Mixed Reactions Trail FG, NLC Pegging Of Minimum Wage On N70,000
govGeorge Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (right); President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (second right); Joe Ajaero, President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) (middle); Festus Osifo, President,Trade Union Congress (TUC) (left), and others during the president’s engagement with the leadership of the NLC and TUC at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.
LAGOS JULY 19TH (NEWSRNAGERS)-Mixed reactions on Thursday trailed the pegging of the new national minimum wage at N70,000 by President Bola Tinubu and the two major labour centres, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
While some respondents said it is grossly inadequate and unsustainable to meet the present economic realities in the country, others argued that the Federal Government should concentrate more on infrastructural development, rather than the much talked about minimum wage when the standard of living of Nigerians has remained low.
The Northern Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) frowned at the pegging of the minimum wage at N70,000 and asked the organised labour to reject the offer.
Reacting to the offer by the Federal Government, the National President of NYCN, Comrade Isah Abubakar, suggested a minimum of N150,000 and urged labour to reject the offer.
He said, “If labour should just let go it means that the government of the day should as well reduce their emoluments. You can’t put people under pressure while you live in comfort. Tinubu and others are living in comfort and as such they shouldn’t put ordinary Nigerians in bondage.
“No Nigerian will survive with N70,000 as minimum wage. With the current cost of living it’s impossible to survive on N70,000 as minimum wage. The landing cost of premium motor spirit (PMS) is N1,220. How are they going to sell a litre of fuel in the market? These are questions that Nigerians should be asking.
“If N70,000 takes you to the office, what do you eat? I don’t know how Tinubu thinks. He is intentionally punishing Nigerians. We don’t mind if he reverses the fuel subsidy and leave the minimum wage the way it was because everything that Nigerians are facing currently are as a result of the minimum wage and that is why Nigerians have found themselves in this quagmire.”
Abubakar added, “To be very honest people can no longer feed themselves three times a day. I don’t think the issue of N70,000 minimum wage is what the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) will agree to. It’s only if they have compromised. Maybe they’ve promised them something and they’ve compromised. To us it’s not acceptable and we think that it should be reviewed upwards. At least labour should not accept anything less than N150,000,” he said.
Mr. Emmanuel Olowu, the Executive Director, Democracy Vanguards, a civil society organisation, said Tinubu did not consider the present economic indices before deciding on the figure.
Olowu, who said that most Nigerians expected a figure higher than N250,000, expressed concern over the financial implications of the new national minimum wage of N70, 000 on the masses.
“The three years review of the wage as proposed by the president is a welcome idea but what we need is a figure that aligns with the present market realities,” he said.
Also speaking, the Osun State Coordinator, Federation of Informal Workers Organisation of Nigeria (FIWON), Mr Ibrahim Olayinka, said Nigerians should brace up for the implications of the new minimum wage.
Olayinka said the market values of food commodities have escalated, making the less privileged unable to meet their daily needs.
“I want the Senate to reconsider the figure and do the needful instead of making Nigerians pass through less tough moments.
“The figure is not impressive and I am so saddened about what lies ahead of us as a country,” Olayinka said.
Mr. Ayo Ologun, Spokesperson for Transparency Accountability International, said the figure did not fulfill the aspirations of labour unions.
According to him, whether it will scale through or not depends on the labour union’s decision.
“I want to say that it is not in tandem with present economic realities and living standard,” he said.
Mr. Hannibal Uwaifo, a lawyer and President of South-East, South-South Professionals of Nigeria (SESSPN), also said, “My opinion is that the new minimum wage proposed by the Tinubu government falls short of a living wage by any standard judging by Nigeria of today. It cannot buy a bag of rice, or pay monthly house rent or feed a family no matter how small. It cannot even feed one person in a family. The conclusion is that government is just insensitive and joke in the face of the grand corruption, extravagant spending, huge budgets for frivolous items and so on.
“The implications is that the workers welfare has been thrown to the dustbin in favour of official deceit and the agitation by labour will continue. Hunger and poverty with its long term implications will continue.”
However, Liborous Oshoma, a lawyer and public affairs analyst, argued that the Federal Government should concentrate more on infrastructural development rather than the much talked about minimum wage when the standard of living of Nigerians has remained low.
He said, “I agree with those who have distinguished between wages and salary. We can talk about minimum salary of N70,000 in Nigeria of today, but really it’s not about salary, if you fix N1 million as minimum salary today if there are no infrastructure to employ people and the existing ones are decaying and government consistently live ostentatious lifestyle where we borrow money to massage the ego of those in government, very soon N1 million minimum wage will still be like N30,000.
“So apart from the minimum salary that is subject to review, what are we doing to provide the right environment for investment and infrastructure? So that the private sector can build industries, open up businesses and employment can be generated and the government will not be the only business that is thriving. That to me is the answer to all of these.
“How many people work in the public sector? Today, we celebrate fraudsters as Yahoo. We look for a good name to embellish it. We celebrate prostitution and we call it hookup. Today you see boys who should be gainfully employed, in hotels with laptops. This is the generation that will tomorrow become leaders. If they pay N300,000 as minimum wage without the right infrastructure that will sustain the minimum wage, improve the standard of living, we will be back to where we have been all these while.
“What is our policy towards providing the basic amenities? What are our plans to develop public infrastructure? What is our plan to sustain mechanised farming? It is not enough to put more money in the hands of people and there is nothing in the market to buy. When you propose N70,000 as minimum, what are the parameters put in place to enhance the standard of living?” Oshoma queried.
A lawyer, Mr. Bayo Akinlade, the Convener of the Fight Against Corruption in the Judiciary and former NBA chairman of the Ikorodu branch, in his view said: “I don’t think our issue is increasing salaries. I think our issue is in market regulation and consistency in the market structure. We do not have any discipline in Nigeria in terms of what our price is for certain goods and services. So unless we have some structure and stability in our pricing structure and a regulatory system that works in such a way that people cannot arbitrarily increase prices of any goods and services, then that is where the beginning of getting it right will start.
“But increasing salary would only just provoke other market forces, you know, to justify them to increase goods and services. So we need some form of standard price structure in Nigeria. Otherwise, if you increase somebody’s salary, then the cost of goods and services will automatically go up in equal value. So that’s the problem,” he said.
How Tinubu, Labour Leaders Pegged Minimum Wage At N70,000
After several months of back and forth, President Bola Tinubu and the two major labour centres, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) came to a compromise on Thursday, pegging the new minimum wage at N70,000.
With the latest development, President Tinubu will in the next few days forward a wage review bill to the National Assembly before implementation may commence.
The president’s approval followed wide consultative meetings with governors, the organised private sector and the labour bureaucrats.
Labour, however, conceded by accepting the new wage increase when Tinubu promised to ensure that wages will be reviewed every three years, rather than the once in five years old order.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, broke the new wage figure to State House correspondents.
“You recall that last week we had a meeting here and the organised private sector and the sub-nationals have also held their various meetings with Mr. President following the submission of the tripartite agreement to Mr. President.
According to him, “Labour came last week. They had meeting with Mr. President. They asked for adjournment for a week to go and consult further. They did those consultations. They have come back today and we have met with Mr. President.
“We’re happy to announce today that both the Federal Government and organised labour have agreed on an increase on the N62,000. The new national minimum wage that we expect us to present to submit to the National Assembly for legislation is N70,000.
“But that is not all. There is also a boost like Mr. President has assured in ensuring that massive investment is going to be made in the area of infrastructure. There is also a deepening of the investment of the Federal Government in renewable energy. More money is going to go into the acquisition of more buses, the CNG buses, Nigeria is going to be more CNG compliant, according to the President.
“We’re moving in this transition to renewable and all other things that Mr. President has assured labour the issue of SSANU and NASU is also going to be looked at. And we are happy, we are very thankful of the role that the organised labour has played today. They recognised the Federal Government’s role in ensuring that we have the local government autonomy, and also ensuring that both the organised labour and the government are on the same page today.
“They have seen the magnanimity of the president and today the leadership of labour said they didn’t come here for negotiation. Not at all, they came here in that deep sense of patriotism to ensure that Nigeria remains united, Nigeria becomes more prosperous and it is in that spirit that they are in agreement with what the Federal Government has done today.
“We want to thank them for their level of patriotism. We also want to thank Mr President, the Federal Government, the sub-nationals and the organised private sector for going through this painstaking effort but also ensuring that at the end of the day, Nigeria is the winner for it all”.
Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejiocha, corroborated the Information Minister when she said Mr President had promised that it will not disappoint and he has shown that this afternoon.
She recalled that labour saw Mr President last week, and they asked that he should give them one week to consult more and of course, at the end of the day, the consultation came, very fruitful because the president said he has to be a father.
She said, “This is not the issue of the law of who is right, or who will blink the first, that he is our father, like he has always said. That we should end the issue of give me N1000, add N1000 and all that.
“That, first and foremost, that the review of this minimum wage policy has to be reduced to three years, that five years is too long a time to get any minimum wage review, that’s not very healthy. And, of course, that labour should look at the indices of the economy and accept N70,000, minimum wage, and, of course, that it has to be reviewed every three years.
“So that we’re able to evaluate and see whether our economy is picking up, or whether something has to be done further, considering the sensitivity of the issue.
“He promised and asked that the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy should make sure that they go back to the books, because he has the discretion to look into the issue of SSANU, NASU and all that, so that their money should be paid. And they should work out the modalities, whether its 50%, or whatever, but that he has given that waiver to be paid, because of course, that the issue of no work, no pay, that issue has to be led to a rest”.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, in his reaction said what came as most appealing for the workforce was the assurance by the president to effect a three-yearly review of wages.
“We’re here last week. And we’re here now, what have been announced in terms of the amount of N70,000 happened to be where we are now. But the cool thing about it is that it will not wait for another five years to come on review. Rather than settling on a figure that we wait for five years, is like we’ll have to now negotiate even two times within five years, with a view to going up.
“That is one of the reasons you know why we decided to reach where we are today. Because of the proviso that you know, you can review the next three years.
“The other one, we came with other issues in the basket, like the issue of SSANU, NASU and others, especially with the affront by the Commissioner of Police, FCT, we brought it to Mr. President, and talked on the need, you know, for that matter to be addressed. And magnanimously he asked the agencies concerned to work out the modalities for the payment of those workers in the universities.”
Also TUC President, Festus Osifo, said the attraction was the assurance that by next week the bill to amend the minimum wage shoring it up to N70,000 will most likely go to the National Assembly .
“The president made a pronouncement or announcement of N70,000. That by next week, they should put finishing touches to the bill and do the transmission to the National Assembly.
“But why this became a catch is actually because we from organised labour, we have been pushing that the issue of five years review is to me so much, that a lot of economic indices may have changed, because we are in an era where things are moving very fast in terms of both macro, and micro economic policies.”
Independent
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Posted by News Rangers
on Jul 19 2024. Filed under National.
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