TUC Defends N56,000 New Minimum Wage …As Encomiums Trail Workers’ On May Day

L-R: President, Trade Union Congress, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Alhaji Mohammed Bello, Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige and President Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, during the 2016 May Day Celebration in Abuja, yesterday

The Chairman of the Rivers State chapter of Trade Union Congress, Comrade Chika Onuegbu, has said that the proposed new minimum wage proposed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), is feasible, practicable and realizable, if only the governors can be sincere.
Onuegbu, who stated this in an interview in Port Harcourt, regretted that Nigerian workers are poor, and deserve better pay for their hard work, adding  that it was unfortunate to see Nigerian workers who work for hours every day, in a deplorable state, saying something has to be done urgently to address the situation.
The TUC boss said what a worker in America earns a day is what we earn for a month, stating that Nigerian workers are poorly paid.
According to him, ’’The salary increase is feasible and can be realistic”, stating that the country needs economic revival.
‘’A lot of the problems we have are self-imposed. We lose about $1.5billion monthly on oil theft and pipeline vandalism. This is because the government cannot protect physical infrastructure. If government can reduce oil theft by 50 per cent, then it can save more’’, he said.
Onuegbu noted the Rivers State Government’s confirmation that it was saving $1billion monthly from the biometric exercise based on the Bank Verification Number (BVN), adding that, “if all the loopholes are blocked, government will have enough to pay salaries of workers and pay the proposed N56,000 minimum wage”.
He said the government needs to be encouraged and supported, explaining that to block all the loopholes there was the need to assist all tiers of government to save more money and pay the proposed N56,000 minimum salary wage.
He regretted that many governors that received the bailout fund refused to pay salaries not because the funds were not there but because they did not want to pay, stressing that the issue was the willingness of the government to pay.
‘’Historically, governors have resisted to pay new minimum wages even during the colonial time. Workers embarked on strike action for allowances to be adjusted. This was what led to the general strike of 1945. It is strike that forces the government to amend or implement new minimum wages. It happened in 2000 and 2011,” he argued.
Meanwhile, the  National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Rivers State has felicitated with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), for their resilience, hard work, and dedication to service and the development of the country.
The Rivers State Director of the agency, Oliver Wolugbom, said this in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the celebration of the 2016 Workers’ Day in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Wolugbom charged the leaderships of the two unions to use the opportunity of the celebration not only to seek for better welfare for workers but also sink their differences, and unite in the interest of the workers.
The director enjoined all citizens and workers in particular to always be security conscious, stressing that the business of security should not be left for the government and security agencies alone.
He, therefore, urged community leaders and individuals to assist and cooperate with the security agencies in the battle against crime, and criminality by promptly reporting all suspicious persons, their movements and activities to security agents.
Wolugbom called on the youth to desist from all forms of anti-social behaviours but rather take advantage of the various youth empowerment programmes of the federal and state governments to better their lots.
Similarly, the Commissioner for Urban and Physical Planning, Chinyere Igwe and former Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the Port Harcourt City Council, Barrister Clifford Oparaodu, have commended the Rivers State civil servants and other workers in the state for their contributions to the state’s economic development.