The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, an affiliate of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, has called on the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, to stop the campaign against retaining the national minimum wage on the Exclusive Legislative List or face the wrath of Nigerian workers.
The association therefore implored delegates to the National Conference not to succumb to the pressure of governors including Fashola who appeared bent on removing wages and other related labour matters from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List “to give them the leeway to begin to pay wages as low as N5,000 monthly to workers or none at all.”
It warned that if pushed to the wall, “we will begin the process of exposing the humongous wealth and assets of some heartless politicians so that Nigerians can know exactly who their friends are and why they are taking rigid stand on issues bordering on welfare of the masses.”
A statement by the National President of ASCSN, Mr. Bobboi Kaigama, and Secretary General, Mr. Alade Lawal, on Wednesday expressed surprise that Fashola “who parades himself as a progressive has continued to wage war against the N18,000 national minimum wage approved by the Federal Government in 2011.”
The association wondered why Fashola was so pained that workers were being paid a paltry sum of N18,000 monthly as minimum wage when some political office holders including a good number of the governors spent far more than that to feed a pet in a day.
He said, “Is he saying that their pets are more valuable to the society than the Nigerian workers?
“If the Lagos State chief executive is a true progressive, he should set example by paying N50,000 monthly minimum wage or more to civil servants in the state so that other state governors can emulate him.”
The ASCSN recalled that in September last year during the opening of the South-West Zonal office of the National Pension Commission in Lagos, the governor stated that the national minimum wage should be scrapped.
He was said to have repeated it on Monday in his office while receiving members of the Senior Executive Course 36 of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, Jos, Plateau State.
According to the ASCSN, the International Labour Organisation Convention 131 of 1970 of which Nigeria is a signatory, enjoins countries of the world to adopt a minimum wage to protect workers from exploitative employers.
“Is the progressive governor ignorant of that convention which Nigeria is a signatory?” it asked.
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