- South-East NLC, TUC propose N540,000, N447,000
THE FCT and Lagos State councils of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), have proposed the payment of N700, 000 as new national minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
While FCT council proposed N709,000, the Lagos State council made a proposal of N794,000.
Making the submission on Thursday at the North Central Zonal Public Hearing organised by the Tripartite Committee on the National Minimum Wage on Thursday in Abuja, Comrade (Dr) Stephen Knabayi, the chairperson of FCT council of the NLC, said the council took cognisance of the present economic conditions in the country in arriving at the figure.
It would be recalled that Vice-President Kashim Shettima, had on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on January 30, 2024 inaugurated a 37-member panel on the new minimum wage in Abuja.
The committee upon inauguration scheduled March 7 for public hearing in all the six geo-political zones in the country.
In the North Central zone, no fewer than 15 organisations met and presented their submissions to the council.
RELATED NEWS: Edun To Chair South-West Public Hearing On Minimum Wage
According to Comrade Knabayi, the sum proposed will help cushion the effects of the economic challenges and ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians.
“We have a common position. This position considers the current economic plight in the country. We have the submission that N709,000 per month should be the minimum wage for the workers in the country.
“We believe that Nigeria has what it takes, the leadership should commit themselves to getting this money paid and for us to have better treatment for the working people of Nigeria,” he said.
The Trade Union Congress (TUC), FCT chapter, making its submission at the public hearing, proposed N447,000 as the new minimum wage.
Comrade Amaege Chukwudi, who represented the TUC chapter, said: “This will give Nigerian workers a minimum level of comfort and enable them to cope with the current level of economic hardship, which has turned the majority of them to beggars. So, for us in the FCT, we expect the minimum wage to run across the three tiers of government,” he said, and appealed for policy reform that would engender massive food supply in the country.
He urged the federal government to provide buses to ease movement of workers, fix refineries, and ensure stable electricity supply, among other recommendations.
Speaking, Prof. Mohammad Mohammed, of the Medical and Dental Consultant Association of Nigeria, said the minimum wage for workers should be N440,333.33. he also appealed that a consequential adjustment should be included in the approved minimum wage for workers.
Representatives of the Forum of Retired Directors of Federal Civil Service proposed N70,000 minimum wage for workers at the hearing, while also appealing for a review of pension allowance as stipulated in Nigerian law.
On its part, the Federal Civil Service Pensioners of Nigeria demanded that 85 per cent of the minimum wage that would be approved should be assigned to pensioners.
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The national chairman of the association, Sunday Omezi, said at the hearing that the money would enable them to take care of themselves and their health challenges. He expressed displeasure that pensioners were not included in the tripartite committee.
Speaking, Chairman of the Zonal Committee, Comrade Festus Osifo, who is the president of the TUC, said the committee would make recommendations for effective and full implementation of the new minimum wage, once approved and signed into law.
“We will try to put in place very strong sanction and punitive measures to ensure that once passed into law, it is implemented across the states,” he said.
South West Sitting
At the South-West Zonal Public Hearing in Lagos on Thursday, the Lagos State council chairperson of the NLC, Comrade (Mrs) Funmi Sessi, proposed N794,000 as minimum wage stating that the proposal is in view of the current cost of living in Nigeria.
“The cost of essential services such as food, housing, transportation, healthcare, education has risen tremendously. It has risen astronomically, making most of these services and goods out of the reach of the workers presently.
“A quick analysis on the cost of living for a family of six include food: with the increase in cost of food items, each person will have to spend about N1,000 each on breakfast, lunch and dinner,” she said.
Comrade Sessi urged the federal government to live up to its responsibilities by bequeathing a decent, befitting and a living wage to its workers, adding that such would restore the pride and glory of the country, back to the comity of countries that pay a decent wage to its workforce.
“By this, government will be able to retain its best brains and reduce attrition or “Japa Syndrome”, which has caused negative publicity for the country,” she said.
Her counterpart of TUC, Comrade Gbenga Ekundayo, demanded a total of N447,000 as minimum wage for workers to give them a minimum level of comfort that would enable them to cope with the current economic hardship, which has turned many workers into beggars.
“This minimum wage is required to narrow the widening gap of poverty among the employed and mitigate the erosion of living standards of Nigerian workers,” he said
MINILS’ DG commends mobilisation
Other stakeholders said workers in the country deserved a living wage set at a level that was fair and commensurate with the economic realities.
Speaking, the Director-General, Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies, Comrade Issa Aremu, lauded the hearing, saying it turned out to be successful and commended the level of mobilisation by NLC, TUC; employers association, and manufacturers, so as to discuss the need to have a good outcome from the negotiation.
According to Aremu, it shows that if organised labour, government and employers of labour come together, they get better results.
“I am excited that the culture of social dialogue has come to stay, and that we should carry that spirit, so that very soon, we will resolve it without unnecessary strike and lock-out on the part of the government.
“My advice to the government as well as organised labour is that, let them replace unnecessary suspicion, mistrust, “diatribes” with dialogue, and when they do that, we can have the kind of result we have today,” he said.
In his remarks, the Vice President, Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers’ Union of Nigeria, Comrade Dare Durosimi, urged the stakeholders to further deliberate on the minimum wage outside the public hearing.
“On the issue of what should be taken as the living wage for the workers, by the time the stakeholders harmonise it, we should see it before they make final pronouncement on it. It is necessary so that we have a living wage compared to other countries of the world,” Durosimi said.
Earlier, the Chairman of the South-West Public Hearing, Mr Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance/Coordinating Minister of Economy, said pensioners should also be included in the process of negotiation.
“They should be part of the conversation and we can only appeal that in this whole process, those who have worked diligently and retired honourably should be looked after, taken into account. They should not be left behind, forgotten; let us remember, in all this process, our pensioners,” he said.
South-East NLC, TUC propose N540,000, N447,000
Meanwhile, the South-East chapters of the NLC and TUC at the South-East Zonal Hearing held in Enugu proposed N540,000 and N447,000 respectively as new minimum wage.
Speaking on behalf of the NLC in the Southeast, Comrade Fabian Nwigbo, the chairperson, NLC Enugu State Chapter, noted that the value of N30,000 minimum wage has been eroded by inflation.
According to him, if one considers the prevailing economic situation in the country today, one won’t be talking about minimum wage anymore.
Nwagbo described the situation as very “unfortunate” saying that if one compared the minimum wages being paid in West African countries, Nigerian workers are the least paid.
“For us, we want to propose based on the prices of commodities in Nigeria. In 2019 when we had N30,000 minimum wage, a paint bucket of garri was N280, rice and beans were about N450 each while fuel was N145.
“This has continued to subsist till today where a litre of fuel is now N750 to N800 depending on the location. In the current state, a paint bucket of rice is over N4,000 and garri N2,500.
“While two-bedroom flat in Enugu that used to be N250, 000-N300,000 is over N650,000 at the suburb and in the city, it stands at N1.2 million yearly. Everything is moving up except salary paid to civil servants.
“We are praying the leadership of this country to consider the pains and sufferings of the Nigeria workers and citizens and give us something that is close to what we can use to survive,” he appealed.
Giving a breakdown of the proposal, Comrade Nwigbo added that a family of six with daily feeding of N2,000 each, would have N12,000 and in 30 days it would be N360,000. We have also put hospital bills at N20,000, education N40,000, utility, N10,000, clothing N30,000, social engagement and other things at N10,000 per month.
“If you put them together, you have N540,000 which will do a little good to the workers of Nigeria and so we are proposing N540,000 as new minimum wage for civil servants, he said.
He called for review of minimum wage law every two years, saying that the issue of five years was no longer fashionable as well as leaving minimum wage in exclusive list.
The labour leader, however, called for impeachment of any governor that failed to implement new minimum as well as the extension of the wage to the pensioners whom he said put in their active lives in service.
“Once it is approved, every governor and council chairman should start paying it across board. The issue of workers going to negotiate with their state governors should not arise,” he said.
In his submission, Comrade Ben Asogwa, Enugu State council chairperson of TUC, said that the zone aligned with the N447,000 proposed by the TUC national leadership.
“It is small to what Nigerian workers expect but we are concerned on its implementation if more is requested, given the economic factors and indices. Any governor that refuses to pay should leave office,” he said.
Earlier, Comrade Tommy Etim, chairman of the event and a deputy president of TUC, said it was a mark of honour for them to have engaged in a sensitive assignment on national minimum wage.
Etim however, expressed displeasure on the absence of representatives of the civil societies, Nigeria Union of Pensioners and others. (NAN)
