Organised labour, under the umbrella of the United Labour Congress (ULC), has warned that N96,000 is the least minimum wage Nigerian workers will accept as the negotiation for the new wage continues.
This is even as it said it has submitted its position to the committee.

President of ULC, Comrade Joe Ajaero, also urged government to expedite action so that the report of the committee could be submitted for passage into Law.

He said, “Nigerian workers have suffered enormously and we hope that the wage floor eventually agreed will lift Nigerians out of poverty and make their life better. Government should not play politics with this.

“However, ULC calls all Nigerians to be vigilant as we negotiate this process. We did not get to this level by charity, but by struggle. We can only conclude it favourably by being ready at all times to defeat the forces of wickedness that would not want Nigerian workers to earn decent wages,” he said.
Ajaero noted that the economy is in reverse and all known indices that drive economic growth are tending downwards.

He said the most frightening is that those who are saddled with the challenge of managing it are at best displaying thoughtlessness.

Related News

“They clearly lack not just direction of where they want to take the economy to but also churn out policies that are at cross purposes with their perceived or intended objectives.

“What has kept baffling us is that while they kept on beating their chest about exiting recession, growing our foreign reserve, keeping inflation steady at 16.5 per cent, and stabilizing the naira exchange rate at N360 to $1, the life and living conditions of Nigerians keep on deteriorating. Mass deprivations and increased sufferings remain the lot of the Nigerian people, with poverty walking our streets and highways.”

Ajaero said the reality on ground is that there is no correlation between what is being said on paper and in the news media and what is happening to Nigerian people in the street and homes.

He said any economic programme or policy that does not impact positively on the lives of the people makes no sense at all, adding that the ultimate barometer for measuring the achievement of any government is the extent to which the lives of the people have been impacted by the policies and actions of the government.