The journey to any pay rise in Nigeria has always been tortuous and curvy. That has remained its character. And the new N30,000 minimum wage couldn’t have been an exception.

The most known wage increase after independence was conceived in 1974. That was the famed Jerome Udoji Panel on Public Service Organisation, Management and Renumeration. It was mooted by the General Yakubu Gowon administration.

Udoji reviewed the conditions of service in the public sector. Principally, it was one way to compensate workers for “sacrifices” made during the civil war. It tragically left out the private sector.

But the implementation of the report in January 1975 took adequate care of that huge lapse. Workers in the two sectors received jumbo packages of between 12 and 13 per cent increase in salaries.

It was one boom the workers never envisaged, it was least expected. What is more, the package was rolled back to the years immediately after the civil war in January 1970.

That was our greatest undoing. Workers had “too much money” at hand. They were practically overwhelmed. They became frivolous in their spending. They bought anything that caught their fancy. They were in a world of fantasies. It became a competition, a rat race of sorts.

Prices of everything went up to the sky. That was the beginning of hyper-hydra-inflation in Nigeria. Since then, there has been no stopping it. Inflation responds negatively to any wage increase, no matter how slight or little. And we have been reaping the whirlwind sown some 49 years ago.

That was the advent of our sordid insatiable appetite for anything imported: rice (Uncle Ben’s), sugar, condensed and powdered milk, stockfish, chicken, electronics, cars, furniture, clothes, et al.

We craved for luxury items as if our lives depended on them. We were driven by the excess money we had. We lost our patriotism and threw caution to the gutters. We woefully failed to invest, instead we went on spending spree.

That remains our killer character till date. With utmost carelessness, we killed our industries. We turned them either into worship houses or shopping malls. We import whatever catches our preying eyes. We have not seriously looked back since that disaster of 1975.

The outgoing N18,000 minimum wage came into being in 2011. Since then, many states have defaulted and are still defaulting. Some heartless governors even resorted to “staggered payment.” They callously released certain percentage of workers’ salaries at their whims and caprices.

They would not discuss nor negotiate with the owners of the salaries. They paid depending on the side of the bed the governor woke up that day. His mood determined when to pay, how to pay and what to pay.

The Nigeria labour Congress (NLC) president, Ayuba Wabba, was taken aback by the governors’ insensitive attitude. He told them the new minimum wage was three solid years overdue. The so-called gains of the N18,000 wage, he insisted, were a ruse. That these have long been wiped out by spiralling inflation and soaring cost of living.

Then some governors flew a kite. They toyed with N27,500 minimum. Even at that, they threatened to downsize to meet their own demand. Others remained selfishly adamant. They outright rejected any increase. They stuck to their deadly guns on N18,000.

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We have a demeaning and damning history in our kitty. All wage increases have never wiped away our tears. They have been accompanied by the gnashing of teeth. It has never satisfied us or met our needs and aspirations. Yet, we keep on longing for more.

We have always had it real rough and raw. The more we ask for higher minimum wage, the more maximum woes come our way, accompanied with equally maximum damage. That has been our weird lot, a tragic trend.

These governors appear determined to make the N30,000 minimum wage go the same way of old. They are raising subtle opposition against its implementation. They are desperately rolling out excuses.

The governors chose an auspicious moment to make their new fears known. It was at the induction programme for newly elected and returning governors. The Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) packaged the programme.

Forum’s chairman, Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, opted to speak for his colleagues. He was not bold enough to say it directly. All the same, the message was not lost on us:

“We are expecting the possibility of another cycle of recession by mid-2020 and which may last up to third quarter of 2021.” Implication: Another deadly recession is on the way. But talking in practical terms, have we ever exited recession? Great doubt!

Yari gave up and made an honest confession: “Ours has been a challenging experience of managing state economies that are totally dependent on accruals from the federation account rather than exploring viable alternatives to run the economy. For most states, internally-generated revenues are nothing to write home about.”

What is the way out? He advised his colleagues, especially those new ones coming in: “Your must, therefore, look inward by boosting your revenue generation base and utilise them effectively for execution of projects that would touch the lives of your people.”

Yari has completed his two-term tenure. Did he act this advice or walk his talk while he held sway as governor for eight years? Now, he is remotely and negatively linking minimum wage with his perceived second coming of recession. This gospel of his is wishful thinking.

The Internet is awash with this trending message. It is the graphical display of the expected maximum woes from the new minimum wage:

“The new minimum wage and the old minimum wage are the same thing. I wonder whether we have a labour union in this country. 

“Price of fuel was N87 and minimum wage was N18,000: N18,000 ÷ N87 = 206.8965517 litres (meaning the minimum wage can only buy 207 litres of fuel.)

“N30,000 ÷ 145 = 206.8965517 litres (meaning the minimum wage can only buy 207 litres of fuel), exactly the same amount even to the last decimal point.”

May this new N30,000 minimum wage make a sterling and startling difference in our lives. That is the earnest and fervent prayer on our lips.