By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Godwin Obaseki, the Governor of Edo State in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region, has announced an increase in minimum wage from N30,000 ($22) to the sum of N70,000 ($51.34) for civil servants in the state.
This a drastic shortfall from N615,000 ($451.10) being demanded by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its affiliate, Trade Union Congress (TUC), as the new minimum wage for workers in the country.
Heritage Times HT recalls that this comes amidst galloping inflation in the West African country still battling the effects of fuel subsidy removal last year by President Bola Tinubu.
The move which the government has repeatedly justified has led to an astronomical increase in the cost of transportation and staple foods in a 220 million population where a majority lives below poverty line.
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At the commissioning of the new Labour House in Edo state on Monday, Obaseki whose second tenure as governor is gradually winding down also announced that the new wage comes into effect on May 1st, 2024.
Labour unions have been in a running battle with the Federal Government over raising the minimum wage to match with inflation which in March hit 33.2 per cent from 31.70 per cent in February, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Food inflation also rose to 31.7 per cent in March from 30 per cent in February.
The labour unions’ agreement was after President Tinubu, through Vice President Kashim Shettima, on January 30, set up a 37-member panel at the Council Chamber of the State House in Abuja.
With its membership cutting across federal and state governments, the private sector, and organised labour, the panel was tasked with recommending a new national minimum wage.
It is not clear if the May 1 Workers’ Day will usher in a new welfare package for Nigerian disenchanted workers.
