Many disgruntled residents of Osun State have said that the new minimum wage of N70,000 approved by President Bola Tinubu is grossly inadequate and unsustainable to meet the present economic realities in the country.
Tinubu in a meeting with
organised labour on Thursday in Abuja, approved N70,000 as the new national
minimum wage.
On Thursday in Osogbo, the
residents called on the president to reconsider the wage amount before sending
it to the National Assembly for passage into law.
The stakeholders said Nigerians
expected a figure higher than N70, 000 in line with economic realities in the
country.
The Executive Director,
Democracy Vanguards, a Civil Society Organisation, Mr Emmanuel Olowu, said
Tinubu did not consider the present economic indices before deciding on the
figure.
Olowu, who said that most
Nigerians expected a figure higher than N250,000, expressed concern over the
financial implications of the new national minimum wage of N70, 000 on the
masses.
“The three years review of the
wage as proposed by the president is a welcome idea but what we need is a
figure that aligns with the present market realities,” he said.
Also speaking, the state
Coordinator, Federation of Informal Workers Organisation of Nigeria (FIWON), Mr
Ibrahim Olayinka, said Nigerians should brace up for the implications of the
new minimum wage.
Olayinka said the market values
of food commodities have escalated making the less privilege unable to meet
their daily needs.
“I want the Senate to
reconsider the figure and do the needful instead of making Nigerians pass
through less tough moments.
“The figure is not impressive and I am so saddened about what lies ahead of us as a country,” Olayinka said.
Mr Ayo Ologun, spokesperson for
Transparency Accountability International, said the figure did not fulfill the
aspirations of labour unions.
According to him, whether it
will scale through or not depends on the labour union’s decision.
“I want to say that it is not
in tandem with present economic realities and living standard,” he said.
However, Ologun described the
decision of the House of Representatives to slash their salary by 50 per cent
over the next six months as a welcome development.
He said it showed that members
of they were listening to the agitation of the people.
Ologun urged the lawmakers to
go extra mile to show empathy by ensuring that unnecessary expenditures were
not executed.
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