To most Nigerians, the approval
of a new National Minimum Wage (NNW) by the administration of President
Muhammadu Buhari was unexpected. The time is very auspicious, much as it is
relieving.
It was a surprise package as most
workers never anticipated it. This is garnered from the reality that Nigeria
has just recovered from recession. It silenced critics of the administration
who never imagined, it was possible.
But hate or love him; you can
even denigrate him, whichever way possible, it does not alter his compassion
for poor Nigerians. Buhari remains a President with enviable welfarist
proclivity and an abiding passion for the comfort of the less privileged Nigerians.
His pleasant shock of Nigerian civil servants with the new pay package is just
one of his numerous ways of silently saying,”I wish you lived better lives than
what obtains.”
A genuine and true leader is
judged by the fruits of his actions. He does not make propaganda a companion,
but he is inextricably tethered to actions. And modalities are already being
worked out for the immediate implementation of the new national minimum wage
including a legislative instrument to make it a law.
Perhaps, those still shocked by
this reality have no clue to the leadership focus and persona of President
Buhari. Or they have forgotten about his antecedents so soon.
Any keen observer of Nigerian
leaders would readily attest to their reluctance in tackling issues around
workers welfare. They hate with a passion in signing salaries and pensions
cheques. They casually sign fictitious contracts in billions of naira, but
agonize to endorse salary bills.
But President Buhari has
justified in words and action to be a remarkable departure from self-serving
leaders who have found themselves in the corridors of power. The new National
Minimum wage is yet another testimony.
Last year, the President was
livid with State Governors who were still swimming in salaries and pensions indebtedness.
When he met a delegation of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) led by Zamfara
state Governor Abdullaziz Yari in the Presidential Villa, he bemoaned the
plight of the Nigerian worker caused by non-payment of salaries so emotionally
thus; “How can anyone go to bed and sleep soundly when workers have not been
paid their salaries for months? I actually wonder how the workers feed their
families, pay their rents and even pay school fees for their children.”
A potent source of Mr.
President’s unquenchable anger against the preceding administration is not so
much about Nigeria’s squandered and looted commonwealth in the era of boom. But
it is to the extent they also piled salaries and pensions debts, the least, any
government can sacrifice for her people.
By May 2015, when President
Buhari took over the reins of leadership, no fewer than 28 states of the
federation out of 36 states were plunged into salaries and pensions debts,
which ran into months and billions of naira. Federal civil servants were also
not spared the menace of unpaid salaries and pensions. Despair, hunger poverty
and misery defined the life of an average Nigerian under such embarrassing
conditions.
President Buhari could not bear
the sight of famished Nigerians ravaged by unpaid salary-induced hunger. He
sourced funds from the Excess Crude account; LNG funds and a CBN loan and
released a total of N1.2 trillion as bailout to states to defray backlog of
salaries and pensions.
Thereafter, this Presidency also
approved and disbursed three tranches of Paris Club refunds to all states of
the federation. And at every instance, Buhari cares to counsel that it is meant
to assist state governors clear inherited salary debts and the fresh ones they
have accumulated.
Besides and on the same issue of
salary debts, President Buhari has also approved countless budget support loans
and grants to states of the federation. A number of states have freed
themselves from the burden of unpaid salaries and pensions.
But other state governors have
stubbornly refused to properly and judiciously utilize these interventions from
the Presidency to put smiles on the faces of suffering Nigerian workers. But
Nigerian workers are not deceived. They know it’s their respective governors
who have held them captive. They testify to President Buhari’s unfaltering
commitment to payment of salaries and pensions.
Since President Umaru Yar’Adua
increased minimum wage to N18, 000, it is exactly 10 years today. But no
political leader of Nigeria has ever again thought it necessary to review
workers’ pay package until now.
Meanwhile, politicians holding
leadership positions increase their emoluments and allowances almost every
year. Workers have always been the weeping child. It explains why they are
commending the President for the bold step to console them.
President Buhari has left no one
in doubt that the wealth of Nigeria is for the masses of Nigeria, as against
the prevailing practice where a few members of the ruling class corner
everything for themselves and their families. It explains why his
administration has reinstated federal workers, whose appointments were unjustly
terminated.
In addition, Federal civil
servants now enjoy promotions, which were stalled for years and the perks paid
accordingly. If there is jubilation in the camp of staff of the defunct NITEL,
its because the President knows they are human beings, with families, who
deserves to live like any other Nigerian. And so, he cleared all their monetary
entitlements deliberately held hostage for years.
Many other categories of federal
workers and pensioners neglected in the past are chanting songs of glory to
Almighty God and President Buhari in the euphoria of the solace of paid
entitlements, which have redefined their lives courtesy of Mr. President’s
non-segregatory policy of prioritizing workers welfare.
As the new National Minimum Wage
knocks on the door soonest, workers in the states must remain vigilant to
ensure further grants to state governors for the new pay package as not
diverted as usual. Nigerians must be brave and courageous enough to hold their
leaders accountable.
State Governors who would fail to
implement the new wage should not feed workers with stale excuses because
President Buhari would certainly do his bit. Subsisting federal accruals to
state would be upped to accommodate the new approved national minimum wage.
Nigerian workers are appreciative
of a President who sleeps and dreams about improved working conditions and
conducive environment for the Nigerian worker. So, both at the federal and
state levels, Buhari is feted as the newest and most beautiful bride of workers
who have pledged to keep supporting him in this arduous task of redeeming
Nigeria from the fangs of internal colonizers.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteOkanga Agila, are you dreaming or something? The clueless man is headed for Daura next year, all your praise singing will not work for Nigerians as we know better.
ReplyDeleteLol, unless the DAURA you’re talking about is in the presidential villa.. Buhari would be our president till 2023.. let someone shout hallelujah��
Delete