NLC to Governors – Pay New Wage Or Quit

Francis Okeke

2 May 2011

State governors in the country who claim they cannot pay the new national minimum wage of N18, 000 should resign immediately, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress [NLC] Comrade Abdulwahid Omar said in Abuja yesterday. He spoke at a rally jointly organised by NLC and the Trade Union Congress [TUC] to mark this year’s Workers Day.

Organised labour also lamented what it called “slow level of social transformation” since the return to civil rule which it said “has deepened the gulf between the rich and the poor in the country.”

Yesterday’s celebrations at the Eagle Square had the theme “Growing the National Economy for Job Creation and Peoples’ Welfare.” Vice President Namadi Sambo represented President Goodluck Jonathan at the occasion while the Minister of Labour and Productivity Chief Emeka Wogu and his Federal Capital Territory counterpart Senator Bala Abdulkadir were in attendance. TUC’s President General Comrade Peter Esele led the event alongside Omar.

The NLC boss lamented that since the transition from military to civilian rule in 1999, social transformation has been slow, adding that “the Nigerian people, who had suffered under the yoke of military dictatorship had looked forward with passionate enthusiasm to the swift delivery of the dividends of democracy.

Regrettably, after a dozen years, the yawning gap between the rich and poor remains. At the economic level what we are witnessing is more concentration of the wealth of the country in a few hands.

“For example, over 87% of Nigerians live on less than N184 or $1.25 a day and life expectancy is only 47 years compared to 60 years in 1960. Youth unemployment which the World Bank report estimates at about 40% in the country is actually as high as 55-60% as almost all countries are affected.”

He regretted that with so much wealth and a population of about 150 million people, “Nigeria continues to be import dependent on commodities it could readily produce for her market.”

On his part, Comrade Peter Esele called on government to sit up to its responsibilities especially in safeguarding jobs in the country, saying that “only recently over 60,000 construction workers were sacked due to non-payment of over N60 billion owed construction companies by Federal Government and its agencies.”

Vice President Namadi Sambo said President Jonathan has delivered on his promises to Nigerian workers by increasing the national minimum wage and overseeing the conduct of free, fair and credible polls in the country.

He said government would soon commence the construction of a railway line from Lagos to Ibadan, the dredging of the River Benue up to Yola in Adamawa State and as well intensify its efforts on the construction of power plants to boost power generation.

Sambo also reminded the workers that the president recently signed into law the Employee Compensation Act to ensure adequate compensation for workers who suffer accidents, mental stress and occupational diseases in the course of their jobs.

Minister of Labour & Productivity Chief Emeka Wogu, in his message, said the government would continue to come up with policies that would facilitate and strengthen enduring mutual trust, understanding and co-operation among all the social partners as essential instruments for industrial peace and economic growth.

AllAfrica – All the Time