Economy
Dr Victor Oye, National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) on Wednesday in Awka said Nigerian Workers deserve all that they could get due to their contributions to development of the country.
Oye, made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the economic reality of the country had made workers the “weeping boys” of the system.
He urged the Federal Government to not only enhance their pay but improve on their working conditions.
The APGA chairman commended the quality of negotiations between government, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Organised Private Sector that led to aversion of the threatened industrial action.
Oye commended the Anambra Government for paying salaries on the 25th every month and for being among the first states to offer to pay N30, 000 minimum wage
“Nigerian workers deserve a better deal considering the harsh economic atmosphere in the country; they have always been at the receiving end.
“That the Federal Government is able to avert the strike brought a huge relief to Nigerians and averted what would have come with consequences of embarrassing proportion.
“APGA urges the federal and state governments to take the welfare of workers seriously.
“They must come up with a programme on how to develop the cognitive and latent talents of workers to make them more productive,” he said.
On his part, Sen. Victor Umeh, representing Anambra Central at the National Assembly, said he considered the N30,000 a meager amount that could not lift any home out if poverty.
Umeh argued that governors could pay the amount the NLC was asking for if they could appropriate the state resources efficiently and be more innovative.
“Nigerian workers do not have a living wage; we cannot continue to pretend and say there is no money when a lot of people are living in affluence.
“They deserve living wage, even the N30, 000 they are demanding is not a living wage, government should know how to manage its resources to enable it pay workers,” he said.
Umeh thanked workers for suspending the strike that was to begin on Nov. 6 and expressed the hope that all parties would respect the terms reached during the negotiations. (NAN)
Tags: Minimum Wage: Nigerian workers deserve a better deal—Oye Umeh
