.Says I’ve implemented new wage based on the law.
.States must implement payrise this year, NLC dares Govs
.As Oyo govt approves 70% budget increase for persons with disabilities
Jacob Ogodo, Abakaliki, Akor Sylvester, Abuja and Joseph Okwuofu, Ibadan.
Ebonyi state governor, Chief Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru has threatened to sack and replace any civil servant who absents himself from his duty post as a result of the strike action declared by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC within seventy two hours.
Nwifuru issued the threat while briefing newsmen in Abakaliki on the strike action declared by the NLC over the non- implementation of the N70,000 new national minimum wage .
The NLC, Ebonyi State, had on Sunday commenced a seven days warning strike over the non-implementation of the new minimum wage in the state.
Also yesterday, the NLC declared that all 36 states should implement the wage increase before the end of 2024 or face industrial action.
President of NLC, Joe Ajaero who stated this Monday at the 2024 Annual Harmattan School of the NLC in Abuja, urged workers to rise up to the challenges and push for the implementation of the new minimum wage before the year runs out.
However Governor Nwifuru maintained that Ebonyi state government has implemented the minimum wage as enshrined in the law, adding that the issue is a provision of the Act of Parliament.
He also stated that there is difference between salary increment and minimum wage and that the National Assembly never passed a bill on salary increment but for minimum wage.
Nwifuru pointed out that the NLC, Ebonyi State chapter in her letter failed to address what was the difference in their salary before the implementation of the national minimum wage
He stated that the state government has approved N75,000 as minimum wage and has already started paying.
“If you didn’t go to work, not only that I will not pay you salary, but I will replace you within 72 hours in your office. If I didn’t see you in your office. As far as I am not guilty. I am not owing you.
“I am paying you what is supposed to be paid. And according to agreement and constitution, I am not owing you. If you didn’t go to work within 72 hours I will replace you. And I have called the chairman Civil Service Commission.
“I have directed all the commissioners to go to their offices. All the agencies, all the departments of government must be in their offices and record the people that come to work.
“And that is the people I will pay through table payment. By the number of days you attend to your duty in your office. If you don’t want to come to work. You will forget about state government”, the governor warned.
NLC to state govts: We won’t allow minimum wage implementation to enter new year.
Meanwhile the NLC has warned state governments that are yet to implement the N70,000 minimum wage to expedite action on the implementation before the end of 2024, saying it wouldn’t allow the issue of non-implementation to enter the new year.
It said the 2024 national minimum wage exercise is part of the dictates of the new social contract which seeks for fair income for all.
The president of NLC, Joe Ajaero who stated this Monday at the 2024 Annual Harmattan School of NLC in Abuja, urged workers to rise up to the challenges and push for the implementation of the new minimum wage before the year runs out.
Ajaero said: “Having witnessed most of its challenges before, during and after the negotiations, we urge you all to ensure that its appropriate and complete implementation does not enter into the new year.
“To this end, you are all urged to put your hands on the deck to ensure the effective implementation of the new minimum wage.
“We must all join our hands together in seeking a more inclusive, fair and equitable Nigeria that leaves no one behind.
“As we embark on this journey of learning and engagement at Harmattan School, let us recognize that the strength of our collective resolve is the foundation upon which we can build a better world of work and a just society. The new social contract we aspire to is not just a vision; it is a call to action—demanding our unwavering commitment, collaboration, and courage.
“I challenge each of us to fully immerse ourselves in the discussions, exchange ideas with open minds, and embrace this opportunity to sharpen our strategies. Let us leave this programme not just as informed participants but as empowered agents of change, ready to confront the challenges ahead with boldness and determination.
“Together, we can create a future that reflects our shared values and aspirations. Let us seize this moment to rise stronger, act decisively, and work relentlessly for the advancement of Nigerian workers and the progress of our nation”.
Ajaero further said his year’s Harmattan school came in a year that the workers witnessed one of the greatest turbulences in the history as a movement.
He noted that “it is a period where we have been invaded, ransacked and subjected to the highest level of threats and intimidation, a year that we have been charged with treasonable felony, terrorism financing, Cybercrime and other sundry crimes, a year where our liberties have been forcefully emasculated and a year when we were arrested and detained by the state!
“A year where we have had to negotiate a new national minimum wage in the midst of the worst kind of harrowing hardship ever seen in our clime. A year where workers and other Nigerians go to bed daily fearing what the next day may bring especially in the market places. It has truly been a year like no other year in our history thus presented us with unknown quantities that sometimes defy human relations logic thus require new understanding and new explanations.
“This year’s Harmattan School affords us the opportunity like I had initially said to dissect the events leading to and after it, to assess their dynamics and then initiate actionable steps to make ourselves stronger and better.
“We believe that in those events, we have emerged stronger, more resilient and better positioned to deliver on the expectations of Nigerian workers and peoples.
“All these events were nothing else but attempts to weaken and undermine our capacity as a movement to deliver on our job to our primary and secondary constituencies. The articulation and protection of workers’ rights is our primary responsibility and anything we do that does not approximate to that amounts to failure. We are therefore left with no other choice than to focus with greater determination and zeal on this mission of making our workplaces and indeed our nation to yield better results to Nigerian workers. These, comrades are what we are condemned to do whether we like it or not.
“In pursuing these, we must be prepared to pay whatever price that is laid on our path unless we want to be counted amongst those who betrayed the cause. In our path is laid forces that would naturally resist our efforts, forces that are very powerful and are not ashamed of using those powers in their possession to confront us and are not worried about the morality that surrounds their actions and the destructive nature of their various outcomes.
“Comrades, what this tells us is that we must be prepared to make the necessary sacrifices to be counted among those who succeeded in making a difference in the midst of challenges that confronted them; those who succeeded against all odds. It shows us that the struggle is not an easy one and there are forces that we must find a way of creatively engaging if we are to work effectively as trade union leaders. Our success lies in our enduring capacity to bear the inevitable pains that come with the struggle for a better society”.
Ajaero noted that: “The rights of workers and by extension the struggle for greater respect for human rights is at the core of what we do. We cannot abandon ship because of countervailing winds or because the waters have become too choppy. We must continue to find strength within to build greater resolve that would allow us maintain the rudder of the ship and keep sailing our boat to its logical destination. There is no other platform that is better than this platform – the trade union movement that is positioned for the advancement of the rights and privileges of Nigerian workers and indeed Nigerian people.
“Educating our members and the diverse cadres remains one of the most crucial ways of preparing ourselves for more successful engagements with our social partners. It equips us with cadres that have the right kind of mentality and knowledge to query all manners of social dynamics that will continue to challenge us a trade union movement. It is therefore a responsibility, indeed a duty for all of us to seize every opportunity we have to educate ourselves properly. In it lies greater benefits for the workers who we represent and to the larger society that look up to us for the protection of their interests.
“It is in that spirit that we are ushered into the theme of this year’s school “Trade Unions and the Quest for a New Social Contract” which reinforces the centrality of our role in building better societies that would cater for the needs of workers and the populace in a sustainable and progressive manner.
“A new social contract speaks to the continuous pursuit of social justice that recognizes the organic rights of workers and other members of the society to actively and equitably participate in all facets of socioeconomic activities including a shared production and distribution of the society’s resources. The recognition of the existence of these natural rights as key to sustainable societies makes the quest for a global understanding and crafting of a new pact to guide our societies inevitable.
“The role of our movement in catalyzing and driving this pursuit is widely recognized in the international community making it mandatory for us here in Nigeria to position ourselves to understand its dynamics deeper so that we can design successful strategies to contribute our quota in delivering the new social contract.
“As our societies are confronted with the new nature of work, challenges of globalization, rising inequality and social injustice, climate change and environmental decay, technological and demographic shifts, the employment relations and societal values undergo serious transformation with serious implications for us as workers and trade union organisations. New approaches to tackling these emerging challenges requires all of our hands at all levels to be on the plough”.
According to him,”The new social contract demands participatory governance and civic engagement, Human rights and social justice, environmental sustainability, social protection, decent work including fair income, Corporate Social Responsibility, universal basic services and part of what we have come here to do lifelong learning and skill development. All of these can only be achieved through the basic principles which our movement espouse such as building social and solidarity economy, fostering inclusive societies and social justice, continuous civic engagement and participatory governance and issues in responsible and sustainable environmental actions.
“How then do we engage governance in our country in the midst of the massive hardship and suffering enveloping our nation if not by expressing alternative views to policies that we are sure will be counter productive to our nation? We would therefore continue to deploy the dictates of social dialogue to engage those in the corridors of power to provide governance that lifts our people and workers out of poverty and not push more into grinding poverty”.
Meanwhile, the Oyo State Government has increased the 2025 capital budgetary allocation for Persons with Disabilities by over 70 per cent of what they received in 2024.
Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, disclosed this in Ibadan, during the celebration of the 2024 Stakeholders summit and International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Makinde, represented by his Deputy, Bayo Lawal spoke on how the government has fared with the welfare of the disability community in his over four-year administration.
He noted that all the requests of the persons with disabilities for the next year budget plans as submitted during the last Budget Town Hall meetings formed the increase of their capital budget to N877,500,000.
The Governor added that their capital budget was initially N492,000,000, while the Oyo State Agency for Persons with Disabilities’ overhead cost has increased from N315,000,000 to N345,000,000.
“It is believed that both will take care of their requests which include Transportation empowerment, training of relevant Agency with what their roles will be for the persons with disabilities, training of enforcement Agencies for compliance, purchase of Assistive devices, mobility equipments among others.”
The governor added that Oyo State has recruited 510 persons with disabilities into Oyo State Civil Service.
He added, “I have also given directive that henceforth, in every ministry the quota of the persons with disabilities must be protected.”
Makinde recalled that, as soon as he assumed office on May 29, 2023, he appointed Barrister Ayodele Adekanmbi as the pioneer Director-General of the Oyo State Agency for Persons with Disabilities.
Makinde said he equally appointed Mr. Timothy Olufemi as the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Disability Matters to ensure that PWDs are carried along in governance.
His words, “And when God granted me the grace of a second term, I reappointed Barrister Adekanmbi again but this time as the Pioneer Director General, Oyo State Agency for Persons with Disabilities and I gave him the mandate to draw a budget line for the Agency, to find a suitable and conducive office environment to use, and to see to the redeployment of staff to kick-start the Agency for persons with Disabilities. I am glad to inform you that all these have been done within 1 year and 6 months of Omituntun 2.0.”
He said, “Presently as we speak, disability cluster groups’ grants and subvention have been approved, and in no distant time, three operational vehicles will be delivered for the smooth running of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities.”
Speaking further, Makinde said, “It is on record that I am the first Governor to politically empower persons with disabilities by appointing them as Supervisory Councilors and SAs across the entire Local Governments of Oyo State, which was what made us stand out as an all inclusive government all over the country.”
Speaking earlier, the Director-General, Oyo State Agency for Persons with Disabilities, Barr. Ayodele Adekanmbi said the administration of governor Seyi Makinde is truly committed to providing opportunities for People Living with Disabilities (PwDs).
“The Agency has continued to receive all the necessary support from the administration to ensure that PwDs are carried along.
“Since the coming of Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration, there are some deliberate initiatives the governor has put in place to improve access to governance and quality of service to persons with disabilities,” he said.
