Nigeria: Press spotlights dumping of negotiation on minimum wage by Labour, others

The report that the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress on Wednesday dumped the minimum wage negotiation after the Federal Government offered to pay N48,000, a figure far below the N615,00 the unions were demanding as the new national minimum wage dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Punch reports that the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress on Wednesday dumped the minimum wage negotiation after the Federal Government offered to pay N48,000, a figure far below the N615,00 the unions were demanding as the new national minimum wage.
After abandoning the session, the furious labour leaders summoned an emergency press conference where they vented their displeasure with the offer, describing it as ‘an insult to the sensibilities of Nigerian workers.’
This was the second time in two weeks that the negotiation had run into trouble. The last session, held on April 29, deadlocked after organised labour insisted on N615,000 minimum wage.
The Federal Government disagreed with labour’s demand, which it deemed unreasonable.
However, the National President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, explained that the amount was arrived at after analysing the current economic situation and the needs of an average Nigerian family of six.
Rationalising the N615,000 demand, the labour leader stated, “Living wage is such that will, at least, keep you alive. It is not a wage that will make you poorer and poorer. It is not a wage that will make you borrow to go to work. It is not a wage that will lead you to be in the hospital every day because of malnutrition. For that living wage, we have tried to look at N615,000.
The newspaper says that the average price of imported food commodities to Nigeria rose to its highest level, reaching 34 per cent in one year between April 2023 and April 2024.
This represents an increase of 200 basis points from 32 per cent recorded in March 2024, according to an analysis of the Consumer Price Index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.
The Federal Government had ruled out the importation of food as part of strategies to address the high costs of foodstuffs and the economic hardship troubling the country.
However, internal and external factors including global supply chain shocks following the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, surge in global oil prices, FX scarcity and subsequent depreciation of the local currency have increased the nation’s dependence on food imports.
In April, Nigeria saw its inflation rate rise for the 16th straight month, spurred by a threefold surge in electricity tariffs and increased transportation expenses.
This represents a month-over-month increase of 0.49 per cent points in the headline inflation rate but was lower than the median estimate of eight economists in a Bloomberg survey of 34.2 per cent.
Comparing year-on-year data, the inflation rate in April 2024 was 11.47 percentage points higher than in April 2023, where it stood at 22.22 per cent. This indicates that the headline inflation rate has risen significantly over the past year.
The Vanguard newspaper reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), says the Nigerian gas sector is now well-positioned to help businesses in the country generate more revenue.
The Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPCL, Mele Kyari said this when he spoke with newsmen on Wednesday in Owerri.
He spoke on the sidelines of the presidential inauguration of three critical gas infrastructures in Delta and Owerri.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that President Bola Tinubu inaugurated the ANOH-OB3 CTMS gas pipeline and ANOH gas processing plant in Assa, Ohaji/Egbema in Imo.
Tinubu also inaugurated the expansion of the AHL gas processing plant 2 gas project in Kwale in Delta.
The projects are being undertaken by NNPC Ltd and partners in line with Tinubu’s commitment to significantly leverage gas to grow the economy.
According to Kyari, the Tinubu-led administration is ensuring a conducive environment for businesses to thrive in the country.
“There’s ample fiscal environment today. The laws are good. It encourages gas development, and taxation is lower. Businesses can make more money from gas in this country.
“And that is why we are seeing renewed interest in taking investments in the floating Liquefied Natural Gas (LNGs) that is already happening.
“We are already progressing massively on one other LNG product, and there are a number of other floating LNG projects that are now ongoing,” he said. The newspaper says that the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, said yesterday Nigerians were in pain due to policies introduced by President Bola Tinubu.
Kukah, however, expressed the hope that with time, such policies should be amended to serve the welfare of the people.
Speaking to State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with the President at the presidential Villa, Abuja, he advised the President to open a channel of communication with the people on when his policies would begin to yield results.
Asked to assess Tinubu’s administration as it prepares to celebrate the first year in office, Kukah said: “I ’m sure many people will tell you that one year is not enough to make a judgment. However, from where we all stand, we know that we are all in a very difficult situation. “Nigerians are in various levels of pain and they are pains that are unintended. But they are the results of certain policy decisions that hopefully, with time, can be amended to serve the welfare of the people.
“Because I know that the essence of government is to guarantee the welfare and security of ordinary citizens, I believe the times we are in now are very difficult times and nobody should be under any illusion. But there are also times for renewal.
“We just need to commit ourselves to the fact that building a good society takes a lot of time. It’s not something that is done in one lifetime. And for me, the most important thing is to continue on the building blocks of the things we think are being done well.
“My argument has always been that the government needs to very quickly improve the quality of communication so that Nigerians can, at least, get a sense of how long is it going to be before food is ready.”
GIK/APA