THE OYO State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says the monthly salaries and wage award of workers in the state can no longer sustain them due to the current economic situation in the country.
Chairman of NLC in the state, Mr Kayode Martins, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Wednesday, while assessing Gov. Seyi Makinde’s performance during the first year of his second term in office.
According to Kayode, one of the major challenges faced by workers in the state and Nigeria in general is the attendant effects of petrol subsidy removal by President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023.
He noted that consequent upon the removal of fuel subsidy, the federal government began the payment of N35,000 wage award for its workers while some states also agreed on various sums as wage awards to alleviate the sufferings of the workers.
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“Here in Oyo State, we were able to get wage award of N25,000 for workers and N15,000 for pensioners.
“The governor also directed that the 2022 promotion letters be issued and recently, about N1.3 billion was released for payment of gratuities for retirees in the state.
“But the suffering of workers in particular and the citizens in general as a result of the fuel subsidy removal is enormous to the extent that even the wage award they are collecting have little or no effect on their condition.
“That has been the situation in the state, but we still thank God,” he said.
Martins said that the socio-economic situation of the country, the state inclusive, was not friendly, adding that governments at all levels must do something urgently before it got out of hands.
The NLC chairman noted that the cost of living was high, with inflation already eating up everything, stressing that this had made life difficult for the citizens.
“Presently, our monthly salaries cannot sustain us for a week,” he said.
Martins, however, said that the governor had indicated his readiness to negotiate with NLC once the ongoing negotiations on the new minimum wage had been concluded.
He called on workers in the state and Nigerians in general to be hopeful that very soon, they would scale through the current difficulties.
The labour leader called on government to be humane and considerate on the issue of new minimum wage in the overall interest of Nigerian workers. (NAN)
