36 state Governors comply with N18,000 minimum wage

The  36 State Governors’ of the federation have doused the tension within the workers in the country over the payment of the N18,000 minimum wage as they have decided to comply
and pay the stipulated amount.

The workers under the umbrella of Nigeria Labour Congress{NLC} had concluded plans to commence a three-day warning strike from Wednesday this week as a prelude to a general showdown should the various governors renege on the implementation.

However, at a meeting of the governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum, they all agreed to comply with the provisions of the Minimum Wage Act.

The meeting was attended by  majority of the governors at the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge.

According to the resolution reached,  ‘The Forum resolved to comply with the provisions of the Minimum Wage Act and further agreed that individual states should commence implementation modalities.’

Sunday Tribune gathered that the implementation period may differ as the forum announced that it would depend  on the term of agreement between the state and the labour union.

The forum also  appealed to the Nigeria Labour Congress to shelve both the warning strike and the main one in the interest of the country.

In order to show the importance attached to the NLC and the impending warning strike,  chairman of the NGF, Rotimi Amaechi, stated that he  would meet the labour leaders in Abuja latest by Tuesday.

It unanimously agreed to intensify efforts  on the issue of polio eradication campaign and would hold a quarterly  sensitisation campaign in all the states to raise awareness on the scheduled dates which included August 13 2011, November 2011, February 11 2012 and May 12 2012.

The NGF condemned the frightening security situation in Borno State and the attendant losses of lives and property, just as it called on the leadership of the area to do everything possible to curtail the situation.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Union of Local government Employees (NULGE) has disclosed that enough resources are available for the implementation of the new national minimum wage by the three tiers of government.

Addressing a news conference in Abuja, the president of NULGE, Comrade Ibrahim Khaleel, stated that the new wage had become a law and not a mere wish from workers.

He, therefore, directed council employees nationwide to get set for the warning strike slated for Wednesday this week in case the federal, state and local governments fail to implement the policy.

Comrade Khaleel expressed disappointment that the 774 local government councils were yet to take a definitionposition on the new national minimum wage despite the abundant resources within the third tier of government.

In a related development, the NULGE president called on the government of Ekiti State to withhold the plan to compulsorily retire some state directors of administration and finance who allegedly failed an examination on promotion.

Comrade Khaleel explained that the action of the Ekiti State government was a display of executive lawlessness.

He emphasised that if the Ekiti State government refused to conform to its own rules guiding the engagement and disengagement of workers, members would be mobilised for a  strike action in addition to a law suit against the government.