A political leader in Imo, Prince Marshal Okaforanyanwu has declared that the Federal Government’sN62,000 proposed minimum wage would mean nothing to Nigerian workers.
Okaforanyanwu told newsmen in Owerri on Tuesday that paying workers such amount of money as salary when transport, health system are yet to be subsidize even in the midst of infrastructural deficit goes to show government’s insensitivity to workers
He said: “food itself is not subsidized and there is no prize control in all these sectors that should have cushioned the negative effect”.
The pioneer state chairman of APC and former state chairman of SDP advised the Federal Government not to be looking at anything less than N150,000 and N200,000 adding that if they come up to that standard, labour should give their consideration.
Speaking about the last strike embarked upon by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC)and Trade Union Congress (TUC) in the country, Okaforanyanwu described it as timely considering the current depreciating economy
He insisted that there is no better time than now when every facet of lives in the country is shattered while prizes of every thing has virtually gone up to 300% higher than it was.
While commending the NLC national president Comrade Joe Ajero for his resilient in fighting for the Nigerian workers, Okaforanyanwu attributed the reason for the strike by Labour to the Federal Government’s insensitivity to the plight of workers
He said: “For example, economically from permutation supported by the IMF that inflation in Nigeria today is about 35%”.
Prince Okaforanyanwu condemned the fact that in the last 5 years, the salary of workers in the country has not been reviewed pointing out that the salary wage bill is 30% while the inflation in Nigeria is 35%.
The former party chairman who demonstrated his full support to the actions by the labour, said that labour is an assemblage of Nigerian workers adding that apart from feeling the same pains directly, they are part and parcel of hardship and are entrenched by the economic anomalies affecting the country presently
He said: a couple of years back, a bag of rice was N15,000 and a bag of Nigerian rice was N6,000,but today the same Nigerian rice is sold at N70,000 which is even higher than the minimum wage. As a civil servant, where will they get that kind of money to buy the rice for their families”.
Okaforanyanwu described it as disturbing that both leaders of the country and the politicians do not appreciate what the workers are going through
He said: ” how much do the Senators take home?. They take home more than N25m a month while the Green Chambers take more than N13m a month. The N13m paid to an individual will be a salary wage bill of the entire workforce or parastatals” .
He pointed out that workers do not create their own market, or have their own hospitals coupled with the fact that nothing is subsidized, nothing that both the rich and the poor go to the same market to buy something.
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