National
‘Tuesday Deadline Stands’—Labour May Resume Strike Tuesday,Rejects ₦62,000, ₦100,000
The Organised Labour says it will not accept any ₦62,000 or ₦100,000 “starvation wage” as the minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
Labour insisted on ₦250,000, its latest demand at the last meeting of the Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage on Friday, as the living wage for an average Nigerian worker.
“Our position is very clear,” said Chris Onyeka, an Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief show on Monday.
He insisted that labour won’t accept the latest government’s offer of ₦62,000 and the ₦100,000 proposal by some individuals and economists.
Onyeka said, “We have never considered accepting ₦62,000 or any other wage that we know is below what we know is able to take Nigerian workers home. We will not negotiate a starvation wage.
“We have never contemplated ₦100,000 let alone of ₦62,000. We are still at ₦250,000, that is where we are, and that is what we considered enough concession to the government and the other social partners in this particular situation.
“We are not just driven by frivolities but the realities of the market place; realities of things we buy every day: bag of rice, yam, garri, and all of that.”
Onyeka said the one-week grace period given to the Federal Government last Tuesday, June 4, 2024, would expire by the midnight of Tuesday, June 11, 2024.
He said should the Federal Government and National Assembly fail to act on the demands of workers by tomorrow (Tuesday), the organs of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) would meet to decide on the resumption of the nationwide industrial action relaxed last week.
The NLC Official said, “The Federal Government and the National Assembly have the call now. It is not our call. Our demand is there for them (the government) to look at and send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, and for the National Assembly to look at what we have demanded, the various fact of the law, and then come up with a National Minimum Act that meets our demands.
“If that does not meet our demand, we have given the Federal Government a one-week notice to look at the issues and that one week expires tomorrow (Tuesday). If after tomorrow, we have not seen any tangible response from the government, the organs of the Organised Labour will meet to decide on what next.”
When asked what the decision of Labour would be should the government insists on ₦62,000, he said, “It was clear what we said. We said we are relaxing a nationwide indefinite strike. It’s like putting a pause on it. So, if you put a pause on something and that organs that govern us as trade unions decide that we should remove that pause, it means that we go back to what was in existence before.”
Protracted Deadlock
After weeks of failed talks on a new minimum wage for workers in the country, Labour declared an indefinite industrial action on Monday, June 3, 2024. Businesses were paralysed as labour shut down airports, hospitals, national grid, banks, National Assembly and state assemblies’ complexes.
The labour unions said the current minimum wage of ₦30,000 can no longer cater to the wellbeing of an average Nigerian worker, saying government should offer workers something economically realistic in tandem with current inflationary pressures, attendant effects of the twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of the forex windows of the current administration.
The labour unions also lamented that not all governors are paying the current wage award which expired in April 2024, five years after the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 was signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari. The Act should be reviewed every five years to meet up with contemporary economic demands of workers.
In January 2024, President Bola Tinubu inaugurated a tripartite committee to negotiate a new minimum wage for the country.
At the start of negotiations, Labour presented ₦615,000 as the new minimum wage but saw reasons to drop their demand to ₦497,000, and then to ₦494,000.
Also, in the beginning, the government and the Organised Private Sector proposed ₦48,000, ₦54,000, ₦57,000, and later ₦60,000, all four offers were rejected by Labour, prompting the strike.
In the heat of the impasse and the attendant consequences of the strike last Monday, June 3, 2024, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, said the President was committed to a wage above ₦60,000, and that the government side of the tripartite committee would meet with labour for one week to agree on a wage.
Persuaded, labour “relaxed” its industrial action on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, some 24 hours after the strike. Both TUC and NLC leadership subsequently resumed talks with the representatives of the Federal Government, states, Organised Private Sector.
The President also directed Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present a template for a new minimum wage. Before the directive, the minister described as “unaffordable, the demands of labour. Also, the 36 state governors said labour’s demands was not sustainable.
However, on Friday, June 7, 2024, the two sides (labour and the government) failed to reach an agreement. While labour dropped again its demand from ₦494,000 to ₦250,000, the government added ₦2,000 to its initial ₦60,000 and offered workers ₦62,000.
Both sides submitted their reports to the President who is expected to make a decision and send an executive bill to the National Assembly to pass a new minimum wage bill to be signed into law by the President.
Retired Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), David Shikfu Parradang, has been killed by kidnappers in Abuja.
Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that Parradang was abducted in Area 1, Abuja, in the early hours of Tuesday after being trailed from a bank where he had withdrawn money. According to intelligence sources, the assailants took the cash from him before eventually killing him.
The tragic incident has raised fresh concerns over security in the Federal Capital Territory, particularly regarding the increasing cases of kidnappings and targeted attacks.
Parradang, who served in the NIS for over 30 years, held various positions across the country, including Comptroller General and postings in Kano, Lagos, Kwara, Enugu, and the Federal Capital Territory. He also attended several professional courses both within Nigeria and internationally.
In recognition of his service, he was awarded the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) and was a distinguished graduate of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS).
Security agencies have reportedly launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his abduction and killing, with efforts ongoing to apprehend the perpetrators.
Concerned youth organisations in Nigeria, Arewa Youths for Good Governance, South-West Youths Development Initiative, Northern Youths for justice and Igbo Youths Progressive Forum have demanded the immediate resignation of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
This is coming amid the sexual harassment allegation against the Senate President by a female lawmaker, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The allegation, it could be recalled, has dominated the airwaves in the past few days.
In a joint statement made available to journalists on Tuesday, the youths groups said they had expected the Senator to step aside during the Senate plenary on Tuesday.
The statement was signed by the coordinators of the groups- Ismail Jibril, Kehinde Sikiru, Ladoja Kehinde and Jonathan Ezeme.
They declared that: “Nigerians were last Friday treated to an embarrassing news involving the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, with a mind boggling allegation coming from Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
“Ordinarily, one would have wished away this kind of allegation with a wave of the hand. However, this should not be the case.
“We say this with every sense of responsibility considering that this is not the first time Senator Akpabio is being accused of making such advances on women.
“We have not forgotten how a former Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Joy Nunieh, claimed Akpabio sexually harassed her. The now Senate President was then Minister of Niger Delta.
“Coincidentally, it was on the same television station where Natasha made this claim that Nuineh granted an interview and leveled allegations against Akpabio.
“She said on national television: Why did he not tell Nigerians that I slapped him in his guest house at Apo? I am the only Ogoni woman, the only Nigerian woman that has slapped him. I slapped him because of his plan B. Since he couldn’t get me to take that money, he thought that he could come up on me. He didn’t know that I’m a Port Harcourt girl. Port Harcourt girls are not moved by money…by somebody telling me that he will make me the substantive MD. Akpabio’s meetings with me were either at Apo or Meridien…Yes, I am accusing him of sexual harassment.”
“Five years after, Senator Natasha has come up to level the same allegation against the Senate President, a development that has brought not just the National Assembly to disrepute but the entire Nigerians.
“We have waited for days, thinking that the Senate President will toe the honourable path, which is to resign; this is the least expected in a sane clime. Unfortunately, he has clung on to his seat, pretending as though nothing had happened.
“This is totally unacceptable as there is no way he can be a judge in his own case. The Senate President cannot preside over a Senate that will have to interrogate the allegations against him. The moral burden is huge.
“Should Akpabio fail to resign, we urge the members of the National Assembly to redeem themselves by impeaching him. This is the only way to restore confidence in the parliament. The National Assembly, known as the Hallowed Chamber, cannot be left to be charmed by someone who has heavy allegations hanging on him. This touches on the root of the nation’s democracy- the parliament.
“It is only when Akpabio has stepped aside that both him and Natasha can appear before a probe committee, and have fair hearing, and justice seen to have been served. Anything to the contract will only lead to more witch-hunt of the female Senator.”
By Amos Tauna, Kaduna
The chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Rev. John Joseph Hayab, has called on well-meaning Nigerians to intervene in the feud between the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central.
ln a telephone interview, the cleric said that as a responsible religious body, CAN considers the feud “shameful and unfortunate”, calling on Nigerians to intervene to ensure sanity in the National Assembly.
According to the chairman, “There is a need for elders to intervene. Akpabio and Natasha as well as the entire members of the National Assembly are honourable members that should be accorded respect, Nigerians hold them in high regards. The members of the National Assembly should also do whatever at their disposal to ensure they address the matter to give peace a chance.”
He added, “We should show that we are responsible people in addressing any matter that wants to cause any problem, it is not to find fault but to mend fences and move forward as a nation.”
Hayab stated that no one should toy with an allegation of sexual harassment, saying that Nigeria has gone past such things because Nigeria has gone past the era when people claim they are underdogs or minorities.
He urged the media not to fuel the feud in their reportage, saying that doing so would only further confuse and divide Nigerians.
The CAN chairman urged the members of the National Assembly to channel their energies toward making the lives of Nigerians better with their official engagements, having passed the 2025 national budget.
He expressed CAN’s appeal for all groups involved or affected by the Akpabio-Natasha feud to sheath their swords and refrain from making comments capable of further dividing Nigerians along gender or regional lines, stressing that Nigerians should use their as a source of strength to achieve things that are to the overall interests of Nigerians.
Hayab advised, “Let’s give peace a chance.”