By Fred Doc Nwaozor
A kid might claim ignorance of the ongoing ‘tour’
recently embarked upon by the Nigeria’s government and labour as regards
minimum wage but if a full-fledged adult displays such an attitude, he may be regarded
as an imbecile.
From the onset, the teeming Nigerians have
been watching with keen interest, though with soured physiognomies. In some
quarters, many have opined that if care isn’t taken, the excruciating effects
of the tour is liable to cripple the functionality of the system especially at
this point the country is deeply concerned about the fast approaching general
elections.
It would be very pertinent to appraise some
key fundamental facts with a view to presenting a fair and objective analysis
herein. Mind you; the fairness as mentioned above has to do with all concerned,
not a particular party.
In accordance with the stipulations of the
International Labour Organization (ILO) whose principle governs the
relationship between the government and labour in any nation across the globe,
the national minimum wage is meant to be upwardly reviewed once every five
years.
The
current N18,000 Nigerian workers are entitled to as minimum wage was fully
implemented or signed into law by the government in March 2011. It suffices to
say that the country’s wage threshold was last reviewed over seven years ago,
which is against the ILO’s standing rule.
Late
penultimate year, the organized labour comprising mainly the Nigerian Labour
Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) came up with an agitation,
reminding the government that onward increment of the workers’ minimum wage of
N18,000 was long overdue.
In line with the demand, after
rigorous consultations, the Federal Government (FG) under the watch of
President Muhammadu Buhari set up a 30-man tripartite committee consisting of
the representatives of the governments, the private sector and the labour
union, though the Local Government wasn’t reportedly represented.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment
led by Dr. Chris Ngige informed Nigerians that the awaited new national minimum
wage would be presented by the committee by the end of the third quarter of the
ongoing fiscal year being September 2018.
It’s noteworthy that prior to the setting up
of the tripartite committee, the NLC was proposing N56,000 as new minimum wage.
Amidst the committee’s deliberations, N30,000 was reportedly agreed by the
sectors involved as was claimed by the NLC headed by Comrade Ayuba Waba.
It’s worthy of note that the committee
couldn’t come up with any tangible resolution, not until the workers embarked
on a warning industrial action. Another thing of worry is how the FG could be
presently be proposing for N24,000 contrary to the figure the committee
allegedly agreed upon, knowing full well that the apex government was part of the
deliberations. How do we reconcile these? Does it mean that the labour is lying
or that the FG is being economical with the truth?
As we dissect these questions begging
for candid answers, it would equally be crucial for any sane observer to scold
the FG over its quest to implement the ‘no work, no pay’ mantra with the aim of
discouraging the workers from further embarking on strike as the bid for a new minimum
wage lingers.
By such intended action of the
government, the workers are indirectly notified that they don’t deserve any
wage let alone agitating for increment. It’s not anymore news that in most
cases, workers in various quarters are being owed arrears of salaries, yet they
don’t get despaired by such action of their employers.
They
only deploy the strike mechanism whenever the ‘maltreatment’ becomes much
unbearable or life-threatening. Could it be that the government is mistaken
their patience cum patriotism for cowardice or inferiority?
The
various state governments under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum
(NGF) are currently offering N22,500 as the new minimum wage, stating the
government workers constitute merely about 5% of their respective states’
population; hence, if they end up receiving up to N30,000, or N24,000 as being
proposed by the FG, their funds would be impoverished, which according to them,
would be to the detriment of the entire populace or the common man who make up
the majority.
The
problem right now is that there’s already an element of deceit on the part of
the benefactors, if not, I would have sincerely ask the organized labour to
accept the amount being proposed by the state governments considering that at
the moment actualization of N30,000 minimum wage isn’t realistically feasible
across the country.
For
me, the states such as Benue and Bayelsa that have indicated interest to pay
any amount, did so for political reasons; needless to assert that it was a mere
political talk. We must note the dichotomy between implementation and
actualization. Till date, most establishments in the private sector are yet to
pay most of their employees up to N10,000 let alone the N18,000 stipulated by
law.
From my candid point of view, N25,000
would be tenable. The government should equally not be reminded that the new
national minimum wage is expected to be captured in the about-to-be tendered
2019 appropriation bill.
No patriotic Nigerian wants a strike action
neither do we want any form of deceit, hence all concerned ought to earnestly
do the needful. Think about it!
Comrade Nwaozor, an analyst & activist, could
be reached via frednwaozor@gmail.com
Twitter: @mediambassador
No comments:
Post a Comment