Being the President of Nigeria, the giant of Africa is surely not an easy task. It comes with loads of pressure, tension and drama. One of such is when trade unions request for a new minimum wage.
One may not understand what it takes until he/she wears the shoe.
President Bola Tinubu, must have thought that having ruled and sailing Lagos State to where it is today, Nigeria would sure be an easy one.
But there is a big difference between a state of less than 30 million and a nation of over 260 million people.
President Tinubu is facing a heavy pressure. It started from the moment he took his oath of office and said petrol ‘subsidy is gone’.
Pressure from opposition who are steadily challenging his victory at the tribunal, pressure from oil marketers and pressure from Nigerians who are suffering the effects of his fuel subsidy removal.
Now, Tinubu is faced with pressure from the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
He must pay the agreed ₦200,000 minimum wage or his baby administration will face the consequences.
The Strike
Meanwhile, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has given the Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government a two-week deadline to provide feedback on its demand for ₦200,000 minimum wage.
Following the removal of fuel subsidy and the subsequent increase in petrol price and the cost of living, labour had declared a strike to force the Federal Government to ameliorate the effect of the 200% hike in the pump price of petrol.
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But after marathon meetings with representatives of the Bola Tinubu-led administration, NLC, and TUC shelved the planned industrial action scheduled for Wednesday, June 7, 2023.
Among the demands put forward by the TUC was the payment of a new minimum wage of ₦200,000 to cushion the effect of the removal of the fuel subsidy.
The Ultimatum
The TUC Secretary General, Nuhu Toro spoke in an interview on Wednesday.
He said it was expecting the government to give its position and come up with a proposal on its demand for ₦200,000 minimum wage by June 19.
“The new minimum wage of ₦200,000 which we proposed is part of the demands we gave to the government as regards the removal of the subsidy and we were the ones who gave them a time frame.
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“The time frame we gave them was the 19th of this month.
“We believe that they should be able to come to us with something substantial by then.’’
With this, the president will have to look for a middle ground, considering the dwindling revenue coming from the nation’s crude sales.
No one is sure of how much the new minimum wage will be.
