NLC Urges Nigerians to Support Workers’ Demand for ‘Living Wage’

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has asked Nigerians to show solidarity with the workers’ in their quest for a new minimum wage that will lift them out of it described as the current starvation wage.

The government and members of the organised labour are due to commence negotiation for a new minimum wage before the end of March this year when the current N30,000 national minimum wage will expire.

However, the two labour centres – NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have accused the federal government of delaying the inauguration of the national minimum wage committee to kick-start the process.

In an address delivered at the International Lenin Centenary Conference on  Monday in Abuja, President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero said the dream for a living wage can only be attained through the solidarity of all workers and masses of the country.

He said that Nigerians should not see the workers demand for a living national minimum wage as that of the NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) alone but a collective struggle for a better Nigeria.

He condemned  the action of those he described as “comprador bourgeoisies” who he said have seized the reins of power in the country and “have continued to decimate all institutions of governance using them to subjugate, impoverish and incapacitate the sovereign will, trample upon workers and masses”.

Ajaero said that the struggle for a better Nigeria must begin by enthroning equity in the world of work.

“That is why it is important that at this juncture that I invite all of us as we prepare to negotiate the national minimum wage this year not to see it as a struggle for the NLC and TUC but a collective struggle.

” I request that we all join hands from the beginning of the negotiation exercise to the end of it and to its ultimate implementation so that we can overcome those who have already made up their minds to pay Nigerians a starvation wage. We seek a living wage and it is only when we work together as comrades that we can achieve this.

“Comrades remember, when we stand alone, our chances are slim but when we stand together, we are able to achieve our collective interests. Lenin who was not a worker in the classical sense understood this and championed the cause of workers in the globe,” he said.

While urging patriotic Nigerians to join labour to stop the plundering of nation’s resources like Lenin did during his era, Ajaero urged all to work for a nation that will become more equitable.

Ajaero said: “As we reflect on the legacy of Leninism, it is imperative to critically analyse its relevance and efficacy in addressing the challenges of our contemporary world, so that together, we can protect our nation and humanity as a whole from the predatory instincts of a few individuals and nations.

“This celebration will be in vain if we do not arise from this place today resolved to work together, determined to make a difference in our nation and committed to reclaiming the civic space by building and empowering cadres across the nation.”