The Federal Government of Nigeria has been told that the Nigerian workers are not slaves.
Accordingly, the workers said they would resist attempt by those in authority to deny them of a new minimum wage.
Comrade Onuh Edoka, Kogi State Chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress stated this when he addressed the organized labour in the state who joined their counterparts nationwide in a mass protest to demand for a new national minimum wage.
DAILY POST reports that the protesting workers carried placards with various inscriptions, such as “Ngige retrace your steps, #30,000 is not too much for workers. Minister of labour Nigerian workers are not slaves. Ngige stop being enemies of workers. Any government in Nigerian that cannot pay #30,000 should resign, Our salary arrears are still outstanding, pay us our entitlement”.
The State NLC Chairman in his address rejected the N24, 000 minimum wage offered by the federal government, warning that any attempt not to pay N30,000 minimum wage to workers would be met with stiff resistance.
Edoka particularly fingered the Minister of Labour and productivity Dr Chris Ngige as one who is working against the interest of workers in the country, just as he warned that this might spell doom for the present government.
According to Edoka, “enough is enough. We are warning the federal government not to test the will of Nigerian workers, as twenty thousand naira minimum wage is not enough to pay children’s school fees, medical bills, and take the Nigerian worker home.”
The State NLC Chairman said workers rejected the position of the Nigerian Governors that they cannot pay the new minimum wage, describing their offer as “peanuts, wickedness and inhuman.”
Com. Edoka said that the new minimum wage was feasible if those in positions of authority would cut down on frivolities, and prioritise their expenditures
“With governors cutting down on their jamboree, wardrobe allowance and humongous amount spent on the State Assemblies to impeach their Deputy Governors and Speakers, the new minimum wage will be achievable,” he added.
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