The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has ruled out the possibility that state governors and the federal government will work together to impose a new minimum wage on Nigerian employees come May 2024.
TUC President Comrade Festus Osifo voiced his displeasure with the federal government’s lack of progress in negotiating a new minimum wage at a meeting of the National Executive Council.
Osifo brought attention to the Niger Delta states’ inability to fulfill their wage award payments or worker palliative care duties, despite receiving significant funding from the Federation Account. He specifically named the states of Delta, Imo, and Benue as the main perpetrators.
Osifo criticized the approach of many state governors to meeting salary responsibilities and dispensing palliatives, saying, “There is no denying the economic misery we are enduring today. As you are aware, we have been working with the federal government since last year, and on October 2, 2023, the communique was signed.”
“And we also gave our different state councils the authority to follow up with their respective state governments to ensure two things once that communiqué was signed. First, implement palliative care. Palliative care is meant to address urgent problems; it is not a long-term answer to the economic crisis that our nation is currently experiencing. While palliative care may be able to address short-term issues, it will not be able to address long-term ones. Our issues cannot be solved by palliative care.”
“Therefore, since governments are elected at all levels, from the federal to the local, we were also hoping for a strong and long-lasting solution that would satisfy the needs of Nigerian workers and the Nigerian people as a whole.”
“We compiled data from all of the states in the nation, and from that data, we were able to determine that certain states were performing well in terms of paying wage awards, implementing palliative care, and putting in place a more substantial and robust solution to address the problems our nation faces today.”
“The Federal Capital Territory, Borno, Oyo, Lagos, Kaduna, Rivers, Yobe, Bayelsa, and Ebonyi are a few of these states that deserve to be mentioned.”
“However, we have certain states that have done nothing. Even several Niger Delta governments that get over N20 billion a month have done absolutely nothing to address the current economic problems and establish long-term solutions.”
“Benue is at the top of the list; the state has done nothing for the workers. Likewise, Benue State has not improved the lot of the people. Benue has not seen any action taken.”
“In addition, there is Anambra State. We thought that an economist leading that state ought to be able to put on his thinking cap, so we were a little taken aback.”
“Delta is the state that receives the largest amount of fat from the Federation Account. On that list, Delta comes in first. The governor of Delta State is not doing anything to improve the lot of workers, which is shocking.”
