By Chris Agabi
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his 2024 Democracy Day speech revealed he is sending a bill on the proposed minimum wage to the National Assembly.
The organised Labour unions and the federal government is drawn in a huge battle for a new minimum wage. Whilst the amount hasn’t been concluded, the FG has proposed N62, 000 minimum wage whilst the labour unions of have stuck with N250,000 as the negotiations persists.
Economic watchers have however made a case for at least N100,000 minimum wage considering the high cost of leaving pervading the country. They are also worried about the impact on inflation with a new minimum wage thus, have called for caution.
Tinubu acknowledged the pains his reforms have caused but he assured hia government is taking measures to mitigate the pains.
“I understand the economic difficulties we face as a nation.
*Our economy has been in desperate need of reform for decades. It has been unbalanced because it was built on the flawed foundation of over-reliance on revenues from the exploitation of oil.
“The reforms we have initiated are intended to create a stronger, better foundation for future growth. There is no doubt the reforms have occasioned hardship. Yet, they are necessary repairs required to fix the economy over the long run so that everyone has access to economic opportunity, fair pay and compensation for his endeavour and labour.
“As we continue to reform the economy, I shall always listen to the people and will never turn my back on you.
“In this spirit, we have negotiated in good faith and with open arms with organized labour on a new national minimum wage. We shall soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law for the next five years or less.
“In the face of labour’s call for a national strike, we did not seek to oppress or crack down on the workers as a dictatorial government would have done. We chose the path of cooperation over conflict” he stated.
