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The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) declared on Thursday that it plans to engage with the federal government to discuss solutions for workers struggling with the recent spike in petrol prices. The organization pointed out that the current price of petrol has severely impacted the benefits of the yet-to-be-introduced ₦70,000 national minimum wage.
The labour union contends that the recent surge in petrol prices has undercut the benefits of the proposed N70,000 national minimum wage, which is yet to be enforced. NLC President Joe Ajaero, speaking at a Lagos-based workshop focused on “Minimum Wage Implementation” for the Southern Zone, argued that President Bola Tinubu misled organised labour into accepting the N70,000 wage in a bid to prevent a fuel price hike.Calling for immediate action, he pressed the government to confront the unbearable hunger, poverty, and mounting frustration across the country, cautioning that if not addressed, the situation could escalate. He lamented that the suffering of Nigerians had reached critical levels.While recounting the talks held with President Tinubu before finalizing the N70,000 minimum wage, the NLC president bemoaned the fact that Nigerians seemed to be adjusting to the situation, attributing this shift to the government’s strategic distractions of organized labour.
“There is a tactic to distract our attention, to call us names, level allegations against us over cybercrime, financing terrorism, sponsoring terrorism and the rest.
”Those things have paid off because while we are facing those allegations, this issue of pump price has remained.
Read also: Ajaero’s Call: Strengthen NLC, Shun Western Distractions
“I repeat, we were betrayed by Mr President, That statement we issued over our being betrayed is being denied by officials of the government. I am repeating it that we were betrayed. Some of you here were at the meeting when Mr President said, Ajaero you are the problem.
”Since we said subsidy is gone. You don’t want to allow us to increase again. If you allow me to increase we will pay you that N250, 000. Immediately I came out that day I was on Arise Television I repeated what Mr President told us.
”The president said I am giving you one hour to decide on this and get back to me. He said he was goig back to his office and we should decide over this (between N250, 000 minimum wage and petrol pump price hike).
“We said no sir, Mr President; we can’t be holding our meeting here in your office. Let us take one week break and come back and report back to you. He said okay, I am traveling but I will cancel my trip for one week. That was how we adjourned for one week.
”If you followed the trend of those negotiations, we adjourned for one week. And when we came back after consultations, we said to Mr President, no, we can’t allow you to increase to any length because that will affect all Nigerians and we will be seen to be selfish. ”
He mentioned that even a salary of N250,000 would not be practical, emphasizing that persistent increases in wages would have a detrimental effect on the economy and would likely trigger additional fuel price hikes. He suggested that N250,000 might not even be sufficient to purchase fuel.
