The Organised Labour appears set for a showdown with the Federal Government as they have condemned and rejected the government’s plan to cut down salaries of Nigerian workers.

This follows the recent statement credited to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, in which she revealed the Federal Government’s plan to reduce the cost of governance by cutting down workers’ salaries.

This disclosure was contained in a statement issued by the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Waba, on Wednesday in Abuja, in which he expressed shock and noted that the plan was tantamount to a mass suicide wish for Nigerian workers.

What the NLC President is saying

Waba in his statement said, “The minister also allegedly directed the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), to immediately review the salaries of civil servants as well as the number of federal agencies in the country.

It is most unthinkable that the government would be contemplating to unilaterally slash the salaries of Nigerian workers at this time.

He added that “The question to ask is which salary is the government planning to slash? It certainly cannot be the meager national minimum wage of N30, 000, which right now cannot even buy a bag of rice.”

The NLC President said that he believed the proposed salary slash was certainly not targeted at the minimum wage and consequential adjustment in salaries that some state governors were still dragging their feet to pay.

He said that the multiple devaluations of the Naira in a short time, and the prevailing high inflation rate in Nigeria had negatively impacted on the salaries earned by Nigerian workers across the board.

He said, “Nigerian workers are only surviving by hair’s breadth. Indeed, Nigerian workers are miracles strutting on two legs.

“It is, therefore, extremely horrendous for a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to pronounce salary slash for Nigerian workers currently. This call for salary slash by Mrs Zainab Ahmed is tantamount to a “mass suicide” wish, for Nigerian workers.”

While demanding an immediate retraction and apology by the Minister of Finance, the NLC president, however, said that if there was any salary that needed serious slashing, it was the humongous remuneration and allowances pocketed by political office holders in Nigeria, who did extraordinarily little but collected so much.

Wabba said, “Workers generate surplus value and revenue for the government. We do not constitute any unnecessary cost or burden to governance. It is also important to make the point that salaries are products of contracts governed by laws. They cannot be unilaterally adjusted.”

This move is not only at great odds with global best responses to the COVID-19 pandemic but also in violation of relevant ILO Conventions and Declarations on Wages and Decent Work. We urge the government as a social partner to quickly respond to the demands by Labour for an upward review of salaries of all Nigerian workers.

Nigerian workers have shown sufficient understanding with the government through the tough patches of the pandemic. Now, Nigerian workers demand reciprocity of our understanding. Nigerian workers demand an increase in their remunerations and allowances.”

The Lagos State Government has announced that it has placed 4,000 unemployed graduates on N40,000 monthly salary for a period of 6 months.

The initiative which is implemented through the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment’s Graduate Internship Placement Programme (GIPP) is intended to address the challenge of unemployment among unemployed graduates in Lagos State.

This disclosure was made by the Lagos State Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mrs Yetunde Arobieke, during the 2021 Ministerial Press Briefing in commemoration of the Second Year in the Office of Governor Bababjide Sanwo-Olu.

Arobieke said the programme, which was planned to last for six months, was meant to expose interns to a particular job, profession or industry and enhance networking.

She pointed out that through this initiative, interns will be given the opportunity to excel and possibly learn a job with the organisation; as they are exposed to professional skills and interpersonal relationships in a structured setting.

What the Lagos State Commissioner of Wealth Creation and Employment is saying

Arobieke said the programme would expose interns to the possible niche of entrepreneurial opportunities and provide an opportunity for the graduates to have employability skills and exposure to today’s world of work.

She said, “The GIPP is meant to assist Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and other companies to choose from the state’s database of groomed talent/interns, to enhance productivity and boost their businesses, thereby, promoting economic growth at no cost through the intervention of the state government.

A total of 51,514 graduates applied for the internship online, over 1,932 companies indicated interest to onboard the interns after their training and 4,736 applicants attempted the Online Assessment Test.

About 1,000 candidates who scored a minimum of 60 per cent were invited for the first tranche of the employability skills training, while 4,000 interns are targeted to be placed on a monthly stipend of N40,000 for six months.

You will agree with me that the state government under Sanwo-Olu is leaving no stone unturned in mitigating the unemployment scourge,” Arobieke said.

She said the ministry’s Employability Department, during the period under review, organised youth-focused programmes which included the “Mindset Re-Orientation Programme,” a program aimed at reorientating the mindset of the unemployed youths in facing the realities of the present day labour market.

Going further, she said, “Hence, the need for reorientation of the mindset of the job seekers to imbibe learning vocational and technical skills to be self-employed.”

The 2020 edition of this programme had 2,163 unemployed youths that participated in the webinar with seasoned practitioners in various fields or areas of specialisations as facilitators.