BREAKING: No Amount is Agreed Yet on Minimum Wage -- Presidency

In what could be described as a u-turn, the Nigeria's presidency on Thursday, 8th November 2018 said President Muhammadu Buhari was yet to endorse any figure as the new national minimum wage contrary to the speculations making the round.

It said the reports that Buhari reneged on earlier acceptance of the N30,000 recommended by the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Committee were therefore not correct.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, made the clarification in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja.

He said what Buhari committed himself to was a new minimum wage only after the report of the committee has been reviewed by the executive and legislative processes of government and an appropriate bill presented to him for assent.

The presidential spokesman said through the period the committee submitted its report to Buhari, “the President never mentioned any figure. What he committed himself to was a new minimum wage, and only after the report of the committee has been reviewed by the executive and legislative processes of government and an appropriate bill presented to him for assent.

“Until the proposed minimum wage has gone through the whole gamut of law-making, President Buhari, who is a stickler for due process, will not be caught in this unnecessary web of controversy, which amounts to putting the cart before the horse and hair-splitting.

“As for those who have latched onto the concocted controversy to play cheap politics, we appeal to them to remember that elections are not won through loquaciousness, and trying to demean the President at every drop of a hat.

“But then, it is not surprising, as they have nothing else to sell to Nigerians, if they don’t ride on the name of the President. Stiff judgment awaits them at the polls.”

While saying the Presidency is concerned over what he described as the recurring reports, Adesina insisted that the reports are contrary to what transpired on when the committee presented its report to the President.

He said while acknowledging the concerns raised by government on affordability and Labour’s focus on meaningful increase, Buhari stated clearly in his speech, that, “In a way, both arguments are valid. I want to assure you all that we will immediately put in place the necessary machinery that will close out these open areas.

“Our plan is to transmit an Executive Bill to the National Assembly for passage within the shortest possible time.

“I am fully committed to having a new National Minimum Wage Act in the very near future.
“As the Executive arm commences its review of your submission, we will continue to engage you all in closing any open areas presented in this report.

“I, therefore, would like to ask for your patience and understanding in the coming weeks.”

It would, however, be recalled that on Monday, 6th November 2018 - 24hours before the day stipulated by the organized labour for commencement  of an industrial action over the minimum wage disagreement - on receipt of the comprehensive report from the tripartite committee, President Buhari reportedly agreed on the figure and promised to send the bill in that regard to the National Assembly (NASS) with immediate effect for onward deliberation.

Analysis I On Government's Lethargy and Labour's Vigour

    

    

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            

            

TechDeck I Before SIWES Goes Into Extinction

By Fred Doc Nwaozor

        

The Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) has been on the decline for decades now that if drastic measure isn’t taken towards addressing the lingering anomaly, the scheme is liable to go into extinction in no distant time.

          

The SIWES is a skill acquisition initiative designed to expose and prepare students of universities, polytechnics, monotechnics as well as colleges of education for the industrial work situation they are likely to encounter after graduation.

         

It was initiated to be a planned and supervised training programme based on specific learning and career objectives and geared toward developing the occupational competencies of the participants. It is generic, cutting across over 60 programmes in the universities, over 40 in the polytechnics/monotechnics, and about 10 in the colleges of education.

         

It isn’t meant for a particular course of study or discipline, though it was introduced mainly for the sake of technically-inclined ones.  Since inception, it is being reckoned to be an innovative phenomenon in human resources development in Nigeria.

        

While some institutions and disciplines permit SIWES’ duration for only three to six months, others go for up to one year. The programme, which permits the affected students to seek for Industrial Training (IT) or Teaching Practice (TP), as the case may be, in any establishment of their choice, has ab initio been a cause of concern to education and economic planners, particularly with respect to graduate employment and impact on the general societal development.

          

On the other hand, there are equally mixed feelings among education stakeholders concerning how much of the programme that is actually helpful to students’ academic performance and job readiness after graduation.

          

Whatever positive impact the SIWES has thus far created on the students’ wellbeing and the society at large, the truth is that the primary purpose for which the programme was implemented has recently been relegated to the background.

         

The prevalence of the inability of SIWES’ participants to secure employment after the pragramme, or even perform adequately if eventually employed, casts doubt on the continuing relevance of the programme to the contemporary industrial development drive in the Nigerian society. This obvious lapse isn’t unconnected with negligence and/or apathy on the part of the trainees, trainers, concerned institutions, and the government.

          

It’s noteworthy that most of these students dodge the programme. They prefer indulging in activities that would fetch them money to going for the technical knowledge. To this set of individuals, partaking in the industrial programme is simply a waste of time and energy.

         

In view of this misconception, when the programme is meant to take place, you would see them participating in all sorts of inconsequential menial jobs or even gambling and what have you just for the aim of raising some cash. This growing mentality of placing money before knowledge has contributed immensely in endangering the prospect of the laudable programme.

         

Those who bring out time to participate in the programme, are prone to one challenge or the other. It’s worth noting that greater percentage of the trainees is not paid by the establishments in which they are serving, not even stipend.

          

Hence, they would end up making use of their personal funds to service their transportation and accommodation fees. It’s more worrisome to realize that most of these trainees are overused by the firms. Rather than teaching them the needful, the supposed trainers would engage them in unnecessary activities, thereby making them lose interest in the actual training.

         

Worse still, most of the institutions involved don’t show any concern. They do not cough up time to supervise the students in their respective places of assignment. Ridiculously, in most cases, the schools would remain ignorant of where the students are undergoing the training till the duration of the programme elapses.

         

This particular loophole has over the years served as an advantage to those who never participated in the programme. In this case, during the SIWES defence, the affected student or anyone who have dodged the programme would claim to have undergone the training in any establishment of his/her choice, and the supposed supervisor would never bother to ascertain the truth.

         

Inter alia, funding of the SIWES hasn’t been encouraging in recent times. The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) – the body responsible in the day-to-day funding of the initiative – currently appears incapacitated, probably owing to lack of adequate allocation from the government and other financiers. Sometimes, the students would be deprived of the statutory allowance they are entitled to after the programme. Those who were lucky to receive theirs had to wait for a long time.

         

The SIWES is obviously yearning for resuscitation. The present apparent state of moribund experienced by the scheme can only be properly addressed by revisiting the extant Acts that bind it with a view to making amends where need be. Such step would enable every authority involved to start seeing the initiative as a priority towards the anticipated, or perhaps ongoing, economic diversification.

         

The said policy ought to categorically specify what is expected of the trainee, trainer, school, as well as the governments at all levels, as regards the sustenance of the scheme. Similarly, there’s need for an exclusive viable law enforcement agency that would penalize or prosecute any defaulter.

         

It’s indeed high time we revived this technical-oriented initiative whose motive truly means well for nation building. This can only be holistically actualized by changing all the flat tyres that have succeeded in crippling the journey so far. Think about it!

Comrade Nwaozor, a tech expert, analyst & activist,

 could be reached via frednwaozor@gmail.com

Twitter: @mediambassador