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Bimbola Oyesola
For Nigerian workers, celebrating the nation’s 59th Independence without the payment of the Minimum Wage shows that the government in power lacks conscience and has no feeling for the welfare of workers.
Succinctly as expressed by one of the workers’ trade centres, the Trade Union Congress (TUC), it was nothing short of the fact that the workers had been swindled with the non-implementation of the N30,000 Minimum Wage hurriedly signed before the election by President Muhammad Buhari to ensure his second term in office.
Recall that the Minimum Wage negotiation, which commenced towards the end of 2017 had dragged through 2018 to the early part of 2019 and would not have been concluded without much threats and shutdowns from the Organised Labour.
The TUC President, Comrade Quadri Olaleye, said workers find it disturbing that months after the National Minimum Wage Committee (NMC) set up by the Federal Government to work on the new wage had submitted their report government is still not committed to paying the new wage.
It said, “We are beginning to think that signing it in the first place was because of the 2019 General elections. To talk about setting up another Committee over the same issue makes us feel we have been swindled. We have learnt our lessons.”
Organised Labour expressed that the argument on the part of government has always been that there is no money to pay minimum wage, but noted that whereas lawmakers have budgeted N5.6bn to purchase automobile that are not produced in Nigeria.
“Our believe is that government can actually pay if only the cost of governance will be reduced. As long as some people continue to feel that they are more Nigerian and therefore should enjoy more than others we cannot have a sane society”, it stated.
The Secretary General of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), who is also the Secretary of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC-Trade Union Side), Comrade Bashir Alade Lawal said the past one year had been traumatic for the Nigerian workers.
He noted that workers have been at the receiving ends of all inhuman policies of the government and there has not been any positive action from the side of the government to ameliorate the suffering of the workers.
He said, “We have not feared well at all. We’ve been faced with deep misery, there has been devaluation of the currency which has eroded our salary, VAT has been jerked up, electricity bills have been inflated, the same for house rents, transportation, school fees. There have been lots that have had negative effects on our welfare and yet nobody is looking at how to cushion the effects for the workers. Our salary remains constant, the last one year has been very bad indeed.”
Organized labour said out of its patriotic disposition had demonstrated a great deal of restraint, consideration and patience with government.
In the negotiation on consequential salary adjustment, organized labour said it had moderated its initial position of having 66.6% upward salary adjustment for workers on salary grade level 07 – 17 by accepting an upward adjustment of 29% for officers on salary level 07-14 and 24% adjustment for officers on salary grade level 15 – 17.
But despite this patriotic gesture, it noted that government has kept insisting that it can only pay 11% for officers on grade level 07 – 14 and 6.5% consequential wage increase to public workers for officers on level 15-17.
At its meeting recently, labour said since the last national minimum wage of N18,000, workers have been forced to suffer huge inflation and astronomical hike in the prices of essential goods and services.
For example, the country’s currency, the naira had suffered devaluation from N150 to $1 in 2011 to N360 to $1 in 2019, a depreciation of 140%. Furthermore, petroleum price has been hiked from N87 per liter to N145 per litre, which translates to 60% price increase.
Electricity tariff has been increased by about 60%.
Also of recent, the Value Added Tax (VAT) has been reviewed from 5% to 7.2%.
Organised Labour stated that the nonchalant attitude of the government negotiating side has dragged negotiations for consequential wages adjustment unduly, adding that Nigerian workers have exercised tremendous patience and restraint already.
It has however rejected the offer by government for salary adjustment of 11% for public workers on salary grade level 07 – 14 and 6.5% consequential increase for public workers on grade level 15 – 17.
It stated, “We view the position of government as a show of insensitivity to the plight of workers and an attempt to collect with the left hand what government had offered with the right hand;
“We demand the reconvening of the meeting of the committee negotiating the consequential adjustment with a view to concluding the process that started on the 28th of May, 2019 within one week;
“Entering into an agreement with labour to the effect that salary of officers on grade 07-14 should be reviewed upward by 29% while that of officers on grade level 15-17 should be reviewed upwards by 24%; and
“Commence immediate implementation of the signed agreement on consequential adjustment of public workers’ salaries with effect from 18th of April 2019 when the new national minimum wage of N30,000 per month was signed into law.”
Historical perspective
Nigeria gained independence 59 years ago from Britain. History records that it was an electrifying experience because for once the founding fathers, nay Nigerians will now determine their own fate. It was a trying period but without bloodshed.
Nigeria is the second African exporter of crude petroleum oil and the sixth in the world, the nation’s underdevelopment is associated with weak management and corruption. Nigeria has been overtaken in development by the middle 1990s by some other that were worse than the country in the 1960s. These countries include Malaysia, Indonesia and Venezuela. Nigeria lags behind many sub-Saharan African countries, including Cameroon, Zambia, Senegal, Ghana, Togo and Benin in GNP per capita. The income of the average Nigerian declined by 10% from 1993 to 1994, when the GNP per capita dwindled from $310 to $280. There was further decline to $260 in 1995.
Public opinion has it that the country abounds with abandoned projects and policy summersaults, while the words of the political leaders are not their bonds, nor do people hold them accountable to their promises.
Challenges
The TUC President, said the challenge before Nigeria is not necessarily that of lack of resources, but of corruption at various levels.
He reasoned that it is demoralizing that people in public service take advantage of their positions to enrich themselves and cronies, stressing that corruption has put the country in a shameful state before the international community.
He said, “It is our thinking that corrupt individuals or group should face the law when found guilty of misappropriation, irrespective of their party affiliation, religion or tribe. We make a mockery of ourselves before the world if we claim we are fighting corruption but close our eyes when our friends are involved. That cannot happen in China”, he submitted.
“We strongly call for a drastic reduction in the course of governance; which has only led to ostentatious lifestyle of politicians. Some lawmakers have been there since 1999 (20 years ago) yet they are still there, even though they have nothing in terms of ideas to bring to the table on how to fix the country.”
He opined that insecurity and various forms of agitations have become a major threat to lives and properties in the last one year.
“It has even discouraged potential investors, especially foreigners. The billions of naira that should be invested to create jobs and build infrastructure are yearly budgeted for arms and ammunition, yet there appear to be no end in sight. z
“We are beginning to think that there are people feeding from our insecurity challenge. This must be investigated and culprits brought to book. In the last 10 years according to report, Boko Haram sect have killed about 27, 000 civilians and 24 aid workers. We have a dire situation in our hand”, he said.
The Oil and Gas Workers under the umbrella of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) recently raised alarm over the killings and kidnapping of their members mandating government to take action.
Labour was of the opinion that war on agitations is arising from what some call marginalization.
It therefore advocated for inclusiveness in governance.
“People should be given a sense of belonging. All the regions are still deficient in terms of basic infrastructure and therefore should be attended to. No country can make any significant progress where there is absence of justice and equity. A united Nigeria can truly be stronger than European Union but a lot depends on the leadership”, Olaleye said.
Labour also pointed out how workers despite the poor rumeneration have been over burden with tax, while the rich and affluence are over looked.
The rising debt portfolio of the country equally gave course for concern.
The Debt Management Office (DMO) posted recently that as at 31st March, 2019, Nigeria’s external debt is $25, 691.63m while domestic is $55, 664.46, totaling $81, 274, 090m.
Labour in reaction to this said, “We are not saying that borrowing is bad, after all, the strongest economy in the world also borrow. Our concern is the reason for the loan. We are indebted in trillions yet we are told we have not borrowed enough. The bane of the nation’s underdevelopment is selfish leadership and people who cling to power for personal aggrandizement.”
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) equally believed that the leadership should use the 59th Independence Anniversary of Nigeria to reposition the country both at home and in the continent.
The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba was also quick to point out at the demerits of the last general election which he said was not a perfect election but at the end of the day, Nigerians despite their political differences were able to put Nigeria above personal and partisan aspirations.
He said, “The occasion of the 59th Independence Anniversary of Nigeria, like the ones before it, offer Nigeria an opportunity for serious soul searching and very candid reflection. In our journey to nationhood, we have had a number of highs and lows. While we should celebrate the highs, we must also ponder on the lows and pick useful lessons from them.
It is important to celebrate the de-construction of colonial rule and what independence offered the Nigerian nation and people – a priceless opportunity to pursue our dreams and re-write the history of colonial evil by the strides of our post-colonial existence.”
He reflected on the great strides of the nation’s founding fathers whom he said invested heavily to build the social capital of the country through their commitment to quality and universal public education and construction of excellent medical facilities.
“The result was top notch human capital development as Nigeria a few years after independence became the doyen of intellectualism on the continent producing world class scholars, professionals and workers in different sectors of the economy. Many of our universities and hospitals were ranked among the best on the continent and in the world – attracting scholars and sick people from all over Africa and even beyond.
“Our founding fathers showed sincere commitment to industrialization because they believed in the dignity of labour and wanted every Nigerian to be gainfully employed. Industrialization was not the dessert but the main menu of governance. Our founding fathers proved this by creating the enabling environment for industrialization by providing quality roads, mass electrification and security of lives and property.”
