of the NLC, Abubakar Ahmed, was reported saying, “The governor assured us that he would pay the amount whenever the funds are available. We had a meeting with him where he told us that he was only waiting for the federation account meeting in Abuja.”

As state government workers in the affected states wait for relief, the state governments should demonstrate a sense of empathy and a sense of urgency. Are the state authorities involved unaware that their workers are still facing the unpleasant effects of fuel subsidy removal, or do they believe their workers are no longer facing the said effects?

The governments of Oyo and Enugu states were reported to have negotiated the payment of N25,000 to their workers. It remains to be seen whether any of the states would be able or willing to equal the Federal Government’s N35,000 wage award.

Read Also: Delta NLC and wage award for workers

According to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s annual inflation rose strikingly in September, reaching its highest level in about two decades at 26.72 percent. The country’s headline inflation rate for October rose to 27.33 percent from 26.72 percent recorded in September. The figure marked the 10th consecutive rise in the country’s inflation rate this year. The result is an alarmingly deteriorating cost-of-living crisis in the country. Economic analysts blame the grim situation mainly on naira depreciation, higher food and energy prices, and logistical costs, among others.

Predictably, the prevailing socio-economic conditions in the country may well increase the levels of monetary poverty and multidimensional poverty. A year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released a report that said 133 million Nigerians were multidimensionally poor. This figure represented 63 percent of the country’s population of more than 200 million. Three out of five Nigerians lived in poverty, according to the report.

The data from Monetary Poverty Measurement (MPM) and Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) called into question the anti-poverty efforts of the Federal Government, and also raised questions about the seriousness of state and local governments in the fight against poverty. The findings suggested, ironically, that poverty in the country was governance-driven, with high deprivations nationally in healthcare, food security, and housing, among others.

It is important to ask what state and local governments have done, and what they are doing, to complement the Federal Government’s efforts to cushion the blows resulting from fuel subsidy removal. They are expected to address the cost-of-living issues in the spaces they govern.

Senator Adams Oshiomhole captured the significance of the Federal Government’s wage award at the 8th Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) in Abuja. He said at the event: ”Now that you have N35,000, there are workers from different states. Are all the state governments implementing it? The answer is no. Why should it be no, and why are they at peace?

“It should not be a selective application. The N35,000 must affect all workers. It has to go around all workers in Nigeria, whether public or private, that is the logic of nationwide strike.

“Whether such a worker is working for the federal, state, local government or the private sector, that N35,000 must be paid.”

Of course, there is the question of the employer’s capability. The current wage award is a temporary measure tied to a situation that is, hopefully, temporary. The point is that workers in the country’s public and private sectors deserve a wage award in these hellish times. It can be negotiated, but should not be negated.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed, was reported saying the current N30,000 national minimum wage would expire at the end of March 2024, adding, “Certainly, there is a new wage regime that will come in on April 1, 2024.” According to him, “It is in this wage regime that we will now have a proper salary structure for workers across the length and breadth of Nigeria. We expect that the private sector and state governors will also do the same.” Before this happens, Nigerian workers deserve some succour.

December 10, 2023
Fed workers wage award in N2.1tr supplementary budget
- Two-month arrears for payment
TREASURY-FUNDED federal workers are to be paid the N35, 000 wage award separately from their regular salaries, it was learnt last night.

The funding for the paymen for federal workers and other palliative packages have been captured in the N2.1 trillion 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Bill now awaiting lawmakers’ approval.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday sent the extra budget bill to the National Assembly to boost critical infrastructure and provide palliative cushion for Nigerians.

A director in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) confirmed to The Nation last night that they (workers on federal payroll) have started receiving their October salaries.

The director, who craved anonymity, said: “The committee working on the N35, 000 palliative wage is putting finishing touches to the modalities”.

He was referring to the awaiting approval of the supplementary budget by the National Assembly.

As it stands now the federal government now owes treasury-funded civil servants two months arrears of the palliative wage.

Treasury-funded workers are those captured in the Integrated Payroll Personnel Information System (IPPIS) after verification.

The Federal Government threatened to delist from its payroll any worker who was not verified by October 27.

According to a circular from the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved “a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) reached between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) on October 2, as a result of the dispute arising from withdrawal of subsidy on the price of premium motor spirit (PMS)”.

Read Also: Afenifere leader Fasoranti congratulates Tinubu

The President’s approval was “for the grant of a wage award of N35,000:00 (thirty-five thousand naira) only per month to all Federal Government workers with effect from 1st September, 2023, pending when a new national minimum wage is expected to have been signed into law.

“Accordingly, the implementation of the N35,000.00 per month wage award for all Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies that are treasury-funded will be funded from the treasury. Non-treasury funded Federal Government agencies are to implement same from their internally generated revenue (IGR) or statutory allocations.

The appropriation bill, which was read for the first time yesterday, scaled second reading.

The President also submitted the 2024-2027 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MEET/FSP) to the National Assembly in preparation for the 2024 Budget presentation.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio read the two letters from the President at plenary on the floor of the Senate chamber. House of Representatives Speaker Abbas Tajudeen did the same in the Green chamber of the National Assembly.

The 2023 supplementary budget was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its meeting on Monday.

The Senate Committees on Appropriation and Finance as well as their counterparts in the House are expected to consider the president’s letters.

The MTEF document usually sets the template for the budget presentation as it contains parameters on which the annual estimates are prepared.
November 1, 2023
NLC, Ngige disagree on implementation date for new wage

THE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige have disagreed over the possibility of implementing a new national Minimum wage in September this year.

While President of NLC insists that the tripartite committee on minimum wage set an August/September date for the minimum wage, the Minister said the September date for workers to receive the minimum wage is not feasible in view of the long processes involved.

The Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) has however warned against putting a particular timeline on the conclusion and eventual implementation of the minimum wage, but expressed confidence that the entire process should be concluded before the end of the year.

Addressing newsmen after addressing the plenary at the ongoing 107^th session International Labour Conference, President of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba said if all members of the tripod are committed to doing what is right and working within the timeline already set for itself, the minimum wage can be achieved in September.

He said “clearly speaking, if we are to go by the timeline which the tripartite committee represented by government, employers and workers are able to work assiduously towards it, it is something that is deliverable and can be achieved. So, we are still keeping faith with the process.”

According to him, the minimum wage committee set a timeline for itself which it is committed to, adding that “Labour represented by NLC and TUC are committed to following that timetable and timeline.”

“We made that very clear from the beginning after the inauguration of the committee because the first thing they did was to look at the scope of the work and the time it will take for us to deliver, to complete the tripartite negotiation and make sure that we are able to deliver a comprehensive report.

“Given the process of give and take, with the commitment we have also received from the National Assembly, I don’t think that the centrality of the issue require any delay. So as Organised Labour, we are committed to the timeline that the committee has set for itself. The timeline is August/September and we have said that very clearly.”

He said as the process goes on, organised labour will constantly will consult its organs and constituents and will be able to push the process through any other means that is legitimately allowed by law.

He said further that “at the tripartite committee, once it is agreed, we also know the process. It not about your willingness to pay, but the desirability and the fact that workers deserve decent wages. Clearly speaking, there is no time that employers has offered willingly as Father Christmas increases in salaries to workers. It has always been through demand and contestations.”

“So, when we reach the bridge, they will also see reason because if they want workers to be productive, they must be able to take care of their families. People seek for employment so that they will have decent living. Nobody seek job for the sake of being Father Christmas. These are the areas of contestations. So, it is not about how you feel, but what is supposed to be done.

“Once there is the will and the negotiations are concluded and a figured agreed by the tripartite, the entire process involved in making it a law can be concluded within a very short period. The one that we did in 2011 did not take up to one month for the entire process to be completed.

“We have also received firm commitment from the leadership of the National Assembly that once a law that is agreeable is transmitted to them, they will be able to facilitate the process. So, if there is the good will, all these processes can be concluded in good time and workers will then be able to benefit from it.

“But if there is no good will, then the issue of delay and all manner of excuses can be given. But our faith is that we are committed to the process and workers are waiting very anxiously to benefit because it is also long overdue. At the last negotiation, we all agreed to the five year timeline. This is the context of what we are considering”.

Addressing the plenary session of the ILO earlier, Wabba said that the rank of the working poor in Nigeria was expanding, thus exacerbating household, generational and gender poverty. However, while saying that he was quoted out of contest in earlier reports that the minimum wage may not be feasible by September, Minister of Labour said “the truth of the matter is that there is a work programme for the minimum wage committee. And by that schedule of work, we are supposed to terminate our own work in that committee first week of September.

“After you have done that, you will now take your recommendation to government. After doing that, the executive arm of government will take your recommendation to the Federal Executive Council because it concerns those in states, people in the state will now take it to National Economic Council, which is the council in charge of the economy of Nigeria. So these bodies will then look at the recommendation and then forward the final distillate to the National Assembly.

“It is the National Assembly that has power to make laws. But we can forward to them as executive bills. That is what the constitution says. So, I do not see all these taking place in September. That was why I said the date of September for a worker to receive new minimum wage is not feasible.

“However, that is not to say if everyone puts in their best and we put it on a fast track, we cannot consummate it before the end of the year. And when we consummate it before the end of the year, it has to be budgeted for. So, the money will go in either as supplementary budget or 2019 budget.”

On his part, Director General of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) said putting a definite timeline on the issue of the new minimum wage may be counterproductive.

He said employers of labour in the country “have been the good boy over the years as far as minimum wage is concern. What we are doing now is to give expression to the issue if social dialogue in the context of negotiation. The private sector in Nigeria has been one firm believer in collective bargaining.

“In fact, we have been able to adhere to the principles and value of collective bargaining more than the government. We have demonstrated good faith in the outcome of collective bargaining by implementing the outcome of such collective bargaining from time to time.

“So, the whole idea of discussing the national minimum wage is not strange to us because we have taken part in it in time past and employers in Nigeria have been very faithful to the outcome of past national minimum wage.

“I can assure you that just as we have done in time last, our employers will still keep that good reputation which they have as law keepers as soon as the national minimum wage is legislated into law. So, we all look forward to the conclusion of the negotiations which I think should be sooner than later.

“But we must be careful in trying to set specific date or specific timeline for the discussions going on because the dynamics of negotiations and bargaining is such that you can just speculate, but you cannot be definitive as to when it will end. But one thing that we as employers are quite sure of is that before the end of the year, we should be able to finish the entire process of discussing the national minimum wage”.

June 6, 2018
Minimum wage: NLC warns against excuses, says states should cut down spending

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned states and the organised private sector against coming up with excuses why they cannot implement the new national minimum wage currently being negotiated for Nigerian workers.

The congress said the minimum wage was implementable the government can cut down on its numerous expenses and extravagant spending which many state government have embarked upon.

President of the Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba who spoke at a public hearing on the new national minimum wage organised for the north central zone in Lokoja said implementation of whatever is arrived at by the committee is implementable if state governments across the country will cut down on their excesses and large number of political appointees they parade.

The warning became necessary as some state government within thr zone who were supposed to present their position to the committee stayed as well  the organized private sector led by the Nigeria Employers Consultatice Association stayed away from the public hearing.

The Nation noticed that the employers body was conspicuously missing both at the Abuja and Lokoja public hearings while Benue, Kwara and Niger states were also not represented at the event organised by the Tripartite Committee on the new national minimum wage to collect from Nigerians into the work of the committee.

It was not immediately clear if the states and the employers body has submitted any written submission to the committee for consoderation.

However, while Kogi state government pledged to abuse by the outcome of the committee recommendations, Plateau state said there has to be a corresponding increase in both internally generated revenue and allocation from.the federation account for the state to be able to implement the new wages that will be recommended.

Wabba who is a member of the committee said utvwas unfortunate that some of those who are supposed to make their input into the work of the committee through the public hearing choose to stay away, adding that they should not turn round later to complain of not being carried along.

He said further that states and employers of labour jave always complain of the inability to pay new wages, adding that the problem of the country was not  lack of resources by the ability to manage available resources.

He stressed that government at all levels will reduce the large number of political appointees and the mismanagement of available resources, there will be enough resources to take adequate care of workers welfare, stressing that while States with huge allocations have been able to manage their resources and pay workers adequately, others have nor been able to do so, thereby owing workers salaries.

He said states like Jigawa which did nor access the bailout fund have been able to pay salaries of their workers as and when due and also made one of the highest proposal on the new minimum wage to the committee.

While pledging his state’s willingness to implement the new wages that will be arrived at, Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello wants to consider increasing distributable revenue in favoie of states and local government in other for them to have money to implement the new wage.

Represented by his Deputy, Elder Simon Achuba, the Kogi governor said “Government earnings still depend principally on the Federation Accounts allocation. That is why we will continue to require the special assistance of the Federal Government for greater impact. To this end, we wish to commend the efforts of the Federal Government in assisting states with funds to settle their financial obligations to workers. This has greatly given respite to the states.

” However, in view of the enormous burden of the obligation occasioned by huge and accumulated debts, we wish to appeal to the Federal Government to consider granting such relief regular intervals to enable states meet their obligation to workers in particular.

“We also urge the Federal Government to increase the distributable amount of the Federation Account to all tiers of government especially the States and Local Governments. We want to reiterate that Kogi State Government will always support the efforts of the Federal Government at alleviating and ameliorating the deplorable conditions of service of workers through enhanced salary packages. It is a statutory responsibility we intend to fulfil with zeal and commitment.”

In its presentation, the Plateau state government said it was proposinf three different salaries of N25,000; N30,000 and N57,000, stressing however that ability to pay any of the recommended wages will depend on commensurate revenue both from the federation account and infernally generated revenue.

According to the government, if there is no corresponding increase in revenue, the state may be compiled to down size the state work force, pointing out that despite the huge vacancies existinf in the state, the government has not been able to employ new workers because of the lack.of resources.

April 28, 2018
Minimum wage, maximum woes
Nigeria has exited from recession but Nigerians are yet to feel the impact. The benefits of the recovery from prolonged economic doldrums are coming in trickles but even the trickles can hardly form a drop in the surging ocean of pervasive poverty. Hardship bites harder as the year draws to a close with President Muhammadu Buhari charging the governors to ensure that workers in their respective states are paid before the Christmas holidays. In the last two years, the issue of payment of salaries has been such a thorny subject to the extent of forcing the federal government to accede twice to a bailout and further agreeing to special refunds to enable the states pay workers. Within the private sector, millions of jobs have been lost, while pay cut and outright retrenchment have become normal in industries striving hard and devising means to succeed.

Amidst this scenario however, a contradictory escalating call for pay rise rises to a fever pitch. Understandably, the brutally recessed economy has mercilessly reduced the purchasing power of the naira. And Nigeria is already running foul of the provisions of the International Labour Organization that stipulates a timely review of the minimum wage law. The nation’s five-year mandatory review has elapsed and the value of workers take home cruelly shrunken by galloping inflation which has obviously left workers with little alternative. The review of the national minimum wage is significant at this time but the stake is certainly very high. How will the states most of whom currently owing months in arrears of salaries and allowances cope with the new minimum wage? And how will the private sector already bruised by downturn and tiers of government battling with lean resources cope with the new wage bill? This and many other questions are troubling.

But the president while inaugurating the 30-man minimum wage committee clarified that the new wage should be anchored on the ability of the tiers of government to pay. However, that is where more troubling questions arise. Why is the federal government legislating on a new minimum wage for states and local governments in a federation? How can the committee on a new minimum wage determine holistically, the ability of different tiers of government whose resources differ across boundaries?

Can the minimum wage in Rivers and Lagos states for instance be sustained in Borno, Benue or Abia? Though the minimum wage is on the exclusive legislative list and the composition of the members of the minimum wage committee drawn on a tripartite basis comprising government at all levels, the workers and the job providers in the private sector to ensure a plural view and guarantee a composite agreement, matching the capacity of these respective tripartite groups with a realistic wage bar looks like a recipe for crisis. The reasons are obvious. The Yoruba socio-cultural group, the Afenifere observed recently and asked the federal government to allow states and local governments decide the minimum they can afford for their workers. Again, this patriotic opinion is not realistic without an amendment of the constitution to remove the minimum wage from the exclusive list.

Chris Ngige is an experienced administrator and an astute politician having been governor of his home Anambra State as well as senator in the seventh Senate and now the Hon. Minister of Labour and Employment. He said that by the new minimum wage, the federal government was determined to eliminate “poverty pain” which according to him occurs when worker’s earning could not guarantee him a good living. In spite, more questions hang on this move by the federal government to live up to its constitutional responsibilities. The governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike for example, has argued the current exercise would come out futile. Wike in a broadcast television interview thwacked the charge by the president to the governors to clear all arrears of salaries owed workers before the Christmas holidays, dismissing it as political. He asked the federal government to shed weight so as to demonstrate its genuine sympathy for the plight of the state civil servants. He further punctured the case for a new minimum wage in the absence of a review of the federal revenue sharing formula, wondering how states that could not pay N18,000 minimum wage can afford the new pay rise.

Many have argued that the basis of the on-going wage crisis is the de-structured fiscal federalism where the federal government takes 52% of the revenue of the federation, states 22%, and 774 local governments 26%. The total wage bill of Benue State for instance is about N7 billion with its total monthly revenue standing way below N5 billion. By the time, the minimum wage gets to say N56, 000 (factional leader of the organized labour movement, Joe Ajaero is demanding for N100, 000 minimum wage) from the present N18, 000, what becomes the fate of the state? Even the federal government will not be left out of the pending crisis. By last count, a total of about eleven organized labour unions have gone on strike over wage related issues and unmet agreements spanning close to a decade.

Containing the cascading labour unrest has so far been as a result of the outstanding performance of some of the cabinet ministers in the Buhari administration. Ngige though without a prior labour background has by sheer brilliance, masterfully engineered a proactive labour diplomacy that held the nation from sliding the way of Venezuela. There is no disputing the fact that the socio-political and economic milieu that made a Venezuela have been staring the nation on its face in the last two years. Therefore, that the ever sensitive and easily restive labour has neither snapped its patience nor triggered a social upheaval is to the credit of the Minister of Labour and Employment.

Seething discontent is widespread. Though the federal government has relatively met with the demands of workers, there is palpable apprehension as to what the future holds. Your guess is as good as mine. The bottom-line is that the nation is headed for further doom unless the economy grows. Resurrecting the dying value of naira and through that, restore the value of wages and income is a smarter way to achieve better working conditions for workers. Pay rise will lead to rising costs of goods and services, making it easy for inflation to eat away the added value.

Importantly, which private sector organization can afford a wage increase in an environment where businesses are posting losses and retrenchments at the centre stage? With the 2017 budget performing woefully at 15%, where is the assurance that 2018 will be better? The mass discontent in the land can easily be measured by a recent warning by the leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu that hunger is ravaging the length and breadth of the nation. And with the governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, another leader of the ruling APC, declaring that 85% of Nigerians are unhappy, which better way expresses the muted upheaval at hand? Minimum wage looks more of a recipe for maximum woes!
- Udekwe writes from Abuja.
December 14, 2017
Wage structure needs review, says Obi of Onitsha

The Obi of Onitsha, Alfred Achebe, has said workers’ wage and salary structure should be reviewed to stop professionals from leaving the country.

Achebe said it was a tragedy for members of the political elite to determine their wage structure, while workers in the country cannot.

He said this at the 36th convocation of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN), which held in Ijanikin, Lagos.

According to him, Nigerian doctors. after getting their training locally, become expatriates in various countries, which reveals the shortcoming of wages and infrastructural systems in the country.

“Doctors should be well rewarded as they are special due to what they do and it was this realisation that stopped me from studying medicine, though I was admitted to study it, but I went for chemistry,”he said.

He said though traditional rulers voices were getting smaller, he would do something about the situation by talking to the authorities.

The college President, Prof. Ademola Olaitan, said though doctors going abroad was pathetic, there was nothing that could be done as they (doctors) have to feed themselves and work in conducive environments.

He said: “Part of the mandate of the college is to prevent human capital flight in the medical sector, which we have succeeded in doing by convoking 387 fellows this year, aside those convoked in previous years and saving the nation, millions of dollars.”

He said it was a shame that industrial action is the only language government listens to.

“Industrial actions are not encouraged as it disrupts work and placements by doctors into various teaching hospitals which does not allow for fulfillment of the prescribed minimum period of clinical placements and rotations that qualified them for examinations,” he said.

Olaitan urged the government to reconstitute the Board of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) as the body had operated without a council for the past two years when the board was dissolved. He noted that reconstitution will allow the council to perform its statutory functions, which are crucial to the smooth running of medical services.

The guest speaker, Prof Obiora Onuba, who spoke on the theme: “Medical Management of Terrorist Bombing of Nigerian Civilians;” Lessons to Learn”, said doctors must have training in treating victims of terrorist acts as only a few doctors have experience in a true mass casualty attack.

September 29, 2017
No wage increase, no recovery, says Aremu

There can be no meaningful economic recovery until the Federal Government addresses productivity and wages matters, the General Secretary, National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers (NUTGTW), Comrade Issa Aremu, has said.

In a reaction to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that Nigeria, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 0.55 per cent, is out of recession, he noted that the economy has the potential for faster recovery and not just exiting recession.

According to Aremu, this could have been possible if the government had put an end to the persistent crisis of compensation of the working class, manifesting in what he termed as “criminal” non-payment and delayed payments of salary by many states, despite several Federal Government bailouts of trillions of naira.

On the the NBS positive growth numbers of 0.55 per cent, compared to the negative contraction of 1.6 per cent in 2016, Aremu said Nigeria could only recover from economic recession with enhanced purchasing power, which is only possible through prompt and adequate payment of over 10 million employed workforce.

The labour leader, who likened Nigeria’s economy to a big, blind economy, which gets excited with a dimmed ray of eye sight, said it was time Nigeria got right its growth and development numbers.

He noted that the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) (2016-2020), launched last year, envisaged 4.6 per cent real GDP growth in the year, adding that this makes the recent token positive growth of 0.55 per cent a far cry from the planned target.

Aremu, a labour representative on the National Wages and Salaries Commission, said the key to sustainable development has improved labour productivity in both public and private sectors, which could only happen with motivated pay and quality pensions.

He advised the Federal Government to address the crises of compensation in all sectors, notably education, and setlle with unions, such as the Academic Staff Union of Universities, which is on strike, by paying all outstanding allowances and ensure service delivery on the part of the workforce.

“Nigeria’s economic recovery is elusive, with constant avoidable work stoppages and loss of man hours in an economy trying to exit recession,” Aremu added.

September 15, 2017
Ortom vows to reduce N7.9b monthly wage bill

Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has promised that his government will scale down the alarming N7.9 billion monthly wage bill as it can longer be sustained by the government.

The state’s wage stands at N4.2 billion while the local government council is N3.7 billion monthly.

Ortom, who addressed State House correspondents in Abuja, said the government has begun a comprehensive staff audit to identify ghost workers and remove those due for retirement.

The staff audit, which will last for three months, will put the government in a better position to pay outstanding salaries, he said.

Ortom said: “You will recall that I declared a state of emergency on payment of salaries, because I want to be able to pay salaries as and when due as a worker deserves his wages.

“I think a wage bill of over N3.2 billion at the state level is too much. When you add pensions and gratuity, it gets to about N4.2 billion; it is too much for Benue State. At the local government, you have a wage bill of N3.7 billion.

“Ghost workers, those due for retirement and the dead are still in service, collecting salaries and all that. So, we believe that at the end of the day, we will scale down to a level that we will be able to pay salaries as and when due.”

The governor added that his administration inherited a monthly bill of N8.2 billion from the Gabriel Suswam-led government, but reduced it to N7.9 billion, which he wants to further scale down.

July 3, 2017
Democracy Day: NLC urges FG to announce c’ttee on minimum wage

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged the Federal Government to use the occasion of the Democracy Day celebration to announce the composition of the tripartite negotiation committee on the National Minimum Wage.

The NLC President, Mr Ayuba Wabba, made the call in a statement he issued on Sunday in Abuja, ahead of the Democracy Day celebration on Monday.

Wabba, who noted that the minimum wage was increased to N18,000 six years ago, added that the patience of workers had been tested due to the current inflation in the country.

“We, therefore, urge the Federal Government to use the occasion of the Democracy Day to announce the composition of the tripartite negotiation committee as this is imperative for the government to review the National Minimum Wage, ‘’ he said.

Wabba also condemned the recent coup rumour, saying labour was opposed to any move to truncate the current democratic dispensation

“ The NLC wishes to state in the strongest possible tone that it is categorically opposed to any further military adventurism in the body politics of our nation.

“The damage military rule caused our nation is not only in the realm of our political culture, it deepened and virtually institutionalised corruption in all segments of our national life,’’ he said.

The NLC president urged the military leadership to identify individuals involved and prosecute them in the relevant courts.

Wabba also called on elected public office holders at all levels of governance to rededicate themselves to the task of working for the people.

May 28, 2017
Rethinking Osun’s wage burden
SIR: I am very disturbed to read in the dailies that Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, spent over N14 billion to pay workers and pensioners last December.

We must first commend the governor for paying the workers and pensioners who were owed four months salaries. Salaries and pensions are contractual obligation on the part of the government to its employees, active and passive. This gesture, no doubt put smiles on their faces and brought joy to their families during the Yuletide.

However, that said, this is a public finance anomaly and a clear distorted allocation of public funds. N11 billion of this money came from Paris Club refund. The bulk of this could have been dedicated to a special project that would have led to empowerment and wealth creation.

Workers constitute less than five per cent of the population. We have a fiscal anomaly if 99.9 per cent of public funds is being used to service exclusively less than five per cent of the population who just consume this money without yielding any revenue. Government, inevitably has become ‘THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CIVIL SERVANTS BY THE CIVIL SERVANTS FOR THE CIVIL SERVANTS’, with the majority of the people only acting as onlookers and their mouth watering.

I understand that what was got is 25 per cent of the refund. Hopefully this year, another 25 per cent or more will come in. This should be used in a more productive way than paying salaries of workers.

From available report, the state government has made available over N2 billion interest-free micro-credits to farmers, traders, artisans and small scale businesses. This should be restructured and expanded in such a way that at least N500 million should be made available every month to new and existing businesses that can employ at least 10 persons.

This amount will create at least 1000 new jobs every month, development of ancillary industries and phenomenal wealth in the state. In this way, hundreds of thousands of the people of the state will benefit from public funds and not a few thousand workers. It is a better way to allocate resources.

By the way, the bitter truth is that Osun has no business employing 35,000 workers. What are they producing? What revenue is the workforce generating to warrant the N3.6 billion the state spends on the workers every month? At the best of time, internally generated revenue has not been more than N1 billion and is currently on an average of N600 million every month, according to the governor.

The realistic path is for the state to rightsize, in order to live within its income, or else, the salary debt will keep piling up and constituting a distraction and blackmail point to the government.
- Mike Ogundele,
Osogbo, Osun State
January 13, 2017