Dwindling resources: Put pressure on the rich, rather than cut minimum wage – Oshiomhole tells governors

Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomole, Wednesday advised governors to put pressure on the rich in their states to deliver on their social purpose, rather than think of cutting down the meagre N18,000 minimum wage as a way of solving the economic crisis.

According to him, “with due respect to my colleagues, it is offensive to talk about minimum wage, how can the food of the steward be the reason that the elders cannot eat. I mean by conventional wisdom. If there is crisis in the system, it’s the excess fat that will shed fats, not the skeletons. The idea of using minimum is very offensive.”

There has been an ongoing debate by some state governors, calling for the reduction of the meagre N18,000 minimum wage to the chagrin of most Nigerians.

Calling for a deregulation of the minimum wages, Oshiomhole said one drug cannot cure all the ailments in the various states, as every state had to take its own independent evaluation of the nature of its own problems and design appropriate policy instrument to deal with those problems as they relate to each state.

“We cannot have governors wide solution. The problem in one state is not the same with the one in Edo State. Everybody will have to deal with its own. Lastly, I also think that if anybody wants to talk about federalism, lets not talk about federalism where it affects the wages of the lowest paid,” he said.

The Edo governor said there was no reason why he should receive the same salary as the governor of Lagos State, when the population of Lagos State doubled that of his state and their GDP much higher.

“Why should I receive the same pay as the governor of Zamfara or Akwa Ibom, these states are richer by accident of location. If we want to preach this principle we are in a federal system, everybody should pay according to his cost of living. The cost of governing Edo State is not the same cost as governing Lagos State.

“So, why should the revenue mobilisation fix my pay and that of Lagos State? If we want to run a true federalism, start from the top that is leading by example. We can’t protect people at the top and attack the people at the bottom,” he said.

Stating that wages are not a burden to the economy, Oshiomhole said it was imperative to understand “assuming we are suggesting we abolish wages, we have no money, people don’t earn and therefore they cannot spend, they are excluded from the economy, that fact of exclusion will have devastating impact on the consumption level of the economy.

“Where will manufacturers of goods and services sell? When you look at the average expenditure of Nigerian workers is inward looking, he will be eating yam, garri made in Nigeria, compare it with the consumption pattern of the rich, they will fly first-class British Airways,” he said.

The responsibility of any government, he added, is to critically evaluate the nature of the crisis faced and devise appropriate tool to deal with them on a sustainable basis.

“I am fighting battles in Edo State, I am saying to the rich guys you have to pay tax and you have houses in other countries and you pay land use charge and you think when you come to Edo you can use bold face. We will squeeze you and when you don’t pay we take you to court, secure conviction and send you to prison.

“They are excreting and we will just squeeze money out of their pocket, we have to pay salaries. I have made my choice, I will put pressure on the rich, I will squeeze them to provide for us to deliver on our social purpose,” he said.