NLC Issues Threat To Lawmakers, Governors On Minimum Wage

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has expressed strong opposition to a legislative move by members of the National Assembly that seeks to shift the wage determination from the Exclusive legislative list to the Concurrent list.

Speaking at the 2024 annual Rain School event of the NLC in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Ajaero voiced concerns that this shift could allow state governors to individually determine minimum wages, potentially undermining national wage standards.

Ajaero warned that such a change could provoke significant labour unrest, including a potential halt of movement across the country for one month.

He stressed that the move could lead to a fragmented and inequitable wage structure that would harm workers’ rights and livelihoods, particularly in less economically robust states.

Ajaero said, “As we are here a Joint Committee of the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Judiciary are meeting. They have decided to remove section 34 from the Exclusive legislative list to the Concurrent list so that the state Governors can determine what to pay to you and I; so that there will be no minimum wage again.

“When they finish that meeting they will collect minimum wage, I promise all of you that. The very moment the House of Representatives and the Senate come up with such a Law that will not benefit Nigerian workers they will be their Drivers, and gatemen, there’ll be no movement for one month.

“Comrades I am putting you on standby. If that committee comes up with such a policy, for one month nobody should come out. They are the major threat to democracy in this country. Democracy is not all about starving and punishing people. That’s not the democracy we fought for.

“They were not there when we fought for this democracy, and now they are trying to make Laws to remove Wage from the Exclusive list. So comrades as I have talked you here I have talked to everybody. We are waiting for them to come up with such hypocritical law. And from today let them abolish security vote.”

According to Ajaero, the time has come when the Federal Lawmakers and governors should be subjected to collecting minimum wage.

The NLC President wondered why Nigerian leaders were bent on cheating workers, even amid the current hardship they are facing due to the removal of fuel subsidy.

He regretted that in Nigeria, the government does not respect agreements, stressing, “The CNG Vehicles and the Port Harcourt refinery we agreed with them, nothing has happened. There’s no plan for the Nigerian workers. You cannot have a productive economy if you don’t pay workers real wages. It is not over until it is over.

“Nigeria is a country where there are no provisions for the poor man. So Comrades I was looking for this opportunity to talk with you, to know that we are not troublemakers”

Ajaero, who described the theme of the Rain School, “Education and Future of Work” as timely and critical, stated, “Education is important. Congress has always placed a premium on building our cadre’s and leaders’ capacities on the various issues and challenges that confront us as workers and as a people.

“The world of work can only be fair when it can deliver on the four pillars of decent work. This includes a national minimum wage that speaks to the cost of living because that is what our wages are supposed to take care of.

“Our demand for N250,000 is predicated on this to avoid the proposed slave wage by our social partners. We cannot afford to continue working in greater poverty. We must remember that Education remains one of the most potent tools to cause critical change in our society.

“Let us harness the power of education to shape a future of work that upholds the values we stand for and ensure a just and prosperous society for all”

Ajaero, while urging participants to take full advantage of the opportunities presented at the training, said, “The strength of our movement lies in our unity, and our shared commitment to the principles of fairness, dignity and respect for all workers”

The Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Umo Eno, while declaring the event open, noted that the importance of capacity building for workers in the country could not be over-emphasized as it would help them face the future in whatever form it presents itself.

Eno, who was represented by the Head of Civil Service, Elder Effiong Essien, said, “When we are developed in terms of capacity, we will not be afraid to face the future. We identify with this NLC Rain School training which has been sustained here in Akwa Ibom state for the past 15 years.”

The governor who expressed his administration’s commitment to maintaining the cordial relationship existing between it and organized labour, reiterated that Akwa Ibom would not fail to pay the new minimum wage once the negotiations were concluded.

“Even as we are anxiously waiting for the National Labour movement and the Federal government to come up with the new minimum wage, I urge the NLC President, not to be worried, not to be distracted by things that are happening, but let us pray for an understanding of the situation and come up with a minimum wage, that every state can afford to pay.

“By so doing we will not have our economy burnt, rather we will help to build our economy. I want to believe that the Rain School would offer training to help us manage the situation.

“Even as gloomy as it looks I want to believe that our leaders at the National Assembly would listen to the voice of reasoning and would not set fire in this our dear native land”, Gov Eno appealed.