Labour Laments Non–implementation of Minimum Wage in Kogi

Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja

The Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC), has expressed shock over the failure of the Kogi State Government to implement the N30,000 new minimum wage.

The Kogi State Chairman of NLC, Mr. Onuh Edoka, disclosed this yesterday when the new executive council of the Nigeria Civil Service Union (NCSU) paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Lokoja, Kogi State capital.

Edoka lamented that two years after a committee set up by the government to improve the welfare of workers has not submitted its report to the Governor of Kogi State, Mr. Yahaya Bello.

He expressed disappointment and stressed that the union is under serious pressure from workers in Kogi State to see that the new minimum wage is speedily implemented.

He, however, assured that the union would not rest until the new minimum wage is realised in Kogi just as it is applicable in other states.

His words: “The organised labour in Kogi State is still in dismay over the none implementation of the N30,000 new minimum wage. After two years of setting the committee, they are yet to submit a report to his Excellency. For how long are we going to continue like this? Workers have been patient and they have exhausted it.

“We are using this medium to call on the Kogi State Government to do the needful as things are getting out of hand given the current economic reality. The prices of foodstuff have skyrocketed and workers are still been paid with their old wages.”

“This is not fair. Something urgently is needed to be done to cushion the suffering of our workers.”

Edoka, however, admitted that the NCSU is the oldest trade in union in Nigeria, which was formed in Nigeria before the amalgamation of the North and Southern protectorates in 1914.

He added that they have produced intelligent individuals both at the national and state levels.

The labour leader, however, warned that the struggle would not be easy in the state for the union adding that they should ensure industrial harmony with the government in a bid to meet the yearnings of the workers they represent in the state.

“The task ahead is enormous. It is important to state here categorically that you must put in your best to meet the demands of your union members. Do not betray the workers you are representing. If you do this, you will face the wrath of God” he warned.

Earlier, the Kogi State Council Chairman of the NCSU, Mr. Tony Obasa, said they were in the office of Edoka to pledge their loyalty to the NLC.

He tasked the NLC chairman to double his efforts at ensuring that the Kogi State Government implemented the new minimum wage, stressing that the workers could no longer cope with what is given to them as their monthly salary.