Implementing the Proposed Minimum Wage
Recently, the federal government proposed that the implementation of the new minimum wage will begin by the third quarter of the year. While this is a laudable development considering the current economic crisis the country is facing occasioned by the fall of oil prices in the international market and the drop in the exchange rate of the naira, there are certain issues that need to be thrashed and tackled for clarity and understanding.
Three important questions bother the mind of the writer. The first is knowing the accurate benchmark for a pay rise. The second is knowing the time frame that the current minimum wage will last before it is reviewed, considering our society where civil servants are treated like slaves and housemaids, while the third seeks to question why the government should embark on such an activity at this period when election is just behind the door. Do we as Nigerians conclude that the increase is a reality or just a political strategy the government in power is using to capture the attention of “unsuspecting civil servants” into voting them again into power in the next election? And after voting them, we are back to our formal state?
By economical standards and as a tenet of industrial relations, every worker is entitled to pay rise at certain intervals. And if there are changes lacking within the existing system, it will result in lack of motivation and poor attitude to work. This is because the input determines the output. It is not surprising therefore that many organisations especially those belonging to the government at all levels (federal, state and local) are on industrial actions all in a bid for an increase in wages and salaries. The N56,000 being proposed is barely enough to meet the needs of the Nigerian worker considering the fat salaries public workers earn annually.
Prices of goods and other essential commodities are skyrocketing almost on a daily basis and the average Nigerian worker is forced to cope with the demands from all quarters with the little pay earned at work. Whereas public servants and other government officials smile to their bank accounts at the end of the month, the average Nigerian civil servant is forced to live on “peanuts”. Worst hit in this mess are members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who are forced to survive on a monthly stipend of N19,800 monthly all in the name of serving their fatherland. Many workers in a bid to keep their body and soul together are engaging in other activities both profitable and unprofitable. Who do we heap the blame on, the government or the governed? After all, everyone must survive one way or the other.
There is the need to review the law regulating the increase of salaries and wages in the country. Nigerian leaders should understand that it’s high time they stopped thinking that Nigerian workers can survive on meagre salaries whereas they earn fat salaries at the end of the month. Issues such as those relating to minimum wages should not be treated with levity. This will ensure fairness, equity and social stability in the long run.