Tinubu Approves New Minimum Wage
From PAULINE PODKA, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has approved N70,000 as the new minimum wage for workers in the country.
He announced the minimum wage at a meeting with the leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) at the Presidential Villa on Thursday.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris disclosed this at the end of the meeting between the organized labour and the government.
Meanwhile, the planned strike by the organized Labour over the contentious minimum wage has sparked anxiety among some Nigerians.
The NLC had threatened to shut down the country for a month to protest plans by the National Assembly to deregulate the national minimum wage.
But, the African Network for Peace, Progress, and Development (ANPPD) has pleaded with the organized to reconsider its proposed industrial action.
The group in a statement by its President, Elias Odoemena, has appealed to the NLC to consider the plights of millions of Nigerians outside the government payroll who would suffer from the strike.
Odoemena said that the problem facing Nigerian workers went beyond the minimum wage, emphasizing the need to find solutions that would enable workers to manage their finances wisely.
He suggested that the NLC should engage with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima on reducing electricity bills and the cost of petroleum products to ease the financial burden on Nigerians.
The group’s president recalled the prolonged strike by university lecturers, which yielded no fruit and required the intervention of then-Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, to resolve.
Odoemena advised the government to form a committee comprising of traditional rulers, civil society representatives, and labour officials to explore ways to reduce the cost of living in Nigeria.
He promised to submit a list of recommendations to the president, urging all parties to prioritize dialogue over disruptive action.