The Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday in Abuja disagreed with his colleagues in the governor’s forum, insisting that state governors must pay the 18, 000 minimum wage which was signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Speaking after the first Central Working Committee (CWC) of the Nigeria Labour Congress in Abuja, yesterday, Oshiomhole said the minimum wage agreement was reached after painstaking negotiations among labour, employers and government.
He said with current economic realities, the 18, 000 minimum wage, which is less than 100 dollars is nothing to write home about.
He said, “I joined the NLC to protest to the National Assembly when they were going to amend the constitution to make the minimum wage a concurrent issue.
“I said workers have a stake in this democracy. They are the ones who could afford to match the street and they matched the street for democracy. Democracy doesn’t have to run at the comfort or convenience of governors, ministers, and presidents. I believe that the issue in the economy hasn’t got to do with minimum wage. I have always also reminded my colleagues that the minimum wage was not imposed, it was negotiated and state governments agreed to it, the president signed it not under duress, there was no strike to compel the then president to sign it, he signed it voluntarily.
“I believe when you look at the minimum wage as it is today at N18,000, it is less than 100 dollars. I think it is now about eighty dollars. Now, divide eighty dollars by 31 days, you will be getting about two point something dollars. Now we cannot argue that workers in Nigeria’s formal sector should not earn more than two dollars a day, I cannot subscribe to that because the art of governance is the welfare of the people.”
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