The announcement of a 70,000 naira minimum wage by the president Bola Tinubu-led government struck many as a good news, but to many others, that amount is not enough, especially considering the present economic situation.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), had left Nigerians with high hopes.
Many people had expected a 250,000 naira wage, or perhaps, something of that figure.
However, this expectations were short-lived as the Organised Labour succumbed to a ₦70,000 minimum wage agreement.
This recent development sparked a huge controversy on social media.
Minimum Wage Controversy
While many Nigerians hail the president for the increase, others have criticised it.
Now, as the controversy continue, the NLC in Lagos State have decided to react.
The Lagos Council, has stated that the reviewed National minimum wage of ₦70,000 for civil servants is unsustainable for its workers.
The state council Chairman, Funmi Sessi accused the Governors’ Forum of being responsible for the meager new minimum wage approval following their insistence on paying ₦50,000 during the negotiating period.
She called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to give special consideration to workers in the state when implementing the new minimum wage.
Governors To Blame
According to Sessi: “I would like to express a mixed reaction to the newly approved ₦70,000 minimum wage by the Federal Government in the sense that we believed, and we know that President Bola Tinubu would have done better than the approved ₦70,000.
“If not for the reactions of the Governors Forum, where the Governors insisted on ₦50,000.
We believed President Tinubu’s approval would have been in the range of ₦100,000.
“But we still thank God that at the end of the day, we were able to move a little bit forward and achieve.
There is an adage that says “he who fights and runs away, leave to fight another day.”
She continued: “Though, the ₦70,000 falls short of our expectations but we still thank God, at least we were able to push a little further than the ₦62,000 the government was proposing to pay because of the reactions of the governors and private employers as well.
Also Read: Just In! Minimum Wage: Tinubu Approves ₦70,000
“However, we hope with the ₦70,000 as a minimum we will still be able to live with living demands.
“We want to use this medium to appeal to government and all the agencies to monitor effectively the market forces because those rendering services and goods, this is the time they will be calculating how to increase the no services and goods that they have already increased since last year.”