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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has vowed to ensure Nigerians get a living wage in the current wage review going on in the country.
Abbas disclosed this at the the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Policy Dialogue on Corruption, Social norms and behaviour change in Nigeria, held in Abuja on Tuesday.
Represented by a Member of the House, Busayo Oluwole-Oke, he said the issue of a survival wage system has a significant role in preventing corruption since it affects citizens’ attitudes and actions toward engaging in the crime.
“A situation where the take home pay of a large segment of the population is unable to take them home is a recipe for all manner of corruption.
“This is why the House of Representatives is particularly interested in the ongoing review of minimum wage in the country. The House this time around will ensure that Nigerians get a survival wage that could take them home.
“In many societies where corruption is on a low scale, there are social safety nets that guarantee protection for the people and Nigeria has the capacity to do the same.” Abbas stated.
The Speaker lamented that as lawmakers, there was often a significant societal pressure and expectation placed upon them to provide various services, assistance, and functions that may fall outside the scope of legislative responsibilities.
He said: “I am sure we are familiar with the level of pressure Legislators undergo owing to a deluge of requests for financial and corollary assistance from our Constituents.
“Make no mistakes about it, this pressure is a fall out from the prevailing poverty rate precipitated by the factors mentioned above.”
He explained that while changing social norms was essential for combating corruption effectively, the nation must equally address those circumstances that inform those behaviours.
According to the law maker, addressing corruption required not only legal and institutional reforms, but also a transformation of social norms and behaviours.
In his remarks, the ICPC Chairman, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye explained that the Policy Dialogues were generally meant to deliberate on issues that focus on more systemic and institutional improvements, which also should be sustainable regardless of changes in political administration.
Owasanoye asserted the event in Nigeria, could not have come at a better time than now when the foundation of the country’s social values and norms have become seriously threatened.
He said: “In actual fact, a lot of changes are taking place across the wider Nigerian society. But more worrisome to me, is the emergence and pervasive spread of corruption-inducing social norms across all ethnicities and religious divides.”
“Achieving the goal of behavioural change in a society with endemic corruption involves a complex and sometimes a long process that requires a multi-sectoral brainstorming session to develop appropriate policy framework. This is where a policy dialogue platform offers a unique and veritable opportunity.”
