Oshiomhole spoke as the leader of the Northerm's Elder Forum, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, blasted governors for claiming they are broke and can no longer pay workers the minimum wage and as the factional president of the Nigerian Labour Congress(NLC), Comrades Ayuba Wabba and Joe Ajaero yesterday attended the first working committee meeting organized by Labour veterans and stakeholders to resolve the crisis that brought division among labour leaders after its election about 6 months ago.
Speaking at the meeting held at the Labour house Abuja, Gov. Oshiomhole said nobody will question the wisdom behind the payment of minimum wage to workers in the country as it was not imposed on the government rather it was a product of agreement between government and labour.
in his words " i am a labour man, i have been clear with my colleagues in seeking to find solution to the problem we face. We have to be holistic, we cannot at one hand question the wisdom behind the national minimum wage. i joined the NLC to protest to the national assembly when they were going to amend the constitution to make the minimum wage a concurrent issue"
he further said " workers have a stake in this democracy and they are the ones who could afford to match the street for democracy. Democracy doesnt have to run at the comfort or convenience of Governor, Ministers and Presidents".
" i believe that the issue in the economy doesnt have anything to do with minimum wage. i have always reminded my colleagues that the minimum wage was not imposed, it was negotiated and state government agreed to it., the president signed it not under duress and there was no strike to compel the then president to sign it, he signed it voluntarily".
" i believe when you look at the minimum wage, as it is today at #18,000 is less than $100. i think it is now about $80. now divide $80 by 31 days you will be getting about 2. something dollars.
now we cannot argue that workers in Nigerian sector should not earn more than $2 a day, i cannot subscribe to that because the heart of governance is the welfare of the people"
Also speaking after the CWC meeting, Comrade Wabba rejected the governors position saying "we reject it in its entirety, Nigerian workers will not take it lightly. we are not the problem, rather we are the solution. The problem is that they have not been able to reduce the cost of governance, they should go and reduce their security votes. let them also cut down on the number of their entourages, and they must also be accountable to the citizens that votes into power. We are going to resist any attempt to tamper with any guise. he said.
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