Hardship: Labour Criticizes States Denying Workers Wage Award

 

Eight months have passed since the Federal Government began paying a N35,000 wage award on top of the N30,000 minimum wage to workers, urging state governments to follow suit. Despite this, 15 states have yet to implement the wage award, and seven states that initially complied have since halted payments.

 

The wage award was intended to alleviate the economic burden on citizens pending the introduction of a new minimum wage. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has condemned the refusal of some states to pay the wage award, calling it a severe act of insensitivity. The NLC highlighted the suffering of workers due to the government's anti-poor policies.

 

Currently, 15 states are providing wage awards or salary increments ranging from N10,000 to N40,000. The states that have not implemented the wage award include one in the South-East, four in the South-South, three in the North-East, two in the North-Central, and five in the North-West.

 

The states that briefly paid wage awards for one to four months before stopping include Delta, Niger, Plateau, Kaduna, Bauchi, and Nasarawa. On the other hand, states that are actively paying the wage award are Lagos, Edo, Bayelsa, Imo, Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti, Kano, Kwara, Cross River, and Taraba.

 

In March, President Bola Tinubu urged the governors of all 36 states to begin paying wage awards to workers in their states during a working visit to Minna, Niger State. This appeal was aimed at mitigating the hardship faced by citizens. Among the governors present at the event were Hyacinth Alia (Benue), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), and AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara).

 

Addressing AbdulRazaq, the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Tinubu stated: "I have been paying wage awards pending the determination of the new minimum wage. Let all the sub-nationals start paying that. The wage award, along with whatever they are currently receiving, will provide relief to the public. I am not issuing an order, but appealing to you sub-nationals. It’s a relief to the people.”