Tinubu, labour Agree To ₦70,000 Minimum Wage

Finally, the issue of minimum wage has been laid to rest. At the end of a meeting with the two labour organisations, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, President Bola Tinubu announced the approval of ₦70,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers. It was the second meeting in seven says between the president and organized labour. The figure was agreed to by the labour unions, which had been in a series of negotiations with a committee set up by the government, including state governors, since the beginning of the year, before the president stepped in. In the process, governors protested, insisting that the states would not be able to pay ₦60,000, when the federal government tried to graduate its offer to ₦62,000 from an initial position of ₦52,000.
The fears of some of the governors appeared justified only from the realisation that many of them were still struggling to pay the old minimum wage of ₦30,000. But that reason became untenable when one of them, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State raised the minimum wage to ₦70,000 in his state. He did that when the talks between organised labour and the government committee were becoming a little too prolonged.
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum issued a release insisting that minimum wage of ₦60,000 would practically shut the state down. There were concerns that at the end of the day, labour was not likely to accept anything less than ₦100,000. This is because at the time labour had put the figure at ₦250,000, climbing down from an initial concession for ₦494,000. Governor Obaseki, however, said he was willing to meet up with any new figure, should the nationally approved wage be over ₦70,000.
Now, it is victory for Obaseki, who appears to have set the pace. His figure of ₦70,000 has become the official figure.

It was a joyous labour team that sang to cheer President Tinubu after the agreement was sealed at the State House, Abuja where the meeting was held.
That is understandable because they also got the president to pledge to review the national minimum wage law every three years. It was also a great relief for the government, which had come under intense criticism for dragging its feet on the issue. Not only that, but there is also a planned protest being organised by some people, tagged #endbadgovernment, scheduled for next month. The minimum wage issue is counted as one of the factors raised against the government as being one that is not people friendly. So, it was something for government to celebrate.
According to a statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, “President Bola Tinubu has approved ₦70,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers with promise to review the national minimum wage law every three years.
“President Tinubu also promised to find ways to assist the private sector and the sub-nationals to pay the minimum wage.
“President Tinubu announced the decisions at the meeting held with leaders of TUC and NLC on Thursday in Abuja, the second time the parties met in 7 days,”
Onanuga said labour leaders commended President Tinubu’s “fatherly gesture”, and the President also vowed to exercise his executive discretion to address the outstanding four months’ salaries owed to university unions.