According to The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the Kogi State Government has failed to implement the N30,000 minimum wage.
The NLC State Chairman, Comrade Onuh Edoka, revealed this during a visit by the newly elected executive committee of the Nigeria Civil Service Union, to his office on Wednesday.
A committee set up by the government to enhance worker wellbeing in light of the present business situation has failed to submit its report to Governor Yahaya Bello, Edoka said.
According to Edoka, the union is under intense pressure from employees in Kogi to implement the new minimum wage.
Kogi’s new minimum wage must be applied in Kogi, he said, exactly as in other states.
“Organized Labour in Kogi State is still in dismay over the non-implementation of the N30,000 new minimum wage. After two years of setting the committee, they are yet to submit a report to his excellency. For how long are we going to continue like this? Workers have been patient and they have exhausted it”, Edoka said.
“We are using this medium to call on the Kogi State Government to do the needful as things are getting out of hand given the current economic reality. The prices of foodstuff have skyrocketed and workers are still being paid with their old wages. This is not fair. Something urgently needs to be done to cushion the suffering of our workers,” he added.
He stated that before the unification of the North and South protectorates in 1914, the Nigeria Civil Service Union was Nigeria’s oldest union, saying that it has produced brilliant persons at both the national and state levels.
But the NLC’s chairman cautioned that the union’s struggle in the state would be difficult, and urged them to establish industrial harmony with the government to address the needs of workers they represent.
He also added that “the task ahead is enormous. It is important to state here categorically that you must put in your best to meet the demands of your union members. Do not betray the workers you are representing. If you do this, you will face the wrath of God.”
Before that, Comrade Tony Obasa, the chairman of the Kogi State Council of the Nigeria Civil Service Union, said they were in Comrade Edoka’s office to pledge their devotion to the NLC.
It was stressed that employees could no longer survive on their monthly salaries, and therefore, the NLC Chairman was tasked with doubling his efforts to ensure that the Kogi State Government implemented the new wage.
