Some states are yet to commence implementation of the national minimum wage after a year and eight months of being passed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has said.
Ayuba Wabba, the president of NLC, said this at the Second Youth National Delegates conference on Tuesday, December 1, 2020, in Abuja, lamenting that workers were being subjected to unfair treatment.
The minimum wage was signed into law by Buhari in April 2019 and negotiations on consequential adjustments that came with the wage was concluded with the Federal Government in September that same year.
Wabba asked the young workers to see the fight against injustice and substandard living conditions as a collective fight.
He said: “Almost two years after the new national minimum wage was signed into law, some state governments have refused to pay despite the prevailing inflation. I call on our young comrades to see the fight against wage injustice and sub-standard living conditions as your own fight.
“You are the greatest beneficiaries of improved wages and conditions of living because you will enjoy these benefits longer than older workers. So, roll up your sleeves, dust up your jeans, strap up your sneakers, and get ready to be in the front of the barricades.”
Wabba stated that the resource access challenge faced by young people has been exacerbated by the outbreak of Covid-19 and worsening impact of climate change.
“A recent report by the Trading Economics put the level of Nigeria’s youth unemployment at 36%. The resource access challenge faced by young people has been exacerbated by Covid-19 and worsening impact of climate change. There is certainly a huge fight ahead of you and all of us as we embrace what the future brings,” he added.
Source: The Nation
