BY EDMOND ODOK, ABUJA – As expected, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has moved another step closer to achieving their demands as the Nigerian Senate on Tuesday approved N30,000 as the new minimum wage for workers.
Following on the heels of their House of Representatives counterparts, the upper legislative chamber passed the report of its Ad-hoc Committee on the National Minimum Wage on the National Minimum Wage Act CAP N61 LFN (repeal and re-enactment) Bill, 2019 (SB. 722).
Laid and presented on the floor by Senator Francis Alimikhena, the new bill sets the new minimum wage at N30,000.
President of the Senate, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, who spoke on the development, commended the Labour movement and Nigerian workers for their patience and understanding throughout the long and tortuous negotiation period.
“Let me join our colleagues to commend the efforts of the committee. More importantly, let me commend the patience of Nigerian workers and the leadership of the Labour Union, who have over the years been calling for this minimum wage and have carried their efforts responsibly.
“I want to commend the leaders of the organisations of the union. Let me also state that as government, we should ensure that at times like these, we should not wait for there to be strikes to do what is truly deserving for our workers”, the Senate president said.
He expressed the hope that the new minimum wage will motivate Nigerian workers to “double their efforts at increasing their productivity, so that we can also improve the general productivity of the country.”
According to him; “It is my hope that the implementation of this will start immediately.”
