Nigerian public workers were excited when the
Federal Government announced that it had
constituted a committee to come up with
proposals on a new minimum wage and
palliatives that would cushion the effects of
the recent hike in the price of fuel.
Unfortunately, the excitement appears to be
waning by the day because not much has
been heard of what the committee is doing, or
has so far done.
We recall that the Federal Government and the
Nigeria Labour Congress set up a national
committee to work out palliative measures
and fashion out a new minimum wage that
would ameliorate the impact of the increase in
the pump price of the Premium Motor Spirit
(petrol). Not long after the committee was
constituted, there were conflicting media
reports on its activities. Initially, it was
alleged that the committee had started sitting,
but the NLC denied that the committee had
truly started meeting, saying the Federal
Government had yet to constitute the
committee.
Both the NLC and the Trade Union Congress,
the two central labour organisations in the
nation had proposed N56,000 as the new
national minimum wage as against the current
N18,000, which had been in operation since
2011. There is every justification for an
upward review of the minimum wage following
the increase in the pump price because the
adjustment has worsened the plight of workers
such that their purchasing power has
drastically reduced. Not only that, an increase
in transport cost is making some of them to
become truant at work. Apart from the high
fares, the increment has rubbed off on
virtually all the goods and services being
traded in the country, which the current
minimum wage cannot cope with. As a result
of this, many government employees and their
families are undergoing untold hardship,
ranging from lack of food to their children’s
withdrawal from school as fees cannot be
paid promptly. Many people have turned to
begging, criminality, heavy indebtedness and
even suicide, as a result of the harsh
economic situation facing the country.
As the debate intensifies on whether there
should be minimum wage increase or not,
those who are against the proposal had
argued that the labour’s demand for a wage
increase is unsustainable on account of the
deplorable and prevailing economic situation
in the country coupled with the sharp fall in
the price of crude oil. For them, this slide has
culminated into the inability of most state
governors to pay workers’ salaries and meet
other official obligations. To date, many state
governments still owe salary arrears up to
seven months or more. In view of this
financial crisis, the Federal Government
recently declared 27 states bankrupt, stating
that they were “incapable” of paying salaries
and maintaining “efficient” and unhindered
daily government operations, a position
affirmed by the Chairman of the Nigeria
Governors’ Forum, Abdulazeez Yari, of
Zamfara State, who claimed that many
governors had failed to perform their statutory
responsibilities because they accepted the
wage increase when oil price averaged $100
per barrel and hence, it made no sense
continuing with the payment of N18,000.
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On the other hand, those who support an
increase in the minimum wage, however,
hinged their reasoning on the grounds that
those on the bottom rungs of the civil service
salary ladder are among the poorest civil
servants in the world and the N18,000
minimum wage was grossly inadequate to
meet the basic need of the workers. Not only
that, many critics still believe that the salaries
of low level workers can be increased, only if
serious efforts are made to check corruption
and other wastage in the system through
mechanisms such as reduction in the
humongous salaries and allowances paid to
political office holders, curbing “ghost”
workers syndrome, downward review of the
huge sums committed to security votes,
constituency allowances and checking
unbridled bureaucratic corruption/wastage.
Then, the questions to ask are: Is it really
feasible to increase the minimum wage
payable to Nigerian workers? Is this realistic
for both the federal and state governments to
implement?
Without further delay, the Federal Government
should let Nigerians know how far the
committee has gone in the provision on the
blueprint on the palliatives and evolving of a
living and sustainable minimum wage for
workers. By that, the government will not only
be sending the right signals that
accountability is key to responsive
governance; it is also shows clear
commitment and sensitivity to workers’
agitation. This is the right way to go!
http://www.dailynaij.com/will-workers-still-get-wage-increase/
cc: Freiburger