Following the government’s and the organised private sector’s decision to set ₦62,000 as the national minimum wage, Catholic priest Ejike Mbaka has stated that governors and members of the national assembly should also receive the N62,000 minimum wage that the federal government has proposed. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have continued to advocate for a minimum salary of ₦250,000, which is significantly more than what the government has suggested.
In response to the new minimum wage demand by organised labour, Mbaka made these remarks in an interview with AIT on Saturday. He said that the salaries of national assembly members have been kept under wraps, sparking discussion and conjecture among Nigerians.
“We can push these poor Nigerians to the point of rebellion. That is my fear. All of us were in Lagos that day, we couldn’t come back.
“Just like a joke the labour people entered into the airport and stopped every operation and if this happen again it might tantamount to what nobody dreams or what we dream but out of fear we cannot release to the public.
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“If we decide to give labour N60,000 or N62,000, why not generalise it to the house of assembly members, senatorial members, house of representative members, and governors?
”All of them are civil servants. So, are the others slaves? I cannot imagine why somebody can be amassing billions and billions as sitting allowance, wardrobe allowance, newspaper allowance, vehicle allowance and what they call suffering allowance.
“The people that should have such allowances should be the poor masses in the villages.
“As teachers, how much are they being paid? Our nurses and doctors, how much are they being paid? Let us be realistic, our civil servants that wake from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
“They wake up early and return late. How much are they being paid. And look at the level of inflation in the country.”
In order to prevent another strike, Mbaka urged the government to “speedily” address the minimum wage issue with organised labour. He explained that it is important to handle the situation tactfully but quickly because “if they are not careful, this crisis of a thing can be hijacked and nobody knows the ripples effect.”
