New Minimum Wage: How Tinubu, labour can achieve April take off date

 Gasper Babatunde Reporting ...........

As Nigeria prepares for negotiations for a new national minimum wage, Organised Labour and other critical stakeholders have tasked the Federal Government to ensure a hitch-free negotiation process that would result in a timely agreement and implementation of the new wage.

They noted that considering the socio-economic crises bedeviling the country, especially with the removal of fuel subsidy, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should keep to his promise of alleviating the sufferings of Nigerians by ensuring that the implementation of a new national minimum wage is achieved within the specified time frame.

Kukuruku News has it that  Tinubu had in his New Year live broadcast, promised to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians and vowed to implement the new minimum wage, which is due in April this year

 As Nigeria prepares for negotiations for a new national minimum wage, Organised Labour and other critical stakeholders have tasked the Federal Government to ensure a hitch-free negotiation process that would result in a timely agreement and implementation of the new wage.

They noted that considering the socio-economic crises bedeviling the country, especially with the removal of fuel subsidy, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should keep to his promise of alleviating the sufferings of Nigerians by ensuring that the implementation of a new national minimum wage is achieved within the specified time frame. Kukuruku News reports, Tinubu had in his New Year live broadcast, promised to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians and vowed to implement the new minimum wage, which is due in April this year

However, organised labour had faulted the Federal Government for not demonstrating sufficient commitment towards the actualisation of its promises, part of which is the inauguration of a minimum wage negotiation committee, supposed to have been unveiled in November 2023, as agreed on October 2, 2023 at a meeting with the labour unions.

They alleged that the Tinubu administration had developed a reputation for breaching promises and advised the government to “walk the talk” in the new year as the negotiation process commences with a tripartite committee, which comprises the government, labour and private sector employers.

However, giving assurance that the committee would soon be inaugurated, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, recently said the challenges to the implementation of a new wage would soon be addressed.

The battles for national minimum wage in Nigeria by organised labour date back to 1981 during the civilian government of Shehu Shagari when the government approved N125 per month as against the N300 demanded by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) under the leadership of Hassan Sunmonu.

From 1981 to date, or at least April 18, 2019, when the subsisting N30,000 national minimum wage took effect, the battle for national minimum wage had never been seamless or without a fierce ‘fight’ between the government, private sector employers and organised labour.

The Guardian gathered that in 38 years, no minimum wage was achieved or gotten on a platter of gold in Nigeria.

During this period – 1981 and 2019 –, there were about six national minimum wage reviews: 1981 (N125), 1990 (N250), 1998 (N300), 2000 (N5, 500 and N7, 500), 2011 (N18, 000) and 2018 (N30, 000).

As workers’ welfare is the responsibility of governments across the world through fixing and regulating of the national minimum wage, stakeholders believe that for the Nigerian government to address the perennial minimum wage problem and be seen as fulfilling its obligation according to the standard set by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), it must urgently put in place an acceptable mechanism for fixing and regulating the national minimum wage in the country to cushion the effect of the hike in petroleum products on which the national economy largely depends.

They argued that despite the 2019 Wage Act, which stipulates a five-year wage review period in the country by the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage (TCNMW), Nigeria was yet to establish an effective mechanism to manage national minimum wage matters seamlessly without threats, warning strikes and actual strikes by labour.

For instance, Paul Opone and Kelvin Kelikwuma, in their analysis, alleged that politics characterised the 2019 national minimum wage negotiations and implementation, which they described so far as the most prolonged in Nigeria’s history.

They argued that the absence of functional standing machinery with a focus on labour economics deciding the condition and time for a minimum wage review remains the main bane in government-labour frequent face-off in Nigeria, which has negatively impacted harmonious industrial relations.

According to them, industrial actions have become one action too many because of the government’s political approach to labour demands.
As Nigeria prepares for another round of negotiation, the duo told The Guardian that it was high time the Nigerian government developed a salary adjustment template controlled by an index factor that automatically increases workers’ minimum wage by a certain percentage whenever the need arises.

This, they said, would eliminate the usual prolonged negotiations, ultimatum, strike actions and no work, no pay regime that has constantly characterised national minimum wage fixing and regulation in Nigeria.

Besides, they noted that the national minimum wage should serve as a benchmark for states and their labour unions to negotiate as is the case with true federalism so as to pave the way for harmonious industrial relations in the country.

The duo called for a mutual understanding among all stakeholders to ensure that they arrive at a minimum wage that is commensurate with the prevailing cost of living.

They described 2023 as an unpleasant year dominated by the removal of fuel subsidies, higher inflation that affected real disposable incomes and devaluation of the naira, among others.

“The removal of subsidies on petroleum products further worsened the challenges faced by working people, which unleashed severe pain and contributed to galloping inflation even as it increased inequality and poverty,” the duo said.

The labour experts believe that the quest for a wage system that is sufficient to provide a decent living for workers and their family members was crucial.
They argued that the urgent need for a pay rise for Nigerian workers is no longer debatable, especially with more than 300 per cent increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), devaluation of the naira and increase in prices of goods and services, among others.

Calling for a minimum wage commensurate with the prevailing cost of living, they emphasised that a well-motivated and well-remunerated workforce has a positive impact on productivity and national development.

According to them, the pursuit of a national living wage is not merely an economic necessity, but also a moral imperative.