Governors who are opposed to the new minimum wage will lose election for second term, the Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Gombe State, Mr. Adamu Garba, has warned.
Garba, who gave the warning in Gombe yesterday, said: “Majority of governors that fail to implement the minimum wage may not come back for their second term. Instead, they will be voted out of office, because of lack of political will.
“Many governorship aspirants are willing to implement the minimum wage if given the chance in their various states.‘’
He said that the state council of NLC would not compromise its resolve to ensure compliance with the directives of the national secretariat on the strike, to press for a new national minimum wage for workers.
“All affiliates of NLC have been directed to comply fully with the nationwide strike. We have mobilised our members to ensure total compliance.’’
According to him, NLC has achieved more than 90 per cent on the implementation of 2011 minimum wage of N18, 000.
He was optimistic that the struggle would yield the anticipated victory for serving and retired civil servants.
Comrade Iboro Ibara, the Akwa Ibom Vice Chairman of the NLC described the situation of workers in the country as that of being under slavery.
He told NAN in Uyo yesterday, while monitoring the ongoing strike, that the workers in the country were angry because what they were being paid as minimum wage was not up to a living wage.
“I don’t think it is a matter of compliance. Every worker in Nigeria knows that he or she is not earning a living wage. It is not a question of compliance. It is that workers across the country are angry. All offices are under lock and key, you cannot expect to see any worker. They have been angry for years, this is slavery; we do not even need to compel the workers to join the strike. Every worker is angrily at homes. “They (workers) are looking for avenues to explode.”
