A political leader in Imo State, Prince Marshal Okaforanyanwu, has declared that the Federal Government’s proposed minimum wage of N62,000 has no meaning to Nigerian workers.
Okaforanyanwu told newsmen in Owerri on Tuesday that paying workers a salary when transportation and the health system are yet to be subsidized, even in the midst of infrastructural deficits, shows the government’s insensitivity to workers.
He said, “food itself is not subsidized, and there is no price 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 consider anything less than N150,000 and N200,000, adding that if they reach that standard, labor should consider it.
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 life in the country is shattered, and prices of everything have virtually gone up 300% higher than before.
While commending the NLC national president, Comrade Joe Ajero, for his resilience in fighting for Nigerian workers, Okaforanyanwu attributed the reason for Labour’s strike to the Federal Government’s insensitivity to workers’ plight.
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He said, “for example, economically, from permutations supported by the IMF, inflation in Nigeria today is about 35%.”
Prince Okaforanyanwu condemned the fact that the salaries of workers in the country have not been reviewed in the last five years, pointing out that the salary wage bill is 30%, while inflation in Nigeria is 35%.
The former party chairman, who demonstrated his full support for labour’s actions, said that labor is an assemblage of Nigerian workers. He added that apart from feeling the same pains directly, they are part and parcel of the 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, noting that both the rich and the poor go to the same market to buy something.
