Minimum wage : Why NECA supports paradigm shift from minimum wage to living wage—– Oyerinde

UFOMBA UZUEGBU

Director-General of Nigeria Employers Consultative Association,NECA, Mr Adewale Oyerinde has called for a paradigm shift from minimum wage to living wage for workers in the nation’s pubic service.

He decried the reluctance of some state governments to pay the N30,000 minimum wage,stressing that with proper evaluation of their priorities,such states should be able to pay.

Oyerinde,who stated these in an exclusive interview with  Daily Champion, weekend in Lagos, maintained that the Federal Government has to give primary attention to fixing the economy first,for the nation to enjoy any real growth in the short and medium term.

“It is without doubt that the current N30,000 minimum wage when guaged against the country’s inflationary pressures, is unrealistic,to say the least.

We are aware that some states have not yet implemented the current minimum wage,attributing the reasons to financial constraints.

We have always shared the view that there should be a paradigm shift from minimum wage to living wage.While the former continues to remain insufficient due to the constant change in the economic climate, the latter considers current realities as prerequisites to meeting basic living standards”,he said.

Oyerinde noted that even if the minimum wage is increased from the current amount(N30,000) to slightly higher,if inflationary trend and other factors are not considered, it would still be insufficient to meet the increasing needs of the least paid  Nigerian worker.

He advised state governments to scale down cost of governance and other non essential spending to convince Nigerians that their outcries are genuine.

“We believe that each state has the capacity to be creative and seek ways to improve their revenue base.As such, we believe each state has the potential to the N30,000 minimum wage with a proper re evaluation of their priorities”,he added.

On the forth-coming 2023 general elections, the NECA boss said:”We will continue to sound our agitations to both the current and in-coming adminstration so as to position the country as a global leader in terms of industrialization and economic transformation”.

He disclosed that NECA had on many occasions and at different fora, made concise recommendations aimed at positioning the Private Sector as the engine of growth and national development.

“For example, we have continued to advise the government to fix critical infrastructure, necessary for business expansion, job creation and economic growth.We cannot over emphasize the poor mismatch of givernment’s fiscal with monetary policies, unending tax burden on businesses,skyrocketing inflation and poor foreign exchange regime, among others”, Oyerinde further stated.