The disruption of the 2017 May Day rally by angry workers at Eagle Square, Abuja, over the government’s perceived insensitivity to their plight, signals the widening gap in government/labour relations in the country. Angered by the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the May Day event, workers at the Abuja rally demanded that Buhari must address them. Some of the workers mounted the podium and literally stopped the proceedings.
The workers did not allow the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, to even read the address of the president, whom he represented at the occasion.
They also did not allow the Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mrs. Abiola Bawa, who stood in for Ngige, to address them. The presence of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, could not pacify the workers. Not even the intervention of the former labour leader and immediate past governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, could calm the workers.
The President of a faction of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, read his speech to an empty arena as the workers had left the scene in protest against government’s inability to increase the minimum wage which has for long remained at N18,000 per month. Ayuba, who reiterated the call on government for a new minimum wage said that government must be held responsible for the suffering of Nigeria’s under-paid workers, even as inflation bites harder.
The workers had, prior to the event, demanded from the government a new national minimum wage of N56,000. They had argued that the extant minimum wage of N18,000 is grossly inadequate for them to take care of their families, adding that the prevailing economic recession has made nonsense of the minimum wage. Similarly, the leader of the newly formed United Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero, at its May Day rally held at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, called on the Federal Government to stop further privatisation and build domestic industrial capacity to turn around local refineries. Generally, all Nigerian workers are in agreement in their demand for N56,000 as new minimum wage. The event also witnessed protests in some states in the country. Reports from other countries indicate that similar protests marred the event in Turkey, France, Spain and Russia.
Following the workers’ protests, President Buhari has promised to set up a new minimum wage committee and provide the needed palliatives to reduce the suffering of Nigerian workers on account of the economic recession.
We commend Nigerian workers for their patience in the face of excruciating economic hardship and support their call for enhanced wages. We are of the view that the workers deserve a living wage. However, we do not approve their violent disruption of the May Day rally. We strongly believe that they could have made their point with a more peaceful approach to the issue. They should also not have prevented government representatives from making speeches at the event.
That disdainful action cast labour in bad light and should be avoided in future. To us, dialogue and industrial peace are necessary for socio-economic development of the country. We cannot achieve much as a nation through violence. We agree with labour that the current minimum wage cannot provide a decent living for any Nigerian. The current minimum wage has been overtaken by rampaging inflation.
It is also sad that since 2011 when the National Minimum Wage Act came into force, the least paid Nigerian worker had been placed on a monthly salary of N18,000. Not even the proviso that the minimum wage will be reviewed from time to time has been adhered to. Therefore, government must sit with labour and come up with an acceptable living wage for Nigerian workers. Government should end its insensitivity to labour issues, especially issues concerning workers’ wages.
If political appointees and elected politicians have had their wages enhanced, it should trickle down to workers. Wages should be a veritable avenue for the redistribution of national wealth. The executive and the legislature should not be served a buffet of fat salaries while workers receive lean wages. We also condemn the current situation in which many Nigerian workers are owed several months of salary arrears across the country.
This does not augur well for honesty and hard work in the public service. Instead, it encourages corruption. The prevailing economic situation in the country makes a review of the minimum wage imperative. The new wage committee which the government has constituted should come up with a living wage for Nigerian workers.