■ L-R: MD/CEO, Financial Deiavatives Co. Ltd., Mr. Bismarck Rewane, Chairman of the panel, CEO, Economic Associates (EA), Dr. Ayo Teriba, President of the Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadabe, Director, Risk Management of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Blaise Ijebor and President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. Joe Ajaero at the Vanguard Economic Discourse held in Lagos.
The President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) Joe Ajaero, says that the devaluation of the Naira by the Monetary authority is the cause of their relentless struggle to improve workers wage and salaries.
Ajaero stated this when he fielded questions from the panellists during the 2024 Vanguard Economic Discourse with the theme , ‘Reform in the Era of Global Economic Uncertainty: Whither Nigeria?’
The event’s held today, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Ajaero explained:” The cost of living index determines the wages. I want you to benchmark it with probably a bag of rice which is about 84,000 naira today.
I would equally want you to ask peoplecylindersfill their cylinder Maybe N16,000 or 17,000 and in a week or twice in a mo30-something like 30 snarling thousand nairas. I would equally want you to benchmark it to a plate of mama put at N500 without meat and when you do that, with a family of six, you are going to get N270,000 in a month without meat,
On and on, on and on. Before you ask that question. I want you to equally look at at the UN provision that no human being should live on less than $2 per day. And for a family of six, that would amount to $12.
Multiply it, that’s $360. Convert it to the current exchange rate.
Do you want labour to suggest that people should live on less than $1, not even $2 per day? Whether in the global index or cost of living index.
And match it with Mr. President’s position. That he is going to give Nigerians a living wage. And a living wage in actual fact is different from a minimum wage.
A living wage is that which will keep you and your family at least for you to eat till the end of the month. The fact that you have so much devalued your Naira.
That it doesn’t have weight again. Should not make us not to feed. Go to work and come back.
No worker, including those in this hall today, goes to work and back without spending N2,000 a day. In a month, it’s N60,000.
Now check all these things and see whether a worker, if he’s earning N615,000 in a month , whether he will have one naira savings.
We deliberately didn’t put communication. We deliberately didn’t put tithe , We assume that a worker doesn’t have parents in our calculation.
That is what brought us where we are today on the issue. And on the premise that it creates inflation, I disagree with you. Because inflation is already here with us.
And it is real wage that generates economy. Because when workers earn, they purchase. When you increase the purchasing power of workers, the economy will grow. You have proper productivity.”
Regarding the proposal for payment of salaries in Nigeria per hour as was being done in the UK and the USA, he said : you look at the payment per hour in the US. They pay fifteen dollars per hour or more. So, why don’t you adopt it here? So that we know that, you know, we are working based on that index.
And the payment of salaries in Nigeria, like I said, should be calculated based on hours. And let us see whether we have up to thirty naira per hour in Nigeria. So let us work all these senses since we are bringing all these economic policies.
“You can’t pay the thirty thousand pounds. But when you destroy the value of that currency, we now continue to mention the issue of hundred thousand, two hundred thousand.”