The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, President, Joe Ajaero, has urged Nigerians to see the new minimum wage negotiation for workers as a collective struggle not only a battle for organised labour.
He said this during his address at the International Centenary Conference in memory of the passage of Vladimir Ilich Lenin, themed ‘Lenin, Leninism, Africa and the World’ in Abuja.
Ajaero who was represented by NLC General Secretary, Benson Upah, said the negotiation of the minimum wage is to make sure Nigerians overcome the ‘starvation wage’.
We can recall that the minimum wage was reviewed from N18, 000 to N30, 000 on April 18, 2019 and signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Following the removal of subsidy payment on petroleum products by the government, the NLC and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) have been advocating for a wage increase.
One of the demands of Labour was an upward review of the national wage to N200, 000.
Ajaero said the celebration of Lenin was a singular opportunity for Nigerians to rethink the nation’s political strategy and make it more practical to avoid the mistakes made since 1999.
He said, “As we celebrate the centenary of Leninism, it is my wish that we all not only seek to embrace his teachings but also look for ways to advance them to make them more potent and useful in our modern society.
“As we march into 2027, what will Lenin have us do? As the comprador bourgeoises who have seized the reins of power in our nation and have continued to decimate all institutions of governance using them to subjugate, impoverish and incapacitate the sovereign will, tramples upon workers and masses, what will the apostles of Lenin do? As our collective resources are plundered by the forces of international capital and further looted with impunity by those in the corridors of power, will Lenin apostles fold their arms? Would Lenin instruct us to stand in our separate enclaves to engage the vicissitudes of the petroleum price hike which has decimated the poor in our nation while enriching our politicians and the wealthy? Would Lenin require us to stand aloof while workers are paid pittance and the general income of the people are destroyed by the anti-people policies of the government? What would Lenin have us do comrades?That is why it is important that at this juncture that I invite all of us as we prepare to negotiate the national minimum wage this year not to see it as a struggle for the NLC and TUC but a collective struggle.
” I request that we all join hands together from the beginning of the negotiation exercise to the end of it and to its ultimate implementation so that we can overcome those who have already made up their minds to pay Nigerians a starvation wage. We seek for a Living Wage and it is only when we work together as comrades that we can achieve this.
“Comrades remember, when we stand alone, our chances are slim but when we stand together, we are able to achieve our collective interests.” He said.
In the same vein and in calling for the entrenchment of Lenin’s ideology for a just society, Country Representative of Action Aid and former student union government president at the University of Jos, Ene Obi, said the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have been sleeping in the face of anti- people happenings in the country and needs to wake up.
Making comparison in the price of petrol in less than a year from 165 naira to 617 naira, all in 2023 and nothing has happened, she said studentship in the country’s tertiary institutions have been reduced with the inability to invest in human capital.
She emphasized on the need of encouraging students to develop an ideology before graduation, while remarking that the centenary commemoration of Lenin could not have come at a better time than now.
Lamenting that today, poverty goes hand in hand with being a student, she said the 140 million poor nigerians who are most students cannot afford to pay tuition even in public institutions due to the hike in fees.
She said: “The NLC and TUC have to wake up. In this country, just when we went to bed with the knowledge that petrol is 165 naira, today it is 617 naira and nothing has happened. Studentship has reduced and we are not investing in human capital.
“There no ideologies these days and even our students in tertiary institutions are bereft of the importance of been taught ideologies before graduation.
“Poverty and studentship are working hand in hand now. Many of the poor who have gained admission in tertiary institutions have been unable to register as students due to high school fees.
“Nigerian government gave scholarships to students of public universities and even to go overseas, but this is history today. What happens to the children of the 140 poor Nigerians. How do we move forward from wherever are?
“The parliament is led by governor’s who have looked their states and they hold government in a way that the can’t be challenged. The largest country in Africa is going down and we need to salvage it” she said.
