President Muhammadu Buhari has
appealed for understanding of Nigerian workers as the Federal Government
attempts to address the pressing issue of a new national minimum wage.
Buhari, represented by Mr Boss
Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, made the appeal at
the 12th National Delegates Conference of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on
Tuesday in Abuja.
NAN reports that the theme of the
two-day Conference is “Towards a Decade of Activism for the Promotion of Labour
Unity, National Rebirth and Development.”
According to Mr President,
Government was determined to attain the decent work agenda, which involves
opportunities to works that are productive and deliver fair income, security in
the work place and social protection for families.
“Government appeals for the
continued understanding of workers in attempt to address the pressing issue of
minimum wage,” he said.
The president noted that the
government inaugurated a Technical Advisory Committee recently “to develop and
advise government on how to successfully actualise the objective of seamless
implementation of the impending wage increase.”
The Committee is also “to
identify new revenue sources as well as areas of existing expenditure from
where some savings could be made and to augment present Federal Government’s
revenue framework in order to fund the wage increase.”
It will also “propose a work plan
and modalities for the implementation of salary increase in a way that
minimises any inflation impact and ensure that it does not lead to any job
losses.”
Buhari, however, assured NLC of
government’s unalloyed support and cooperation towards its struggle for better
workers’ welfare, which would invariably enhance productivity and economic
growth in the country.
Mr President further said that
the present administration regarded NLC as a partner in progress and reassured
the Congress of the commitment of the administration to workers’ welfare.
“This is evidenced by the
numerous programmes and policies that have been initiated by this present
administration in promoting the interest and well-being of our workforce.
“This administration is also
committed to addressing other issues that are still pending,” he added.
According to him, the Labour
movement can be said without fear of contradiction to have lived up to the
expectations of its teeming members by “continually protecting, defending and
promoting the rights, well-being and interest of all workers and affiliates
trade unions.
“It has played significant role
with the promotion of unity among workers and constantly engaged government on
national rebirth and development. This has been a commendable endeavour,’’ he
said.
Earlier, the NLC President, Mr
Ayuba Wabba, said that organised labour would resist any attempt to sell
national assets
Wabba said that evidence around
the country showed that privatisation had not done the nation any good as
majority of government owned enterprises privatised were not functional.
He said what had happened in the
past was that the enterprises were under-priced and sold to friends and
associates, who stripped them of the assets, leaving them comatose and unproductive.
“Since the privatisation of
electricity distribution, Nigerians are yet to see the fulfilment of promises
of efficient service delivery. e NLC President, Mr Ayuba Wabba, said that
organised labour would resist any attempt to sell national asset
Wabba said that evidence around
the country showed that privatisation had not done the nation any good as
majority of government owned enterprises privatised were not functional.
He said what had happened in the
past was that the enterprises were under-priced and sold to friends and
associates, who stripped them of the assets, leaving them comatose and
unproductive.
“Since the privatisation of
electricity distribution, Nigerians are yet to see the fulfilment of promises
of efficient service delivery.
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Promising minimum wage to that you cannot pay at the end and owing salary will increase the more, making mouth because of election
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