IN A scathing indictment of the Tinubu administration, the Federal Workers Forum (FWF) has declared that the Nigerian government is engaged in “economic sabotage” and a “crime against humanity” by withholding months of owed wages and implementing a “slave wage” that has plunged civil servants into unprecedented hardship.
The declaration came in a fiery press release issued Wednesday, painting a dire picture of a workforce “demoralised,” “sorrowing, and dying in silence” due to the government’s “abysmally poor” posture towards their welfare.
The FWF, representing a broad coalition of federal civil servants, has issued a sweeping list of demands, seeking the immediate payment of a three-month balance of a ₦35,000 wage award, the harmonization of federal salaries, and a radical overhaul of what it terms an “exploitative” and “wicked” compensation system.
A Legacy of Broken Promises
According to the FWF, the crisis stems from the aftermath of the fuel subsidy removal and the “deliberate forceful devaluation” of the naira.
Noting that after intense pressure, the federal government instituted a ₦35,000 monthly wage award as a cost-of-living cushion, the FWF stated that however, the payment was “inconsistent and staggering” from the outset, requiring constant protests to secure.
The government halted the payment in February 2024, ahead of the implementation of a new national minimum wage, but was still owing five months (March to July 2024).
Following national protests, the Accountant General of the Federation promised to clear the arrears. To the workers’ dismay, only two months were paid, leaving a balance of ₦105,000 owed to each worker for over 15 months.
“It is a national embarrassment that government will be owing poorly paid workers,” the statement reads. “To us as workers, we have been defrauded… This is the height of the federal government’s insensitivity to the plights of the federal workers who are the engine room of governance.”
“Slave Wage” and Union Betrayal
The situation was exacerbated by the implementation of the new national minimum wage, which the FWF has labelled a “horrible” and “ridiculous ill-treatment.” Contrary to public pronouncements of full implementation, workers reportedly received a flat addition of only ₦40,000 across all grade levels, which was then heavily taxed.
“The so-called ₦70,000 minimum wage is not a living wage,” the FWF asserted, calling for its immediate abolition.
FWF lamented that the sum “hardly survives the workers for a week,” forcing a “mass majority” into borrowing and other desperate measures just to afford transport to work.
In a sharp critique of organized labour, the FWF accused the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of endorsing the “ridiculous ill-treatment,” leaving workers without effective representation.
A Comprehensive List of Grievances and Demands
The Forum’s demands are extensive, highlighting systemic failures across the public sector. Key demands include the immediate payment of the outstanding three-month wage award (₦105,000 per worker); the immediate resumption of payment of the ₦35,000 wage award pending a new living wage, and a 30% cost-of-living allowance and the harmonization of salaries across the federal public service and the clearance of backlogged promotion arrears, with some owed for over a decade.
Other demands include the “immediate abolision” (sic) of the Contributory Pension Scheme and the compulsory National Housing Fund, citing non-remittance of deductions by the government; institution of free, comprehensive healthcare for staff, retirees, and their families, and a national policy for free education at all levels; and, the reinstatement of petrol subsidy and a reduction in pump prices as the subsidy removal policy has failed.
While fully backing the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on its warning strike and demands, FWF called on the NLC and TUC to declare a one-day national solidarity strike.
The Forum while directly addressing President Tinubu, expressed profound disappointment noting that it holds him responsible for the “Japa” syndrome and the recent wave of industrial unrest.
“President Tinubu has failed the federal workers,” the FWF declared. “It has been hardship and tough times since the beginning of this administration and there seems to be no reprieve on the way but failed promises… The situation on ground is making life meaningless to the federal workers.”
The FWF called on the NLC and TUC to immediately convene a warning strike to demand improved welfare for workers, stressing that the patience of the nation’s core civil service has run out.
