Tinubu ‘Leg Over Nigerian Workers’ With N25k Minimum Wage Increase
By Babajide Okeowo
Many Nigerian workers were glued to their TV and radio sets for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Independence Day Speech with the hope of a substantial increase in the monthly salary of Nigerian workers to cushion the biting effect of fuel subsidy removal and the floating of the naira but were left disappointed with the N25, 000 increase to Nigerian workers, albeit, for six months only!
Reacting to the announcement, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu said this only reinforced renewed hopelessness by the president.
“Many workers were hopeful that minimum wage would be announced today. However, what Tinubu decided to do was to add an allowance of N25,000 ($25) to workers for six months only. This is a man that is clearly callous and lacking in ideas.
“He claimed he refused to increase the minimum wage in order not to worsen the inflation rate. If he cared so much about the inflation rate, he ought to have planned properly before removing the petrol subsidy and forcing the central bank to embark on a failed exchange rate unification policy which has not been backed by a corresponding boost in exports.
“In effect, Tinubu put the cart before the horse and now that the horse has trampled on the cart, he is making excuses for his own incompetence. This is shameful” he said in a statement.
Earlier, the country’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) disclosed that there is nothing to cheer about with such spiteful tokenism.
“On the much-touted welfare package, the PDP asserts that there is nothing to cheer over such spiteful tokenism where, amidst unbearable costs, President Tinubu announced a miserable N25,000 per month for six months for average low-grade workers, while still being aspirational on his promise of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses.
Our Party invites Nigerians to note that President Tinubu’s speech has left no one in doubt that the APC administration has no plans, capacity and competence to handle the crucial and urgent task of governance; which is clearly beyond its managerial faculty” a statement by Hon. Debo Ologunagba, the National Publicity Secretary of the party stated.
Similarly, Nigerians are not impressed with the increase opining that it will increase the hardship encountered by Nigerians.
According to Hajara Abdullahi “With the current rise in the cost of living, N25k will bring little or no improvement to the workers” she wrote.
Adding his voice to the debate, Uchechukwu Uchenna said, ‘Anything less than 100% increment on salaries and wages should be rejected by Labour. Fuel prices increased by more than 350%, the naira fell in value by more than 600% and FG is proposing a 25 % increase for workers, it is unacceptable’ he wrote on Facebook.
