According to President Bola Tinubu, his administration is dedicated to establishing a reasonable and practical minimum wage and is concerned about the wellbeing of Nigerian laborers. The president made this claim on Thursday at a meeting at the State House in Abuja with the leaderships of the Nigeria Labour Congress, led by Joe Ajaero, and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, led by Festus Osifo, according to a statement from the president’s spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale.
As the backbone of the country, the President claimed that Nigerian workers should have increased welfare, higher pay, and safer and better working conditions. President Tinubu declared that his administration is giving the predicament of Nigerian workers first priority.
“I pay attention to everything around me. A happy worker is a productive worker. And society depends on the productivity of the happy worker,” Tinubu stated.
Regarding the minimum wage issue, the President did, however, urge reasonable expectations, saying that one must “cut your coat according to available cloth.” We must examine the structure before we can complete the minimum wage procedure.
“Why must we adjust wages every five years? Why not two? Why not three years? What is a problem today, can be eased up tomorrow. There is much dynamism to this process if we are not myopic in our approaches. We can take a surgical approach that is based on pragmatism and a deep understanding of all factors.
The NLC President underlined in his speech that the country’s current economic circumstances call for an increase in the minimum wage.
He said, “Between living wage and minimum wage, we need to find a balance. Things are difficult for the Nigerian worker.”
Ajaero complimented the President on the Supreme Court’s decision upholding local governments’ constitutional rights to financial autonomy and other important concepts.
“I have to congratulate you on the issue of local government autonomy. We have been in the streets protesting for local government autonomy. Now that there is light at the end of the tunnel, it will amount to ungratefulness if we fail to commend you,” he said.
The TUC President stated in his speech that inflation has negatively impacted the value of the naira and that in order to provide residents with relief, the government’s initiatives to address the growing expense of food and transportation must take effect.
According to him, the introduction of buses powered by compressed natural gas would aid in containing the rising expense of transportation, and if correctly carried out, the recent directive about the suspension of duties on specific food imports will result in lower food prices.
“We commend you on the landmark judgement of the Supreme Court. History will not forget what has happened today. With this judgement, we believe Nigeria will make progress,” the Osifo said.
The statement also said that additional discussions were postponed until the following week in order to provide time for broader stakeholder participation.
