By Doris Isreal Ijeoma
Ahead of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s planned Thursday meeting with leaders of organized labour, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened a one-month shutdown if the minimum wage is expunged from the Exclusive to Concurrent list in the Constitution by Nigerian lawmakers.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero, gave the warning on Monday while addressing participants at the opening ceremony of the 2024 annual Rain School of the NLC in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Ajaero issued this warning against National Assembly members’ proposed decision to remove wages from the Exclusive to Concurrent list in the Constitution.
He added that if National Assembly members proceed with the move to remove the minimum wage from the Exclusive list—a law that would allow each state governor to determine the minimum wage—he would mobilize labor and shut down Nigeria’s economy for a month.
Although the National Assembly’s decision is yet to be made public, Ajaero said, “As we are here, a Joint Committee of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Judiciary are meeting. They have decided to remove section 34 from the Exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list so that the state governors can determine what to pay you and so that there will be no minimum wage again.
“When they finish that meeting, they will collect minimum wage, I promise all of you that. The very moment the House of Representatives and the Senate come up with such a law that will not benefit Nigerian workers, they will be their drivers and gatemen, and there will be no movement for one month.
“Comrades, I am putting you on standby. If that committee comes up with such a policy, for one month nobody should come out. They are the major threat to democracy in this country. Democracy is not all about starving and punishing people. That’s not the democracy we fought for.
“They were not there when we fought for this democracy, and now they are trying to make laws to remove the minimum wage from the exclusive list. So, comrades, as I have talked to you here, I have talked to everybody. We are waiting for them to come up with such hypocritical laws. And from today, let them abolish the security vote,” he said.
The development comes as the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, announced that President Tinubu will meet with organized labor leaders on Thursday to finalize a decision on the country’s minimum wage.
This follows last Thursday’s decision on a harmonized minimum wage, which ended in a deadlock.
Recall that the government had proposed a 62,000 naira minimum wage, while organized labor insisted on 250,000 naira.
The National Minimum Wage Tripartite had earlier submitted the minimum wage proposal to the President.
While the minimum wage impasse persists, Nigerians have continued to groan over hardship occasioned by the rising headline and food inflation, which stood at 34.19 percent and 40.87 percent, respectively, in June 2024.
