Nigerian labour leaders have insisted on taking the ongoing negotiations on minimum wage with the Federal Government seriously because they want what they described as living wage, as against the cry for minimum wage.
The National President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Festus Osifo, disclosed this in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, at the Southwest Labour Summit of the Congress, themed: “Repositioning the Labour Movement Amidst Economic Decline in Nigeria”.
Osifo reasoned that minimum wage should be negotiated every two years and adjusted to cater to current inflation, the failure of which he said had made things go terrible for workers.
He noted that Nigeria is blessed with enormous mineral resources with some yet untapped, lamenting that most of the money realised from some of the resources are spent frivolously.
The TUC National President decried the weakness of the Nigerian currency amid current economic challenges in the nation and called on the government to ensure that the value of the Naira does not diminish again.
Osifo said: “What Nigerian workers want is not just minimum wage but living wage. Minimum wage should be negotiated every two years and adjusted for inflation.
“We call ourselves the giant of Africa, yet, we can’t pay reasonable minimum wage. We are tired of government telling us to continue coping.”
Noting that Nigerian workers are facing a lot of financial challenges, the union leader tasked the government to ensure the nation’s economy is well managed so that the Naira can have more value and compete with other currencies across the world.
In his remark, the Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Bayo Lawal, appealed to the TUC to tread softly on the issue of minimum wage, saying the current economic hardship is not only limited to Nigeria, but universal.
He said Oyo State, as part of its love for workers and pensioners, pays them on the 25th of every months since the inception of Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration, noting that the welfare of workers in the state remains paramount to the progress and development of the state.
Earlier in his address of welcome, the TUC Chairman in the state, Comrade Bosun Olabiyi, said the discussion is appropriate, particularly at such a time that the nation is embroidered with economic hardship.
