Minimum Wage : Nigeria risk national industrial crisis – Textiles workers movement warns

Nigeria risks national industrial crisis except governments at all levels give due attention to the critical issue of compensation of workers.

This assertion was made by the General Secretary of the Textiles Workers Union, Comrade Issa Aremu in Kaduna on Thursday.

Aremu said ‘hungry workers are legitimately angry workers. Nigerian workers are not only hungry but legitimately angry.

‘We commend both the Senate and the House of Representatives for their respective facilitating roles to address the current issue of national minimum wage.

The labour leader who is also a member of the National Executive Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) noted that   National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2011 which offers the current N18,000 was for a 5-year cycle due for review in 2015.

‘The five-year time limit was to avoid minimum wage stagnation and attendant seemingly increases that follow.  In UK minimum wage is reviewed yearly.  Today it is £7.5 per hour, about N37,000 per day!

He said ‘Long before the current recession, Nigeria workers have long been in depression. With Naira devaluation and high inflation, 2010 negotiated national minimum wage of N18,000 which was about $120 in 2010 has fallen to below $50 in 2017 worsening income poverty.  Nigeria cannot get out of recession with poorly paid work-force.

The best way to reinflate the economy is through wage increase linked with productivity improvement and prompt payment of the existing salaries by states and local governments.

President Buhari should therefore urgently constitute the tripartite committee on the review of the current national minimum wage within a short time-limit, he stressed.

On pension, Aremu also observed that the Nigeria’s pension industry risks avoidable crisis following the recent abrupt termination of the appointment of Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, former Director General of PenCom and appointment of Dikko Aliyu Abdulrahman as new Director General by President Muhammadu Buhari subject to confirmation by the Senate.

Labour observes that the termination of a tenured appointment flouts the provision of the Pension Reform Act 2014.  President Buhari is an acknowledged respecter of due process as witnessed by the way he has managed to transmit delegation to Acting President Osinbajo as required by 1999 Constitution.

‘The health of pension assets is no less important than the health of the President. The Presidency should therefore NOT casualise appointments of DG of critical pension institution like PENCOM.