The Centre
for Credible Leadership and Citizens Awareness yesterday appealed to organised
labour to accept the N22,500 being offered as minimum wage by state governors
in the overall interest of the country, saying shutting down the country will
only have negative effect on the already suffering masses.
Director
General of the centre, Dr. Nwambu Gabriel, who said he was speaking for a
coalition of over 79 civil society organisations, said anything above the
figure being offered by the governors will lead to inflation.
He added
that the burden of paying salaries is on state governments, saying it is one
thing to agree but another thing to be able to pay, based on the prevailing
economic situation in Nigeria.
He said it
is also the responsibility of Nigerian workers to ensure that the economy of
Nigeria does not collapse.
He said: “As
a coalition of civil society organisations, therefore, who are mindful of the
degree of commitment of the average worker in Nigeria, we hereby call on the
organised labour, NLC, TUC, etc, as the true, patriotic citizens of Nigeria
they are, to please reconsider the N22,500 as realistic and achievable in order
to avert an imminent collapse of the economy and possible retrenchment of the
workforce.
“The primary
responsibility of any government is beyond salary payment. Consequently, today,
the 2nd day of November, 2018, may we also advise that embarking on another
national strike action or a boycott of the 2019 general election, which is
tantamount to disenfranchising the entire nation’s labour force, is notonly
anti-democratic but will also be counterproductive to the Nigerian state.
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