…As Reactions Trail N56,000 Proposal

In commemoration of this
year’s Workers’ Day, the labour movements in Nigeria, made a N56,000 minimum wage demand on the  government.
This demand, which should by all means please Nigerian workers, has however  raised mixed  reactions from the same  workers who would supposedly benefit from it.
An assistant  director  with the state ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Jonah  Isikima, sarcastically applauded  the move by labour  and asked, “where have these labour leaders been. Is it that they are  hard of hearing  or  have  not been in this country?
“Much as  I would benefit if implemented, but lets be realistic. The monthly federal allocation to this state for example is N2 billion short of salary bill of the state as we are told, so where does labour expect the government  to  get the  money to meet  this their  incredulous demand,” he continued.
Isikima pointed out that many states for the past one year have not been able to regularly pay the current N18,000 minimum wage “And now they ask government to pay N56,000, well my take is that  they want the usually settlement for themselves not for the workers they represent.
“We know that the present day  Nigerian labour leaders  are completedly compromised”,  was the  response of Mr Sunny Dede, a staff of Nigeria Ports Authority.
Dede noted that, “gone are the  days when labour unions truly represented Nigerian workers and worked for their wellbeing . now, what  they do is make unnecessary noise and   give altimatums so  that their palms would be greased otherwise, how do you  explain  this demand? Oil , our economic mainstay has taken  a nose dive for the past one year and we hear that it would remain so  for a while  and now this demand for a new minimum wage of N56,000. This is not realistic at all.
Another respondent, Mrs Ibifubara Inetimi,  a Rivers -born teacher in Bayelsa State, stated,  “what labour should think of doing in the present situation  is to make government devise ways of increasing the purchasing power of our Naira and seek  her welfare packages like improved healthcare  system, power supply, make petrol available to workers  than this unattainable demand. Some of us  in Bayelsa have not been paid for about eight months, where would the money come to pay arrears  before paying new minimum wage, we will enjoy it, but  it is not a demand  for now.
“Labour is obviously disconnected from the reality on ground. You and I know that  many states are yet to pay the current minimum wage, this  simply means that the demand, will not fly with the  government, given  the current economic situation unless labour  is prepared  to prune the work force generally to 30 per cent across the country, then the new minimum wage  could be paid, says Mr Romanus Chinedu, a businessman.
Chinedu lamented  that, “it is unfortunate that labour has deviated from  course  of  fighting for the good of Nigerian workers, now a days, they fight  for their  good only.
For Mrs. Kano Kpandei, a local government  staff,  it is a good move that should be accepted  and  implemented by the  federal government, saying, ” after all,  the politician  who has  never worked in his life is receiving much more than that, so whig  shouldn’t  the workers who break their backs everyday to ensure  that the  country is run smoothy not have just a little  bit of their  labour.

Tonye Nria-Dppa