Satisfied that it had exhausted negotiations with the Federal Government with the consequential adjustment crisis settled, organised labour is set for another battle with state governors over implementation. Sunday Ojeme reports
Done with the controversy surrounding consequential adjustment over the new minimum wage with the Federal Government, organised labour is setting out to discuss with state governors on how they are to meet the expectation of civil servants in their domains.
From the beginning of the negotiations, the governors have continually given enough signals to indicate that paying the new N30,000 wage would be a tough task.
At every stage, they have remained the spoilers at every stage of negotiation, this is despite the fact that some of the states like Kaduna, had braced the odds to pay workers the minimum wage.
Battle ahead
In its latest resolve to battle the governors, the President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said in a report that labour would, among other actions, take states that fail to implement the wage law to court.
According to him, “while other countries have fully accommodated and automated the process of minimum wage adjustments and are now focused on living wages, we are faced with a situation where we are forced to bargain too hard and wait for too long for meagre increases in minimum wage and adjustments in salary.
“There is a difference between the law we have and the law that has existed from 1981 till date. In 1981, when the first minimum wage was enacted, there was no provision for sanctions. In this one, there is a provision for sanctions because it is already a law.
“For any state or person that violates the provision of the law, a worker can make a report. Once we get the report, we can look at the means, including approaching the court, to enforce the provision of the law.”
Wabba said Nigeria could not complain of lack of funds “when we have a lot of public funds in private pockets.”
Governors’ stance
Not prepared to mince words over the issue, the immediate past Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdul’aziz Yari, at the end of an emergency meeting of the governors in Abuja, had said that paying N30, 000 wage was impracticable.
Yari said the proposed wage would be paid if labour would agree to downsizing of the workforce across the country or Federal Government accedes to the review of the national revenue allocation formula.
He alleged that the tripartite committee did not include governors’ submission of N22,500 in its proposal to Buhari “because it said that the governors’ decision came late.
Irrespective of the fact that not less than 25 states are struggling to pay the current N18,000 minimum wage, with most of them owing backlog of salaries, labour’s belief is that the states have enough resources to meet the new wage if only the governors are creative enough to boost their internally generated revenue as well as cut down on executive overheads and other financial recklessness.
Yari had said: “We still said that we want to pay but the issue is the ability to pay. If we say no, just pay, I don’t know how this formula will work and I don’t know how we can get solution to the issue.
“Today it is N18,000. In 2015 when the president assumed office, 27 states were not able to pay, not that they chose not to pay. Now you say N30, 000, how many of us can pay? We will be bankrupt. So as Nigerians, we should look at the issues seriously.”
He alleged that the tripartite committee did not include governors’ submission of N22, 500 in its proposal to Buhari because it said that the governors’ decision came late.
Appeal for sympathy
To make matters worse, the Governor of Kebbi State, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, also called on Nigerian workers to sympathise with some of his colleagues over their inability to pay the proposed N30,000.
Bagudu, who was part of the Tripartite Committee on New Minimum Wage that recommended N30, 000 new minimum wage, said that in spite of the Committee’s commitment and recommendation, it was also important for stakeholders to sympathise with governors in that category.
Hardline
To also emphasis its hardline position on the matter, the leadership of NLC had intimated Nigerians to brace for a prolonged nationwide strike shortly after the governors held to their position on the implementation.
Wabba urged governors who are opposed to the new wage to “throw in the towel and leave” governance to those who have the interest of workers at heart.
Describing 2018 as one of the most traumatic years for workers especially given the failure of government to enact and implement the new national minimum wage of N30,000, he noted that the Congress remained committed to the welfare of Nigerian worker’s and the quality of governance in the country.
Before now, Kaigama and the Secretary-General of the Association of Senior Civil Servant of Nigeria (ASCSN), Comrade Bashir Lawal, had warned that labour would not accept anything less than the N30,000 agreed by the committee from either the Federal Government or governors.
Kaigama stressed the urgent need to fast-track the implementation of the newly agreed national minimum wage, saying that the expectation of labour was that the full implementation of the N30,000 new minimum wage should not exceed December.
Last line
As resolution over the new wage lingers, especially with the governors’ angle sneaking in, it is expedient for all the parties involved to come out clean quickly on the issue to enable Nigerian workers across board enjoy a better lease of life.
By Sunday Ojeme,
New Telegraph