Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has said that state governments cannot continue to give excuses for paying workers only ₦70,000 as minimum wage, considering the high cost of living in the country.
Gatekeepers News reports that speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, NECA’s Director General, Adewale Smatt-Oyerinde, explained that the increase in revenue shared from the Federal Account makes it possible for states to pay more.
He said, “So, no state really has an excuse in the context of the current reality to stay at that ₦70,000, especially with people struggling with the price of petrol. While many states are still doing a lot with the CNG buses, we think more still needs to be done.”
“A lot still needs to be done with the context of food security and shelter. Once you deal with that, the conversation would not really be about minimum wage because the quantum of that ₦70,000 will be able to buy enough for an average household. So it’s not about the quantum, it’s about what exactly the ₦70,000 can buy.”
Smatt-Oyerinde stressed that workers are vital to the economy and should be supported to be more productive.
He said, “While we are not directly involved in the core, the real dynamics of the state — the socio-economic challenges that they have, it is important to also state that the workers, either in the public and private sector, are very key drivers of the economy of any state and a very key driver of even the private sector.”
“And whatever will improve productivity will increase motivation, especially within the context of the reforms that we are ongoing. You know, if you are hungry, or if you’re not really composed, you’re hungry, you have issues with shelter, you have issues with transport, hardly would you be productive at work.”
According to him, states must treat their workers as the engine that drives the system.
He added, “So if you see it from that perspective, you realise then it becomes important for you to address the issues that concern that engine.”
“And that’s the perception of the private sector because the workers in the private sector are quite critical to productivity, critical to growth of the private sector, and that is the perception we have, that workers are important, then let’s treat them as the ILO said that workers are not commodities.”
