Killing Nigerian workers through low pay, indignity

THE employer always feels that his profit margin would be threatened if the worker is adequately compensated. To avoid such a situation which he considers ugly to him, he cuts down on the factors that ensure the workers access to decent pay, decent work environment, dignity of work, some rights and occupational freedom. He also knows that if pays the worker adequately, the worker might gain some financial freedom and advantage and could establish a similar business which could threaten the employers enterprise. This could be easily captured in the present Nigerian Government and Labour situation where the Government is absolutely unwilling to implement the N30, 000 minimum wage to the Nigerian workers. This is unimaginable in a country such Nigeria which is one of the most natural and human resources endowed nation on earth.

It is even more terrifying to know that  Nigerian workers are about the least paid in the world despite the massive and imposing but misused wealth of the country. On the other hand, the Nigerian political office holders are the highest paid in the world. What a highly negative consequential paradox. The least paid American worker earns USD 7.5 an hour and he much likely to work for 10 hours which translates into USD 75 times N361 = N27,075. The implication is that the two days salary of the least paid American worker can conveniently pay the three months salary of the least paid Nigerian worker. Whereas going by the purchasing power parity (PPP) of the US dollar, what one dollar can buy in America one dollar cannot buy it in Nigeria. So the Nigerian workers suffer multiple economic indignities. Contrarily, and sadly, the Nigerian senator goes home with a monthly emolument of about N32 million for doing nothing for his nation but for his personal pocket while his counterpart in the USA earns about N2.3 million monthly for doing something good for his nation. Implicatively, the one month salary of a Nigerian senator can pay about 14 American senators in month.

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Also, the monthly salary of the Nigerian senator can pay the monthly salary of 1,777 Nigerian workers at the current N18, 000 minimum wage while at the proposed N30, 000 minimum wage one Nigerian senators monthly emolument can pay the monthly salary of 1,066.  If the Nigerian senator is to earn about N2.3 like his American counterpart, N29, 700, 000 would be saved a month. This amount times 109 senators in the country the amount would be N3, 237, 300, 000 which can pay the monthly salary of 179, 850 workers at the current N18, 000 minimum wage. Then add the excesses of the House of Representatives and the States Houses of Assembly, many Nigerian would be taken out of the saturated and excruciating labour market Even the manageably low income paid the Nigerian worker which could make him to win the Gold Medal as the least paid worker in the world is still directly and indirectly stolen from him through agents of societal retrogression, including but not limited to high taxes, personal electricity and water generation, bad roads, personal paid security mechanism and apparatus, among many agents of societal retrogression.

In the final analysis, the Nigerian worker ends up working in an environment that is not very decent, low pay, with his dignity and rights virtually taken away from him. In the end, the worker is made to live in decent and manageable poverty that if care is not taken his offspring would inherit the circle of decent poverty while those in power and who have accumulated primitive wealth at the expenses of the workers would have their children inherit the primitively accumulated wealth through kleptomaniac pattern at the painful detriment of the cheated and downtrodden workers.  All the negative and oppressive actions against the Nigerian worker must stop. The Federal Government must imitate what is obtainable in the global labour arena and implement the meager and manageable minimum wage of N30, 000 in pro rata format for the Nigerian workers across board.  Thank you for listening. God bless you in Jesus Name.

• Being excerpts from a lecture delivered Dr. Ufuophu-Biri, Head, Mass Communications Department, Delta State University, Abraka, on October 7 at the Labour House, Asaba, during the World Celebration for Decent Work.