Dan Agbese
cloth. The reality of where we stand among progressive third world countries determined to make the leap to the second world, hit us between the eyes long ago when we were handed the trophy as the poverty capital of the world. The current challenge for labour and everyone else is for our country to give the trophy to another struggling third world nation. We need not continue to live in denial and behave as if the steady of stream of the petro- dollar of yesteryears, has not since been halted by concrete dams of inconsistent policies and policy summersaults.
The states are in a sorry state. In many of them, governance has ceased to have any meaning for the people. There is no serious development going on because there is little money in pursuit of foolish projects of doubtful value to the people. They are unable to pay their civil servants as and when due. Their pensioners are dying in penury in large numbers because they are not paid their monthly pittance for years. Labour leaders do have the responsibility to make the states fully discharge their basic responsibilities to their civil servants by paying them regularly and ensure too that those who gave of their best to the state in their youth, are not abandoned to live and die in penury.
When President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office some six years ago, he was appalled by the wretched state of the state governments. At that time, the minimum wage was N18, 000. Fewer than half of the states could pay it. He was moved to lend them a helping hand to help them clear the arrears of salaries of their civil servants and those of their pensioners. Today, the situation in the states is much worse. The backlog, in some of the states are mountains. Never mind the expensive traditional dresses paraded by the state governments.
The bill sponsored by Mohammed is an amendment to the constitution whose time has come. It would make the states take responsibilities for themselves, it would deny them the feeding bottle and they would be forced to enact their individual wages and salaries laws they can afford to pay. It would be nice for the labour leaders to think again and stop protests over the bill and instead support. It is not anti- labour; it is not anti- people. It is consistent with the restructuring to give each tier of government the space to be a tier in name and in fact.
Killing the bill would ensure that we remain stuck in the current rut that has not improved the lot of the workers in both the public and the private sectors. It is time for the labour leaders to abandon the minimum wage battle and instead fight for the institution of a welfare system and an economic management system, with, to borrow from former President Obasanjo, a human face and the milk of human kindness.
I salute honourable Garba Mohammed.