By Moses John Abuja—
Th e Nigerian Labour Congress yesterday frowned at the delay by the federal government to constitute the negotiation committee on minimum wage, warning that its members were running out of patience. Th e union also observed that a restructuring of the nation’s system would mean little or nothing to the Nigerian worker and indeed an average Nigerian if such does not include good governance and respect for the rule of law. .
NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba made the declarations at a symposium to mark the nation’s 57th Independence Anniversary in Abuja. Wabba said: “We must again ask the federal government to reconstitute the national minimum wage negotiating council to enable us negotiate a new national minimum wage for this country urgently.
Th e 2011 collective agreement entered into with the government at the end of the last negotiations, provided for a 5-year cycle, for reopening negotiations, which is overdue. “Secondly, all economic indexes such as infl ationary rate, cost of living index, exchange rate, high cost of goods and services etc, have all shown that the current minimum wage of N18, 000 is obsolete. Th ere is an urgent need for the government to give the go-ahead for these negotiations to start as workers are running out of patience.”
On the ongoing restructuring debate, Wabba said for true restructuring and power devolution to states to be realised, everything needed be done to purge the system of corruption. In his view, restructuring cannot take the place of good governance, lack of which he identifi ed as major reason for the massive unemployment, poor service delivery, dilapidated infrastructure and the continuing absence of dividends of democracy for the majority of the populace. “During the colloquium we organised recently on the discourse on restructuring and the role of the working class, a dominant issue that emerged was the fact that one of the greatest problems or challenges of our nation has been the absence of good governance in our polity.
“Th is crisis of good governance is exemplifi ed by the massive corruption in our body polity. Th is, in turn, is responsible for the huge unemployment crisis, poor service delivery, and the continuing absence of dividends of democracy for the massive majority of our people. “Th e latest manifestation of this is the refusal by a number of state governments to fulfi l their elementary obligations to their workers, by not paying salaries and pensions as at when due.
“As we have seen from the various discourse/debate on restructuring, it means diff erent things to diff erent people depending on their standpoints. LEAD STORY For us in congress, however we look at it that restructuring cannot be a substitute for good governance and respect for the rule of law. “Th erefore for our members from all the nooks and crannies of our country, the discourse makes little meaning to them when as workers and pensioners they are owned salaries and pensions running into several months.
“We must state from the outset that for us, restructuring, devolution of more powers and resources can only make sense if there is good governance. We have heard in the course of these conversations talks about our reverting to regions, with suggestions ranging from 3, 4 to 8 regions as of the last count. “As long as our political and bureaucratic elite continue to misappropriate and divert resources made available for development, we cannot hope to overcome our current developmental challenges.
Th is much Mr President’s fi gures on bailouts and refunds on Paris debts refunds and the persistent diversion by some state governors,” Wabba explained. Th e union leader lamented that about six decades after independence, “we are not where we ought to be, in virtually all facets of development indexes, looking at our available human and natural resources.” Wabba however said notwithstanding the challenges, Nigerians “should not dismiss ourselves as a failed nation. Th is is because while there are a number of countries that are our peers in nationhood that have made tremendous progress, there are also a number of other countries that got independence around the same time as we did, that have not progressed as much as we have.
“Some of these countries have even literally ceased to exist as nation states. Additionally, we must bear in mind that due to the potentials we possess as a big nation, as the giant of the black race, many do not want us to actualise our full potentials. Th ere are many out there that do not wish that we succeed and prosper as a nation. “As Nigerians, we must continue to have confi dence in ourselves as citizens, build bridges of peace and unity instead of indulging in hatred and constant promotion of separatist agitation. We must believe in our ability to overcome our national challenges and turn our diversity into an advantage to promote the wellbeing and welfare of all the people that populate this huge country.”