- Say new salary demand not realistic
- Ask labour unions to be faithful, speak with one voice
- We’ve deviated from protecting interest of Nigerians — NLC chieftain
- No decision yet on minimum wage – Ajaero lTUC demands N447, 000 per month
Nigerians have called on all the three tiers of government in the country, the labour unions, and private sector to look beyond increasing minimum wage as the solution to the biting economic hardship rocking the nation.
According to them, no amount of money paid to workers as salaries would give them comfort if the root cause of the nation’s economic challenge is not addressed.
They said it was an act of injustice for workers in the civil and public services to be paid while the larger percentage of the citizenry who could barely feed themselves lives with nothing.
Unless the country collectively works on ensuring productivity for sustenance of the nation and for exportation, they said dishing out minimum wage and distributing palliatives would lead Nigeria to anywhere.
The charge is coming as the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria have come up with different figures for the new national minimum wage for workers.
While NLC is demanding N794, 000, TUC said N447, 000 was a moderate sum that would give workers the level of ease that would enable them to cope with the current biting economic hardship that has turned the majority of them into beggars.
In their separate interviews with The Point, some Nigerians argued that without the economic problems being tackled holistically and collectively, workers would soon go on protest and demand for higher wage even if they are paid N1 million monthly as a result of the worsened economy.
“Many labour leaders are behaving like politicians and Nigerians don’t trust their decisions because of their antecedents.”
They contended that no state government could pay what the organised labour was demanding for as minimum wage, wondering what would become of non-civil and public servants and other critical infrastructural projects if huge amounts of money are paid to workers alone.
For civil society organisations, agriculture and productivity would address the hardship confronting the country, rather than sharing palliatives and money.
A Nigerian, who is a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Kehinde Ayantunji, noted that payment of increased minimum wage is not sustainable and realistic and that both federal and state governments could only start it but they would default after a month or thereabouts.
He said it is a waste of resources for governments to be sharing palliatives to tackle hunger and identified productivity as the workable solution.
“We are now at a very precarious stage in our existence as a country and I must say that we need our collective responsibility, not only the labour, private sector inclusive. Nigeria is facing one of the worst turbulent challenges in this period and we cannot run away from it. I have to commend the courage of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, he might have his challenges presently but the fundamental question we should always ask ourselves is that – can we continue with the way we have been doing before and think this country will survive? – Definitely, the answer is no.
“The direction all of us must be looking at now is the direction of productivity and that is why I am not in total support of the palliative that the government is sharing. Even as an APC person, I see it as a waste of resources and unnecessary. Why not invest all the palliatives on agriculture and let us feed ourselves. There is no state in Nigeria where you are going to plant something and it will not grow. We are having problems with foreign exchange because we cannot feed ourselves without depending on dollars. We import most of the things that we are consuming. But, as a nation, labour unions and the private sector, let us begin to look at the area of productivity, reducing cost of governance, and investment,” Ayantunji stated.
Another Nigerian, Fatai Tijani said no government would take NLC and TUC seriously with their demands because of their internal bickering and alleged politicization of their activities.
Tijani said many labour leaders are behaving like politicians and Nigerians don’t trust their decisions because of their antecedents.
“Unfortunately, the reason for the breakage of the labour union by Baba Obasanjo in 1999 that created TUC is rearing its ugly head now. It is painful that we have people who don’t have business in the labour movement that are at the helm of affairs now. The way the current NLC President, Joe Ajaero played his game into the political arena put paid to what was left of the labour union. The TUC was in tandem with most of the activities of the NLC before now but it now saw that it is becoming political.
“Some days ago when Mr President said you can join a political party against 2027, people took Mr President up but he knew what he was saying because there are some recommendations that are being made now that are not realizable. What the South West NLC is demanding is different from the South East and so other regions. It is important that the people that will take up leadership positions should not be sponsored people. The labour union has been destroyed so much that state governments even sponsor people to lead them. Whosoever wants to become the labour union chairman in a state is sponsored by the state government and at the federal level, they also sponsor people.
“For them to have a virile union, they should leave people alone and allow them to have what it takes to get into offices. We knew what Adams Oshiomhole and Ayuba Waba did to get into NLC leadership. Now, they are dishing out conflicting figures. Is the economy palatable for us to even enjoy the palliatives or the increased salaries? The answer is no. So, the moment we start working on producing things and exporting them, the better for us. It is important we all come together and support productivity,” he said.
The President of a non-governmental organisation in Osun State, Michael Ebofin said, “States should not pay the same minimum wage. For instance, if you have lived in Rivers State, especially Port-Harcourt, you will know how expensive it is to live there. I could remember my cousin’s wife went to visit him and usually in Ibadan, he would just give them N5, 000 and they would go to the market and get plenty of things. But N20, 000 cannot even get its half in Rivers State. So, if you pay a worker N100, 000 in Rivers State and Osun is taking the same, Osun is going to be a millionaire within two years because the person in Rivers State will still be living in abject poverty.
“Also, asking workers in Osun to take the same thing Lagos takes, it is going to be a serious thing because house rent, transportation and other costs are not the same and these are the things they are going to consider. The labour has to be considerate and realistic. I won’t take the labour unions seriously until they come together and speak with one voice.”
He added, “We have to be realistic, both the Federal and State Governments cannot pay the suggested minimum wage. The way to go is for us to collectively work on our productivity level.
When the government provides the enabling environment, citizens will be motivated to go to farms and establish factories and industries for production.”
A retired director in the federal civil service, Okoro Obibieze said the amounts mentioned by the NLC and TUC are not only outrageous but also unrealistic.
According to him, “The government, be it federal or state, are the major employers in the country. The private sector is dead totally. I don’t know if the NLC and the TUC know the number of government employees. Yes, there is unimaginable hardship and workers are seriously suffering but paying such a humongous amount is not the solution. No is the answer. I expected them to demand that the government should, without excuses, begin work in aiding the entrepreneurs we have in this country to revive the private sector. They should demand that the government should make and enforce laws that will clamp down on the use of dollars as a substitute to our naira. From their demand, one can see that they even approved the astronomical rise of the dollar and the death of our own currency which is very unfortunate.”
Obibieze also wondered what the NLC and TUC are thinking of the Nigerian workers who are not in the employment of the government.
He said, “If they are demanding that the governments should pay their workers such amounts as minimum wage, how much would they ask the private sector to pay their workers as minimum wage? These are the things that must be put into consideration before making demands so that it will not end up as jokes. Imagine a dollar rising to about N1, 700 to a dollar and the NLC and TUC that should fight naked with the government using it as a benchmark for their minimum wage demand. Labour should brace up because it’s in their hands to save the country. This is another joke like their usual threat to go on strike that never materialised. Nigeria’s minimum wage should not be based on how much naira exchanges for dollars. It’s only in Nigeria this kind of thing happens and those who should fight against it will turn it to selfish benefits,” he said.
A civil servant who pleaded anonymity told The Point that the demand only exposed the game the NLC and TUC are playing with workers.
He accused the leadership of the two bodies of insensitivity claiming that all the while, they would make noise as if they are fighting for the workers but turn around and scatter what they did because they have never been truthful.
“These amounts our NLC and TUC are demanding prove that they are deceiving us workers. How can any sensible body ask the government to pay such amounts as minimum wage? It’s unrealistic even if it’s affordable by the government. Their argument is baseless because they are looking at the exchange rate for dollars. So they are happy that the dollar is destroying our naira. Imagine if the government can pay that, what happens in our markets. Our naira will be worse than tissue paper.
“You will go to the market with N50, 000 and all you can buy will be toothpaste. I’m a civil servant. All I expected from them was a genuine fight against the dollarization of our economy which has killed the naira. They should also call us out for a severe protest against the jumbo salaries of the politicians, their aides and appointees. If we genuinely take over the streets for one or two weeks, believe me, there will be a reversal of this untold hardship. It happened in Tunisia, Egypt and some other countries, today they are better off with it.
We are still receiving N30, 000 as minimum wage and for you to eat good bread in any part of the country you must spend not less than N1, 500. This is horrible.
“All we have talked about concerns those in the civil service. What about those in private companies and those self-employed? Are we not going to the same market? Which private company can afford to pay its staff such an amount as minimum wage? Even the likes of MTN, GLO, Dangote and others cannot, so what makes it minimum wage if it’s only paid to civil servants? I think what the NLC and TUC are doing is to make us believe that they are fighting for us while in all sincerity they are making money for themselves. We have seen past labour leaders and what they are worth.”
To Abdullahi Abdul, the government can pay such amounts as minimum wage if they block the leakages.
“The government can pay workers such an amount as minimum wage if corruption is taken out of the way. How much are the Senators and Members of the House of Representatives, House of Assembly and other political appointees and aides receiving? Is it only when it’s about workers that the government will be crying there’s no money? The disparity between the workers in Nigeria is condemnable and I am bold to condemn it. I support the NLC and TUC but they should harmonize the amount and press their demand.
A public affairs analyst, Ben Njoku, said that the conflicting amounts announced by the NLC and TUC implied that the two bodies were not on the same page about some labour matters.
According to Njoku, such displays are the epitome of unseriousness.
Njoku also said an incident like the one in which organised labour had failed to speak with one voice was the reason Nigerians don’t take them seriously.
He wondered if members of the NLC and TUC were operating under different economic conditions to warrant them not agreeing on a common minimum wage.
Njoku said, “The conflicting amounts announced by the NLC and TUC did not come as a surprise to me, even though their action is regrettable. For crying out loud, how do you explain to Nigerians that the NLC and TUC, arguably the two biggest labour bodies in the country, are not on the same page?
“This display is the epitome of unseriousness.
“No wonder no one takes labour seriously these days. I mean, look at what happened before, during and after the last protests they organised. There was no cohesion between the two bodies and for that; the outcome of the protests was glaring for all to see. They achieved nothing, in my opinion.
“Now, they have started again. But wait a minute; are they saying that members of NLC are operating in an economy different from the one the TUC are grappling with? They must learn to speak with one voice to the government and the minimum wage would have been perfect to test run their camaraderie.
“Talking about the government, they will not take labour seriously because of such disharmony and who will suffer in the end? Of course, it is Nigerian workers.”
Furthermore, Njoku insisted that the amounts tabled by the NLC and TUC would not be feasible for the government and that it is the advice given by the committee the government set up that would prevail.
He also declared that the new minimum wage would not be higher than N100, 000.
On how the government can cater for Nigerians who are not under the civil service bracket, he said more welfare packages should be made available for Nigerians.
“Let us not deceive ourselves. The amounts the two bodies are asking for will not be feasible for the government. Such amounts for minimum wage in Nigeria? It’s impossible.
“The government will likely go with the advice of their minimum wage committee and I foresee the new amount not exceeding N100, 000.
“Catering for Nigerians who are not under the civil service bracket will be quite tricky. After all, how many Nigerians are civil servants? They are very few and so the government must begin to act proactively.
“I say give the people more welfare packages, sponsor indigent Nigerian children from primary to secondary school, at least. Free healthcare, I repeat, let them make free healthcare available nationwide. Trust me, if the government can do this, only a few Nigerians will miss their so-called palliative,” he concluded.
We’ve deviated from protecting interest of Nigerians — NLC chieftain
Also, a former Vice-President of the NLC, Isa Tijjani, has said that incessant strikes by labour unions pose a significant threat to the nation’s economy.
The former Vice President of the NLC made this position known at a news conference on Saturday in Kano.
According to Tijjani, there are alternatives to strike, urging labour unions to explore them in resolving their differences with the government.
He said, “The country is in a critical situation, and incessant strike and protest will injure the economy.
“When the economy is in tatters, everybody will suffer because we all depend on Internally Generated Revenue.
“Recession is everywhere. We are not currently good. The economy cannot afford a nationwide strike at this time.”
On wage increase, Tijjani said the N485, 000 minimum wage proposed by the unions is no longer feasible in view of the economic realities in the country.
He also accused the NLC leadership of alleged moves to plunge the country into economic and political crisis over excessive calls for industrial action.
“Today, the integrity of NLC is at stake because they deviated from their main job of protecting the collective rights of Nigerians.”
He said, “The NLC President, Mr. Joe Ajaero, is allegedly up to something in his frequent calls for strike even when clearly the Federal Government is on top of the particular situation they are talking about.
“Bargaining power is not always 100 percent, but as a pressure group, if you have 62 percent of what you are looking for, you then negotiate and allow peace to reign.
“Today, the integrity of NLC is at stake because they deviated from their main job of protecting the collective rights of Nigerians.”
No decision yet on minimum wage – Ajaero
Meanwhile, the NLC has distanced itself from the N500, 000 being canvassed as the new minimum wage.
The NLC noted that it has yet to adopt a position on an amount to be presented to the tripartite committee on the National Minimum Wage charged with fixing a new minimum wage for workers.
President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, disclosed this in an interview in Yola on Saturday.
The NLC President, speaking in Yola on the sidelines of the North East Zonal Public Hearing by the Tripartite Committee on National Wages, where various stakeholders canvassed for a new minimum wage, said the N500,000 and N700,000 being proposed as the new minimum wage are unknown to the NLC.
According to him, all the figures flying around should be disregarded because the NLC as a body has yet to adopt a common presentation on the new minimum wage.
TUC demands N447, 000 per month
In a related development, the TUC has demanded for an upward review of the national minimum wage from N30, 000 to N447, 000 following the economic hardship in the country, orchestrated by inflation and fuel subsidy removal.
TUC explained that the purpose of minimum wage remains to protect workers against undue low pay, ensure a just and equitable share of the fruits of progress to all, reduce poverty, inequality, including those between men and women, by positioning the right to equal remuneration for work of equal value.
The union in a statement signed at the weekend by its Secretary General, Nuhu Toro, said Nigerian workers can no longer survive with N30, 000 minimum wage, noting that Nigeria pays the lowest and poorest minimum wage to workers, across the African continent.
Toro noted that the last minimum wage was signed into law in April 2019, and it’s billed to expire in April 2024, in line with the provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act.
