Bimbola Oyesola, Geneva, Switzerland
Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has advised the Federal Government to review the revenue sharing formula to financially empower the states and local governments to undertake projects that would impact on the lives of Nigerians.
President of the TUC, Comrade Quadri Olaleye, lamented that the current sharing formula renders the states financially impotent.
Olaleye, speaking when the leadership of Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ), Lagos State chapter, paid him a courtesy visit, added that, having worked in Lagos State for 28 years, he considered it an obligation on his part to work for the progress of workers in Lagos and the country at large.
According to him, there was no significant project undertaken by the states and local government because of the huge percentage of revenue that is retained by the federal government.
On the delay in the payment of the new minimum wage, he said the time had come for politicians to be on a wage package akin to that of the civil servants, adding that it would make politics less attractive.
“The cost of governance in this country is disturbing and remains the reason the Federal Government is claiming it cannot pay the new wage,” he said.
He, however, assured the journalists that the minimum wage issue would be resolved soon. He also spoke on the recent ban of foreign exchange for importation of food, urging government to be specific by mentioning the food items.
He said, “Milk is a raw material and we are not producing enough to meet our needs; so we must import. Dangote has tomatoe paste company, but can the tomatoes available meet up to 70 per cent of his company’s installed capacity for one month? No! We are a cocoa-producing country yet companies import to remain in business. Some things are not just right.”
The labour chief advised government to be mindful of its policies so that Nigeria do not lose the existing companies to smuggling.
“We have also written to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to be cautious in releasing forex as many privileged individuals now trade in dollars. They are not being fair to the local industries and the economy,” he said.
In his response, the NUJ chairman, Qasim Akinreti, urged the TUC leadership to speed up action on negotiations with government so that workers could start enjoying the new wage.