THE Nigeria Employer’s Consultative Association (NECA) has warned that Nigeria’s current political structure is not sustainable.
Speaking at a media briefing in Lagos on Thursday, the President of NECA, Dr. Mohammed Yinusa, stated that “the current political structure in Nigeria could be likened to the existence of one large National Distribution Centre (NDC) with only one major supply point and seemingly endless collection outlets that are either not enhancing inflow into the NDC or making negligible input.
“This model is certainly not sustainable. We need to loosen the current political structure to allow the emergence of several production centres in all nooks and cranny of the country to serve as feeder posts to the NDC. States that cannot sustain themselves should be encouraged to merge and emerge as a healthy productive centre rather than the existing over-reliance on the centre.
“There is the need to go back to the fundamentals of our economy where such big issues like diversification of the economy, backward and forward integration, policy coherence, policy consistency and cross-sectoral local content policy will be given their pride of place and execution impetus.
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“All the aforementioned policy options should be underpinned by a sincere constitutional amendment that will enthrone true federalism and resource control. We should aim for a political structure where federating units will contribute to the centre, thereby assuming the status of multiple centres of productive economic activities and development, as it was in pre-1966 military coup.”
Furthermore, he said NECA, as an association, had informed the government that nowhere in the world would the outcome of the National Minimum Wage be gladly and widely accepted by all stakeholders in the economy.
According to him: “We had informed the government that there is no clime in the world where the outcome of the National Minimum Wage would be gladly and widely accepted by all stakeholders in the economy. Though minimum as it is supposed to be, it is not uncommon to hear the outcry of inability to pay from one quarter or the other.
“While the claim of inability to pay could, in fact, be real, the expectation, however, is for each and every employer in the economy, including the government, to focus inward on its business or system and effect the necessary wholesale restructuring and financial re-engineering that will enable it comply with the laws of the land.
“We believe the issue of ability to pay may not be as worrisome as often presented if there is efficiency, effectiveness and prudence in the administration of the governance structure. We believe that the N30, 000 recommended is a fair wage that could lift workers purchasing power, increase total demand and ultimately stimulate economic activities.
“While we note the need for the implementation of the recommended N30, 000, our national conversation should now be focused on how to broaden the nation’s revenue base, ensure the viability of the states of the federation, curb or eliminate wastages and rent-seeking in all spheres of national life and increase our national aggregate output which has consistently been hampered by inadequacy in our existing infrastructures and structures.”
He, however, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to expedite action in the process of transmitting a bill on the minimum wage to the National Assembly as soon as possible.
“Since the process of arriving at a National Minimum Wage had culminated in the submission of the Recommendations of the Tripartite Committee to the President, we urge the Federal Government to expedite action in the process of transmitting a Bill to the National Assembly within the shortest possible time to avoid yet another avoidable threat to our industrial harmony.
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“This will enable the Legislators to do their part so that implementation can commence from 1st January 2019, at the latest,” he said.
He also recommended that the government should see to a logical conclusion its power sector reforms to deliver stable power supply to the populace.
“In the same vein, priority should be given to the rehabilitation of deplorable road networks while constructing additional ones across the nation. There is the need for close monitoring and regulation of the activities of road concessionaires to ensure optimum benefits from such concessions. The transportation and haulage system is virtually road dependent.
“This is not good for the economy. Development of alternative transport system, particularly the water transport, railway, both intra and inter-state, should be accorded high priority. We recognise the efforts of government in respect of its rail modernization programme and recommend that the programme should be accelerated in view of its centrality to the growth of internal trade and industrial competitiveness,” he said.