12th June, 2024
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday said he would soon send a bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon with labour as new National Minimum wage as part of the law for the next five years or less.
Tinubu did not announced a new minimum wage, but what has been tabled before him by the Tripartite Committee is N62,000.
If that is what he meant, then he might be paying N62,000 as minimum wage.
The president, in his Democracy Day Speech, said the economy had been in desperate need of reform for decades and had been unbalanced because it was built on the flawed foundation of over-reliance on revenues from the exploitation of oil.
He said the reforms “we have initiated are intended to create a stronger, better foundation for future growth. There is no doubt the reforms have occasioned hardship. Yet, they are necessary repairs required to fix the economy over the long run so that everyone has access to economic opportunity, fair pay and compensation for his endeavour and labour.
“As we continue to reform the economy, I shall always listen to the people and will never turn my back on you.
“In this spirit, we have negotiated in good faith and with open arms with organized labour on a new national minimum wage. We shall soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law for the next five years or less,” he said.
The president said in the face of labour’s call for a national strike, his government did not seek to oppress or crack down on the workers as a dictatorial government would have done but chose the path of cooperation over conflict.
“No one was arrested or threatened. Instead, the labour leadership was invited to break bread and negotiate toward a good-faith resolution.
“Reasoned discussion and principled compromise are hallmarks of democracy. These themes shall continue to animate my policies and interaction with the constituent parts of our political economy.
“I take on this vital task without fear or favour and I commit myself to this work until we have built a Nigeria where no man is oppressed,” Tinubu stated.
According to Tinubu “We dare not slumber lest the good things awaiting our immediate future pass us by. We dare not plant our feet in idle standstill in the middle of the intersection of hope and despair. We know the proper way forward and we shall take it!
“The initial rays of a brighter tomorrow now appear on the early horizon. An abundant future and our capacity to achieve that future lie within our reach. Democracy and the institutions it begets offer to take us to our profound destination.”