FG Meets on Proposals for New Minimum Wage Today

•May peg demand at N150,000 – N200,000 

•NAAT demands N350,000 instead

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
 

The federal government has fixed a meeting for today to consider proposals by the organised labour for a new minimum wage.

The meeting which is to take place at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) will be attended by the government representatives on Tripartite committee on new minimum wage only.

A letter scheduling the meeting, dated April 24 and signed by a Permanent Secretary in the SGF Office, said that, “the purpose of the meeting is to deliberate and agree on government position on the new minimum wage which will be presented at the next meeting of the triparted Committee”.

The two major labour centres, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), had earlier made separate proposals for the new minimum wage based on what they called existing economic realities.”

The asked government to accede to their demand for a living wage that sustains an average worker based on the ever-rising cost of living.

TUC had proposed a figure of N447,000 per month, while the NLC later adjusted its stance to request N794,000 per worker.

However, in their latest submission to the government, both unions jointly proposed N615,000 as the new minimum wage, reflecting a compromise in the face of economic challenges.

At the meeting summoned by the SGF today, the government side is expected to consider all positions including that of the governors under the auspices of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum before arriving at a middle ground.

A source at the SGF office, said from all indications, the federal government might consider amounts ranging N150,000 to N200,000 as the template for further negotiation.

But one of the university-based unions, the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) has recommended a new national minimum wage of  N350, 000 for workers in the country.

NAAT ‘s proposal came just as the Minister of Education, Prof. Mamam Tahir, assured university workers of the federal government’s determination to fix challenges of the education sector, including prioritisation of staff and students’ welfare.

Addressing members at 5th National Delegates Conference of the NAAT, its President, Ibeji Nwokoma, said the non-payment of backlog salaries remained a pressing concern, impacting the financial stability on members and causing disaffection and low morale.

To address this challenge, he said the leadership of the association would pursue proactive measures, including dialogue with relevant authorities, recourse to necessary action within the ambit of the law, and sustained advocacy to ensure the prompt and fair resolution of outstanding salary arrears, and prioritising welfare of members.

But Tahir, who declared the conference open, said the federal government was taking proactive measures to address the challenges in the education sector.

He described technology as the centre of the country’s current drive for development, adding that the association was very relevant “because today’s world is driven by technology,” adding that technology rules the world and was at the centre of everything we do.