The 30, 000 naira minimum wage being canvassed can barely feed a small family unit, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara has disclosed, adding that it is only when workers are dignified with wages that can provide them minimum comfort that their productivity level will increase.
Speaking
at the National Assembly during a public hearing on the New Minimum
Wage organised by the House Ad-Hoc Committee on New Minimum Wage,
2019, the speaker noted that the two focal points that must be given
priority by government are poverty and corruption because while the
former, caused mainly by underemployment and unemployment, is a
threat to democracy, the latter fundamentally undermines democratic
institutions and values.
Hon
Dogara, therefore, proposed for a more reasonable living wage that
will not only provide for basic needs of the workers but also enable
them to make provisions for themselves that will lift them out of
poverty and lead to a reduction in corruption.
He
explained that poverty as a threat to democracy is evident in vote
buying and in the use of money to compromise electoral and security
officials during elections, thereby subverting the will of the people
on account of the sense of despondency and powerlessness that their
lack breeds, and therefore, making them ever ready tools in the hands
of tyrants and demagogues, who in the course of history, have always
found it easy to mobilise for the purposes of subverting democratic
Institutions.
The
speaker stated, “While we are not oblivious of the current economic
downturn and the dwindling revenue of Government, we cannot also be
blind to the fact that all economic indices indicate that even the
30,000 Naira Minimum Wage that Labour is asking for is not enough to
sustain a small family unit. The nation may not have enough to
satisfy the minimum demands of the Nigerian worker, but as a nation,
we need to set our economic priorities right and ensure that we
dignify our workers by making allowance for their minimum comfort.
I know of no alternative if we hope to up the productivity level of
our workforce.
“It
is said that the promise of democracy is life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. According to Thomas Jefferson, these are God
given rights. Therefore, it is not enough to merely be alive and
free, one must also be engaged in the pursuit of happiness in order
to enjoy the promise of democracy. If that is the case, can we
say that Nigerian workers are enjoying the promise of democracy? Can
we say that millions of our youth who roam the streets daily in
search of non-existing jobs are enjoying the promise of democracy?
Absolutely, no. This is because, although they are alive and free,
they lack the means with which to pursue happiness. While the workers
are underemployed, the latter are unemployed. So as a country, we are
battling twin evils, namely: underemployment, which is as grave a
problem, as unemployment. Dr King Jnr aptly summed it up when he
said, while talking about underemployment in America, that ‘Most of
the poverty-stricken people of America are persons who are working
every day, and they end up getting part-time wages for full-time
work.’ Of course America has moved on since Dr King’s time. We
must make Nigeria move on in our time.
“I
have said before that poverty is the greatest threat to our
democracy. Those who doubted me have seen that threat manifest itself
in vote buying and in the use of money to compromise electoral and
security officials during elections. On account of the sense of
despondency and powerlessness that poverty breeds amongst the poor,
the poor have and will always remain ever ready tools in the hands of
tyrants and demagogues, who in the course of history, have always
found it easy to mobilize for the purposes of subverting democratic
Institutions. Since underemployment and unemployment are bedmates of
poverty, eliminating them must be the focal point of government’s
policies.
“The
next evil is corruption. It is not in doubt that corruption
fundamentally undermines democratic institutions and values.
Corruption affects the poor most because they depend more on
government for support. How then do we fight corruption from the
roots rather than dealing with its symptoms as is currently the case?
The answer is for us to begin to pay workers living wage not minimum
wage.
“When
we do not pay living wage, we cannot tame corruption. When workers
take home is not enough to take them home, the temptation for them to
cut corners in order to get home will always be there.
Workers
keep and process our national wealth and the only way to insulate
them from the temptation to want to help themselves to it, is to
ensure they are well remunerated. It is not in contention that it is
a mean job to muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. Leaving
workers to their temptations is dangerous unless we can show that
they are greater than Oscar Wilde, who in his vintage wicked wit,
proclaimed, “I can resist everything except temptation”.
That
we cannot pay living wage in a nation that represents a major promise
for economic prosperity in the world speaks to the bane of our
leadership. In order to reverse these tragic narratives, we must
invest in proactive and innovative leadership not the reactive
leadership model that we practiced all this while. Reality is,
I am not a believer in minimum wage although it is a constitutional
issue and the practice in many nations. I believe in living wage and
wish the framers of our Constitution had provided for a living wage
instead. No wonder the UN Covenant on Economic, social and cultural
rights speaks to rights to a living wage in Article 7(A)2 as
incorporated in International Labour Organisation document.
“Therefore,
I cannot wait for that Nigeria to emerge wherein workers are paid
wages that would not only take them home but have a portion to spare
in savings in order to pursue happiness and give their children
the training that they could ever dream of. That should be our
national goal going forward if we hope to ever make it to the club of
elite nations. If we do not ever make it to the point where we
can have a conversation about Economic justice, it would not be
because it’s impossible to achieve but because we lack the right
leadership. We have talked about ending so many things in Nigeria,
now is the time to talk about creating wealth and ending poverty; and
those who bear the burden of the nation must be the first
beneficiaries.”
He
said the House of Representatives is giving accelerated consideration
to the very crucial Bill to forestall the threat by the labour force
to go on strike and because it is long overdue since the current
National Minimum Wage, which was fixed in 2011, has become
unrealistic due to supervening developments in the nation.
“As
most of us here must be aware, the National Assembly will need to go
on a short recess for the purpose of the General Elections, which is
less than three weeks from now. We must, therefore, conclude
this public hearing as quickly as possible today to enable the House
proceed with further legislative actions on it at its plenary
tomorrow as already resolved in our last sitting,’ he said, adding,
“more importantly, the consideration and passage of this Bill is
equally exigent because our country is at the brink of a national
industrial crisis that we can least afford at this time.
Passions are extremely high within the entire organised labour on
this issue. Even before the consideration of the Bill by
Parliament, the Labour leaders have rejected the 27,000 Naira
recommended to us by the Executive Arm as National Minimum Wage.
At the slightest opportunity, the entire workforce in the country
could be called out by Labour leaders to resume the strike action
that was recently put on hold without any further notice. The
effect that such scenario can have on the ongoing electioneering
process is better imagined than experienced. There is no doubt,
therefore, that the entire nation is awaiting and looking up to the
National Assembly to do the needful with the promptitude it
deserves.”
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