Criticizes State Governors for Obstructing Fair Wage Negotiations
In a strong appeal to President Bola Tinubu, organized labor in Nigeria has called on the president to demonstrate compassion for Nigerian workers by approving their demand for a new minimum wage of N250,000. This figure, they argue, better reflects the country’s current high rate of inflation.
Prince Adewale Adeyanju, the president-general of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) and a member of the organized labor negotiation team, sharply criticized state governors for obstructing efforts to secure a fair wage for government employees.
“If you are an employer of labor and you do not have a love of your workers in your heart, how do you call yourself an employer of labor?” Adeyanju said. He accused the Organized Private Sector (OPS) and state governors of resisting increases above N30,000, dragging negotiations down to figures like N48,000 and N60,000 “as if they were tomatoes and onions” before finally agreeing to N62,000.
Adeyanju pointed out that organized labor, including the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), had been willing to compromise, while the government and OPS sides recommended a minimum wage of N62,000. In contrast, labor’s final position was N250,000.
“The ball now lies on the table of Mr President who I believe that this is an opportunity to show empathy to the whole workers,” Adeyanju said. He urged President Tinubu not to heed “greedy governors” seeking to pay “slave wages” to maintain their “outrageous and ostentatious lifestyle,” arguing that the country’s economy can afford labor’s demand.
The minimum wage in Nigeria is reviewed every five years, and Adeyanju emphasized the significant impact the new figure would have on workers’ lives over that period given the country’s economic challenges. He expressed hope that President Tinubu, known as a friend of workers, would approve the N250,000 minimum wage proposal.