The Federal Government has pledged its commitment to fully implement the new Minimum Wage from N18, 000 to N30, 000, which was signed into law recently by President Muhammadu Buhari even as labour unions in the country lamented the high rate of inflation and rising wave of unemployment.
President Buhari made this promise while making his remarks during the celebration of the 2019 International Workers Day otherwise known as ‘May Day’ held at the Eagle Square, Abuja on Wednesday, stressing that the Nigerian workers and citizens are the central hub of all economic policies and programmes of his government.
Represented by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, the President praised the leadership of the Nigerian Labour movement, led by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and also lauded the International Labour Organization (ILO) for the event, which coincided with the 100 years of the ILO and 60 year of the ILO in Africa.
The Vice president noted that the theme of the day “Another 100 Years of Struggle for Jobs, Dignity and Social Justice in Nigeria” was apt even as he praised the ILO for supporting Nigeria in the implementation labour- related policies, programmes and action plans against, hard labour, forced labour and modern slavery. He reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to job creation and protection of the rights and dignity of workers.
“We believe that the Nigerian citizen should be the central hub of all economic policies and programmes of government, their welfare and wellbeing should be the benchmark of our commitment for social justice to all Nigerians. The National Minimum Wage which the president signed into law a few days ago shall be fully implemented by this administration. We shall continue to provide enabling environment for high productivity and industrial peace and harmony,” he said.
Osinbajo also promised that the government shall fulfill electoral promise to Nigerians by focusing on issues that will advance skills and improve the quality of the lives of Nigerians. “These include the provision of infrastructure, roads, rails, hydro-electric power and reforming the key sectors of the nation’s economy in order to put our country on the path of sustainable economic growth and prosperity,” he said.
He added that the government shall change the narrative of the power sector and re-engineer it to perform optimally.
He pointed out t “on assumption of office in 2015, in spite of the daunting economic challenges, which confronted us at the time, we ensured that no worker was retrenched across the country. We further kept faith with this commitment by providing bailout funds for States unable to pay salaries and other benefits in order to pay accumulated arrears. We also released the Paris Club refunds owed since 2005 to make sure workers were not owed anything.
“We shall continue to provide the enabling environment for higher productivity, industrial peace and harmony, as well as a congenial atmosphere for effective collective bargaining amongst trade unions and employers, while also protecting fundamental rights and other lawful rights of the Nigerian people and especially people who are at work,” he said.
“We also ensured the payment of outstanding benefits of retrenched Nigerian Airways workers owed for decades. We also ensured the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), also paid arrears owed to parastatals and Civil Service pensioners covering 101,393 Civil Service pensioners on all grade levels and 76,310 parastatals pensioners across 186 agencies,” he said.
He noted that the Government’s Social Investment Programme (SIP) is the largest in of its kind in Africa and it is directed at providing opportunities in both the formal and informal sectors of the economy to create jobs in all sectors of the economy.
Also speaking during the elaborate ceremony the labour movement lamented the high level of inflation in Nigeria as well as the rising level of unemployment in the country, which suggest that the effort to increase the Minimum Wage from N18, 000 to N30, 000 may not have achieved much in view of the double digits inflation.
President of the Nigerian Labour Congress NLC, Ayuba Wabba and his counterpart from the Trade Union Congress (TUC) Bobboi Kaigama, made this known in a joint presentation to mark the 2019 Workers Day celebration.
The union leaders said that official data from the Central Bank of Nigeria indicates that inflation on all items had dropped from 11.44% in December 2018 to around 11.25% in March 2019, yet the unofficial reality shows that life is becoming increasingly excruciating today for the average workers and citizens.
“The phenomenal hike in the price of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as ‘fuel’ or ‘petrol’ in 2016, the devaluation of the naira in the same year and increase in the cost of electricity in the past five years, have sustained high inflationary rates. The persistence of double-digt inflation and stagnant remuneration for workers has almost wiped of the purchasing power of Nigerian workers,” the labour leaders said.
The Unions also bemoaned the high level of unemployment especially among the youth, describing it as a ‘time bomb’. The labour leaders feared there would be serious consequences of a combine unemployment and underemployment rate of 43.3% and called for the revival of the intermediate and capital goods production segments of the Nigerian industrial sector, especially the auto assembly plants, the steel industry, fertilizer and petrochemical industries in the context of medium-term national development planning.
Innocent Odoh, Abuja
