Implication of disparity in workers’ salary

Motivation is an important factor that induces better performance and productivity by an individual. For workers, salary is a form of motivation. When salary is fat, regularly and promptly paid and promotion as and when due is given among other incentives, workers will discharge their duties as expected of them with happiness.

In Nigeria, despite the woes associated with salaries paid to workers, another terrible factor is wide gap in the salaries paid to workers holding the same certificates, working in the same location, buying from the same market and generally subjected to the same situations. I am drawing the attention of the government and various stakeholders to the following implications the salary differences may have on Nigerians; staff instability is evident in some profession because of the peanut given to them as salary while their mates are well paid in other jobs. This makes people to drop the job they know how to do well, job they do with passion, job they are very happy and find convenient doing to  opt for jobs they have no passion for, all because of money. This leads to low productivity and lack of job satisfaction. The menace of salary disparity has led to recruitment of people that have no passion and ability for security into our military and paramilitary axis. The resultant effect is retreating and surrendering in cases when they ought to press on for victory. People with passion to defend others are not afraid of death but people that took the job because of money will expose the whole nation to risk. Such people can betray the nation if they are baited with money by opponents. Salary differences cause lack of dedication to the job. Some workers cannot give in their best to the work they are employed to do, not because they do not have knowledge about it, but because they only took the job because of the pay.

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Some people who are supposed to contribute meaningfully to the work force in other areas force their ways into banking. Such people may not have any banking background. But because the salary is better than what they are paid in their passionate jobs, they left for banking. The effect of this includes committing avoidable errors and involvement in fraud.

Inability to keep to the ethics of the job is another negative implication; this is because people that are employed have little or no background in the work they are doing. The reason for taking up the job is because of the fat salary attached. Furthermore, the quality and integrity of workers is generally measured by the salaries and other benefits attached to the job and not the certificates possessed. Also, if the workers’ salary is okay, everybody will not see political offices as the only means of becoming rich. Politics will not be taken as a do or die affair. This is a sensitisation message to government in the three tiers of governance to work on harmonised salary scale for all workers to prevent putting a round peg in a square hole.

Akintola David Akinjide (Ph.D.),

Ogbomoso.