The organised labour on Wednesday staged nationwide peaceful protests against the bill by the national assembly to expunge the national minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list.
Leading the protesters to the national assembly in Abuja were the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. Ayuba Wabba and the president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Mr. Quadri Adeleye.
Speaking during the protest match, Ayuba said all over the world, there is minimum standard referred to as national minimum wage in all countries based on International Labour Organisation (ILO) standard.
In Bauchi State, hundreds of protesters marched to the state house of assembly to register their grievance.
Speaking on the premises of the legislature, the NLC chairman, Mr. Danjuma Saleh, said the planned removal is a declaration of war on Nigerian workers.
He also said the organised labour was at the state assembly to reject the anti-workers’ bill and pleaded with the speaker to use his position as the chairman of the Nigerian Conference of State Assembly Speakers and mobilise his colleagues against it.
“The NLC and the TUC have decided to embark on a nationwide protest to draw the attention of the political authorities to the current move by the national assembly to dabble into the issue of salaries and wages of teaming workers in the country both on public and private sector,” Saleh said.
He described as an “affront” the move to transfer the national minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative.
The NLC chairman noted that the national minimum wage is enshrined in the constitution of Nigeria and in line with the global standard as backed by the ILO convention to which Nigeria has been a signatory since 1961.
He said the bill sponsored by Mr. Garba Datti Ahmed of Sabongari federal constituency of Kaduna State and his colleagues is of serious concern to workers, hence the need for its rejection.
Responding, the speaker of the house of assembly, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman promised to mobilise his colleagues at the state assemblies against the bill.
“Even though the action of our senior colleague at the National Assembly is in line with his constitutional requirements and responsibility, however, it is not out of place to consult widely before embarking on any mission or action that touches the life of any citizen, let alone, an important institution like organised labour,” he said.
The speaker assured that the lawmakers would continue to prioritise the welfare of workers, adding that the message delivered by the organised labour was loud and clear.
“We shall do our utmost best along with our fellow colleagues across the federation to ensure that workers are adequately protected and well catered for,” he added.
In Lagos, placard-wielding members of the NLC, TUC, the Nigerian Union of Local Government Workers (NULGE) and other unions matched to the state house of assembly, Alausa to protest against the bill.
Speaking at the assembly complex, chairman of TUC, Mr. Gbenga Ekundayo attacked Datti for being shallow minded and lacking the foresight to think and see ahead.
He said assenting to the bill would throw Nigerians into further misery because it would allow private employers to treat their workers as slaves.
“We know the situation is a matter of the voice of Jacob and hand of Esau. We know the governors are beating the drum, and if we dance to it, none of us will like it. We have come to express our displeasure and ask that the bill be stopped immediately.
“It only shows the shortsightedness of Datti because minimum wage is not only about the government; it covers every Nigerian, even those who work in factories. When the minimum wage is sent to the concurrent list, the factory workers will be at the liberty of their employers who would continue to use them as slaves, even in their own home. We have enough challenges already, we don’t want them to increase,” he stated.
Also, chairman of NLC, Ms Funmi Sessi described Datti as dishnonourable.
“If you want to sponsor a bill, it is good to call us together because we are all stakeholders. While other countries are looking for ways to give palliative to their people, especially during this coronavirus pandemic, our own leaders are looking to kill us and take away our livelihood; but we will not allow that.
“The policies of our government are always wicked and against the people. We are fed up. All we saw during the #EndSars protest will be a child’s play if this bill sees the light of day.
“We don’t mind taking over the National Assembly until the decision is changed. Workers have the right to a living wage but what we get in Nigeria is starvation wage. That wicked dishonorable member that sponsored the bill feeds his dogs with food worth more than 30,000, monthly but workers should get 30,000 monthly. How much is that for a family of six?”
Addressing the protesters, representative of Ikorodu 11 state constituency, Mr. Nurudeen Solaja-Saka assured that the workers’ requests would be delivered to the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mudasiru Obasa, who, according him aid was on an official assignment.
In Ondo State, the workers assembled at the Reuben Fasoranti Park in Alagbaka before moving to the state house of assembly to register their displeasure over the proposed bill.
The placard-carrying unionists threatened to paralyse the economy of the state over the proposed bill.
Addressing the lawmakers, state chairman of the NLC Mr. Sunday Adeleye-Oluwole and his TUC counterpart, Mrs. Helen Odofin, said moving minimum wage to a concurrent list would lead to the slavery of Nigerian workers.
They noted that should the bill be passed, it will affect the state and local government workers in particular.
They pleaded with the state lawmakers to reject the legislation if transmitted to the Ondo assembly.
Speaker of the house, Mr. Bamidele Oleyelogun, assured the workers that it would not support the bill seeking the removal of minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list.
He said should the bill scale through, it would further impoverish Nigerians workers adding that the state lawmakers would ensure the minimum wage is not put on the concurrent list.
In Niger State, the state chairman of the NLC, Mr. Yakubu Garba, led the protest to the house of assembly.
Addressing the lawmakers, he described the proposed removal of the minimum wage from the Exclusive legislative list to the concurrent as a “malicious plot to enslave the teeming workforce in our country by some enemies of Nigeria.
Garba said the plan if allowed to stay “at this period of our national life is tantamount to a declaration of war against the working class of Nigeria by the political class”.
“A national strike shall be the last resort in the event that the ongoing national protest and rally fails to yield the desired results.”
Responding, speaker of the house, Mr. Abdullahi Bawa Wuse, said the national assembly had taken the wrong step in its plan to amend the constitution especially as it affects the national minimum wage.
“It is wrong for the national assembly and in legislative practice to introduce bills without the input of those the bill is meant to serve.
“As a lawyer, I know that before you amend the Constitution, all the 36 states Houses of Assembly should endorse the proposal,” he said.
However, he said “the bill is in its second reading; let’s see what the public hearing will look like.”
He said the “house is behind labour” and lauded the workers for conducting a peaceful protest.
Meanwhile, the director general of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), Dr. Salihu Lukman, described the nationwide protests as “unnecessary.”
Speaking in an interview with journalists in Abuja, Lukman said the method adopted by the organised labour to press home its demand was outdated.
He maintained that street protest will have no effect on plans by the national assembly to consider the bill seeking to decentralise the minimum wage structure.
“We are not saying they should not protest, but this protest is needless. I can guarantee that it is not going to stop the process in the national assembly. It is not also going to take away the issue.
“We need to work with them to develop this democracy and we can only do that if every constituent unit and citizens in those units can negotiate with the constituent governments and get results.
“As it is, we are all frustrated and that is what we should be addressing. This ‘we against them’ that labour is creating does not exist.
“We should be applying ourselves to resolving the problems of this democracy. There are fundamental problems bigger than we can imagine,” he said.
He argued that a system that imposes the same minimum wage regime on states irrespective of their revenue generation and capacity to pay is not sustainable.
He said it was no longer sustainable for poor states like Yobe and Zamfara to pay the same wages as Lagos and River.
The PGF director general therefore advised the labour movements to improve on its negotiation skills to be able to constructively engage both the legislature and the executive on such matters.
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