July 23, (THEWILL) – The Chairman of the Ogun State Chapter of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Dr. Yinka Ola-Williams, has urged organised labour not to increase inflation by asking the Federal Government to pay more than the N70,000 minimum wage.
Recall that the organised labour, including the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), had been at the negotiation table for some months over the new national minimum wage before the FG concluded to pay N70,000, an amount far below the N250,000 proposed by the unions.
But Ola-Williams, while reacting to the new national minimum wage, charged the leadership of Nigerian workers to accept the N70,000 minimum wage proposed by FG in the interest of the people to prevent continuous inflation rise, particularly in prices of food items and services.
He spoke at the 12th Anniversary and Graduation Ceremony of Lyceum Schools themed, “Global Reach Within Local Realities” held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
The SDP Chairman opined that instead of the labour leadership pushing for more minimum wage, they should encourage President Bola Tinubu’s administration to improve local and agricultural production to save the citizens from hunger and poverty bedevilling the nation due to the failed Anchor Borrowers Programme.
He charged the labour unions to let peace reign and shun any protest that may trigger the already angry Nigerians into violence and crisis, insisting that any further increase in the proposed new minimum wage would not only affect food commodities and services but result in a continual increase in the value of the dollar against the naira.
“The N70,000 minimum wage is what the Federal Government said, you know people can go forth and back. As the Chairman of SDP, the implication of that is that if you continue to raise that minimum wage you will also continue to raise inflation and that will also make the dollar continue to rise, so we need to balance it like.
“What we need to focus on is to create more local production and reduce the cost of food because those workers, two things are taking the majority of that money: food and transportation. That is why they are crying that N70,000 will not be enough if the price of food production continues to rise. So, what we need to do is to go back to the farm, produce more and reduce the cost of food and the N70,000 will make a little sense.
“I am okay with the N70,000 because that is what the Federal Government proposes and we have to support what they say. Let’s not go about trying to create a crisis. The government has said N70,000 and it is left for labour to consider it and if they don’t consider it, congratulations. I think we should focus more on things that bring peace and togetherness to the country,” he stated.
