NECA: We ‘Painfully’ Agreed to N62,000 Minimum Wage, Matter Now in Tinubu’s Hand

•Says workers must up their productivity level

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), the umbrella organisation of all employers in the Organised Private Sector (OPS), yesterday said that it ‘painfully’ accepted the N62,000 national minimum wage after much deliberation.

Speaking on Arise Television, THISDAY’s broadcast arm, the Director General of the association, Adewale Oyerinde, explained that if the employers must pay the said amount, then workers must be willing to discuss the issue of productivity.

Oyerinde stated that the matter has now left the hands of the tripartite committee, explaining that everyone is now awaiting the decision of President Bola Tinubu.

However, organised labour represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) are insisting on the payment of a national minimum wage of N250,000, while the federal government has offered N62,000.

“Everything basically rests on the economy. Can the economy carry it? Can organised businesses as it currently constitutes,  carry it? Those are parameters that we can’t run away from.

“Now, the reality for us is this, as organised private sector. I would not want to delve into the realities of government. I would not want to delve into the N250 realities of organised labour.

“Ability to pay is a fundamental part of that issue that we have to take that into consideration. Enterprise sustainability is also a fundamental part of those parameters that we have to take into consideration. The state of the economy is also a fundamental part of that parameter. And then the needs of workers is also a fundamental part of that conversation,” he explained.

The NECA DG noted that with a wobbly economy, sustainability will remain a major issue before the demand of labour can be met.

“ And for me and for the organised private sector it’s this. What should be our objective now that the economy is standing on one leg, as some have said? Do we pay a wage that is unsustainable? Do we pay a wage that will also fast track the current challenge of unemployment rates? Those are the critical conversations that we need to have,” he explained.

He argued that as it is, many companies are closing shop, while many more Nigerians are being thrown into the labour market, insisting that Nigerians cannot continue to play the ostrich.

“All of us cannot play the ostrich and act as if our brothers and sisters are not losing their jobs. We cannot play the ostrich and behave as if companies are not closing down or reducing their capacity utilisation. We cannot play the ostrich.

“And for us in the private sector, the reality is this. With the current reality that we face, the current challenges that we face, we feel N62,000, we painfully, and I must emphasise that, the team of the organised private sector painfully agreed to that N62,000 based on certain conditions that government will also take into account,” he explained.

 Pointing out that the private sector’s dialogue was not only driven by profit, Oyerinde explained that having made a submission, the president will now either take the recommendation or look at the national reality before approving a figure that will be passed to the National Assembly for legislative action.

“The matter is now with the president who has the sole responsibility, the constitutional responsibility to announce a figure that will not only promote economic development but also meet to a larger extent the needs of everybody, all stakeholders,” he explained.

With labour matters currently on the exclusive list that is handled at the national level, he explained that  that creates different dynamics, stressing that if it was on the concurrent list, each state will handle their minimum wage.

He argued that there’s currently a misconception about the minimum wage, with some stakeholders, stating that the minimum wage is the least wage below which nobody must pay.

“ It is not a salary increase. It is not a general salary award. It is not a wage award. It is the minimum for the most vulnerable. The minimum that your driver should not collect. The minimum below which your driver should not take. The minimum below which a carpenter most likely should not take,” he clarified.