Minimum Wage: Averting Nationwide Strike

Shortly after last week’s National Administrative Council (NAC), meeting of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, NLC’s president gave President Goodluck Jonathan a seven-day ultimatum to sign the new National Minimum Wage Bill into law or have the April general elections disrupted.

Comrade Omar said the congress was aware that Federal Government was playing politics with the minimum wage issue, after all the assurances by the president that the bill will be assented to once the National Assembly passes it.

The NLC’s boss further stated that after a struggle which commenced in 2008 to pave way for a new salary regime, some highly-placed individuals in the corridors of power, were still playing games with workers’ welfare.

He warned that NLC will stop at nothing in ensuring that the April general elections, which is barely a week already, will be disrupted by Nigerian workers, if the bill is not signed into law before the elections commence.

Such warning, coming at this critical time from no less a person than Nigeria’s Number One Labour Leader, should not be dismissed as a mere threat but must be taken seriously, especially against the backdrop that the bulk of the workers, who constitute the electoral personnel (both adhoc and permanent) will be involved in the elections.

Moreso, the Federal Government, having invested so much funds running into billions of tax-payers money, should not give room for disruption of the elections by anybody or group.

Against this backdrop, therefore, The Tide urges the federal authorities to move fast and dialogue with the NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC), if there are still some impediments militating against the signing of the new wage bill into law.

We say this because we believe that misinformation may have informed NLC’s current threat for a show down, and only dialogue, openness and transparency on the issue will resolve the matter before the deadline expires.

NLC’s position may have been informed by feelers coming from the National Assembly and the Presidency on the true position of the bill.

The conflicting statements emanating from the executive arm of government over the whereabouts of the bill had further fuelled agitations by workers who now feel that government was unserious over the bill.

President Jonathan should, therefore, call the NLC for a round-table discussion so as to clear the air on the true position of the bill. The earlier this is done, the better for us all.

On the other hand, the president should go ahead and append his presidential seal, if there are no other legal or extra-legal impediments which could undermine his assent.

This is an election period and all hands must be on deck to ensure smooth, successful and credible elections which this administration has consistently craved for.

The labour, under the auspices of NLC and TUC, constitutes a veritable tool needed for national elections.Government should, therefore, explore ways which Nigerian workers could work towards achieving set objectives rather than give room for some sections by the Nigerian society to subvert the election process.

As a listening president and father to all Nigerians, The Tide strongly believes that the president will resolve the matter before the deadline expires.