Let’s avoid another industrial action by labour

The back and forth drama currently going on between organised labour on one side and the federal and state governments on the other side will eventually do good to no one. The bone of contention is the need to review the minimum wage. While the Federal Government is proposing N24, 000, the state governments are insisting on N22, 500. Yet labour had clearly stated that it would not accept anything below N30, 000.

It will be recalled that the Federal Government set up the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Committee to look into the various sides to finding a middle ground in addressing the impasse. The committee had recommended N30, 000 and labour had expected that the federal and state governments would begin its implementation. When it was discovered that this would not go through, it was reported that in different press conferences and statements issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the United Labour Congress (ULC), they said their initial demand was not N30, 000. They argued that the N30, 000 was as a result of long negotiation, dialogue and a compromise involving all the stakeholders, including the governors’ six representatives. Labour said that as it moves into the nationwide strike on Tuesday, N65, 000 would be its new focus. Whether labour goes into this or not, it is important to state that the repeated threats and counter threats that have become the norm between labour and government should be put aside for the common good.

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The federal and state governments must cut down the cost of governance. Nigeria runs one of the most expensive governments in the world. Should the overhead cost be significantly reduced, it would become quite easy to prioritise the welfare of our civil servants. We do not need another industrial action. It does no good.

Temidire Sangodokun, Ilesa