At last, after much of muscle flexing and threats that they would shut down the country’s economy; the labour unions boxed the Federal Government to a submission. On their part, the labour unions agreed to shelve their industrial action and got the government to agree to a minimum wage. There are reports that President Muhammadu Buhari got two reports, one recommended N24,000 and the other recommended N30,000 as national minimum wage. The president’s acceptance of the recommendation in spite of the labour unions rough and uncouth tactics is commendable and an action in the right direction.
Recall that a committee of the government had met for many months before a tripartite committee of the government, the private sector and the labour unions was set up to look at the request by labour unions for a national minimum wage of between of N50,00 and N56,000 for the country in place of the current national minimum wage of N18,000. They predicated their request for a wage increase, among other factors, on the rise in the cost of living in the country over the past decade and the massive devaluation of Naira by the Buhari administration.
Unfortunately, there is no consensus in the country on a national minimum wage. Most state governors and many of the proponents of true federalism in the country argue that states should be allowed to set their own minimum wage, especially giving that many states are having difficulty in paying the current N18,000 national minimum
wage.
Far more important, however, is the ability of state governments and the private sector to pay N30,000 per month minimum wage at a time like this when the economy is struggling to survive even as it battles with high unemployment and many other inadequacies such as infrastructural deficiencies and the high cost of doing business in the country. At the same time, most states are currently heavily indebted to various creditors and are in arrears in the payment of the wages and salaries of their workers.
However, all is well that ends well. President Muhammadu Buhari has received the recommendation of the tripartite committee on the national minimum wage. An executive bill is expected to be forwarded by him to the National Assembly which will pass it into law.
With a new national minimum wage in view, the governors and every employer of labour in the country are expected to go back to the drawing board to formulate strategies that will enable them pay the new minimum wage. Some state governors will have to re-examine the current over-bloated staff strength of their state’s civil service and trim them to a manageable level in line with the realities of the time and with a view to complying with the new national minimum wage.
Also, private sector operators which hitherto had been stingy in recruiting staff will henceforth have to watch their bottom line and every need ascertained before any recruitment of staff.
The increased national minimum wage will also spur state governments to examine other areas for increased inflow of revenue to their state coffers. However, with steps being taken to legislate the national minimum wage, it is hoped that workers across the country will not only justify the salary increase by increasing their productivity but by also putting in their best to ensure improved development of the country.
The economic management team of the government must also work with the CBN to ensure that any increase in inflation arising from the implementation of the national minimum wage is quickly tamed while adequate efforts are also put in place to increase productivity in service and all sectors of the economy with a view to further scaling up the development of the economy of the country.
Going forward and bearing in mind that over the years, implementation has always been the undoing of most government policies and programmes, the national minimum wage must be implemented in such a way as to further narrow the gaps between the high grade levels in the civil service; otherwise, the percentage increase in the salaries of junior workers and that of the senior civil servants may create yawning gaps in the salary structure that both the federal and state governments may not be able to cope with in terms of implementation.
