The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero speaking about the Labour meeting with the President today has described it as a productive discussion with the President regarding the country’s revenue and the minimum wage. He stated that the President highlighted that Nigerians pay significantly less for energy compared to other countries.
He however pointed out that the Labour union conveyed the struggles faced by Nigerian workers, particularly the severe impact of current inflation rates. He explained further that the conversation included a comparison of Nigerian workers’ earnings in the 1980s versus current earnings in naira terms, underscoring the financial challenges faced by the workforce today. He noted a mutual understanding about the frequency of wage reviews, with the President showing no objection to reviewing the minimum wage every two to three years.
He said in an interview with TVC From 1:08, ”We had some fruitful deliberation with Mr. President. He tried to explain the situation in terms of revenue and he explained that Nigerians are not paying enough on energy as other countries. And we look at all those comments and we also explained to him what Nigerian workers are passing through, inflation is on the worst hit at the moment.
And then comparatively what Nigerians are earning in the 80s and currently in naira terms. We equally have little understanding on the frequency of the review. He didn’t have any objection on review of minimum wage for 2 years or 3 years since we can’t sentence the whole workers for another long period review period based on the way things are going. So on the basis of that, we agreed to meet again by next week Thursday to review all this and come back for a meeting.”….Seë_Morë