2 THURSDAY , NOVEMBER 30 , 2017
Vox pop
Should financial clout of states determine minimum wage ?
THE financial clout of states cannot determine the minimum wage . All that most of the states need ; in terms of payment
• Charles Oronsaye ( Ex-Edo State Chairman , Trade Union Congress )
PRESENTLY , some states cannot even pay the minimum wage of N18,000 . Most states still rely on monthly Federal Account Allocation Committee to pay salaries and meet other obligations of running government .
Our revenue source remains skewed in favour of monthly FAAC for most states . It will be difficult for all the states to pay a ( uniform ) new minimum wage because their financial capacity is not the same .
States should rather be encouraged to explore other revenue sources beyond FAAC to ensure their respective fiscal stability for them to have the capacity to pay salaries to their workers as and when due .
ONE may choose to support the position that individual states must be free to determine what they pay their workers , given their different capacities to generate revenue . States like Rivers and Lagos may be at a higher pedestal in paying their workers higher wages considering what they generate monthly , while Osun and Ekiti states may be constrained to pay less .
However , it will be very unfair to leave the states entirely to do the business of determining what they pay their workers , given the fact that workers share similar economic responsibilities everywhere . They operate in the same country , facing very similar problems , especially inflation . Even as we speak , workers in federal agencies earn more than what workers in
• Mr . Salawudeen Sulaimon ( An Ekitibased public affairs commentator ) of salaries is financial discipline . But they do not have it . If they do , they would be able to pay . The thing with ( most of ) the states is that , they have their priority which is political and personal and that influences everything they do .
So , all this cry of no money to pay is a way of dodging the issue . To be fair , Edo State does not owe its workers and there are states more buoyant than Edo , but they owe . Many states do not want to look inwards and really harness their internal revenue . Under the old regional arrangement of Nigeria , was there any state that could be said not to be buoyant ?
The states then had good management and they harnessed their sources of revenue to the maximum . The sorry state of things in Nigeria has to do with the culture of the Federal Government playing the role of Father Christmas using oil revenue . if not , there is no state that one can say categorically has no income if it looks inwards in addition to what the Federal Government provides .
• Rislanudeen Mohammed ( Managing Director , Safmur Investments Limited )
the states earn . it is workers across the states who are suffering the most , with some of the states owing close to two years of salary arrears .
Currently , Lagos and Rivers are very rich and make more than enough revenue monthly to pay their workers ’ higher wages . But it has been found that this has not really been the case . The problem is lack of fundamental basis upon which government , whether federal or state , must operate when it comes to the payment of workers .
What we have in Nigeria has always been an arbitrary sum fixed at the whim of politicians to humiliate workers . These are the same set of people who pay themselves such humongous amount as salaries . Again , even when salaries are regular , what is the strength of the naira ?
Currently , no worker in the state who is on grade level 14 or 15 earns N200,000 , except medical doctors or other specialists in the health sector . States , so far , have not really done enough in determining the monthly take home of their workers .
Even in earlier times when states pay regularly , the familiar expression was ‘ i don ’ t know how to thank my employer , who gives me a take home pay that cannot take me home .’
The general salary structure in the country is appallingly degrading and humiliating and when a new scale is being agreed , states should not be at liberty to fix their own . There has to be a way in which what workers get paid is determined by a general consensus . What is sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander .
NigERiA is currently practising federalism . in a federal structure , each state should determine what it should pay as minimum wage depending on its financial capacity and other variables . The current minimum wage of N18,000 per month was set over 10 years ago ; it is due for review in line with the current trend . Under the Labour Law , minimum wage should be reviewed periodically as is the case with the emoluments of politicians .
The salary of political office holders are reviewed periodically and their salaries are very huge , running into millions of naira with a lot of allowances . i think the same thing should apply to civil servants who are the engine room of growth in every economy or state . The minimum wage and the revenue allocation formula of the three tiers of government should also be reviewed so as to give the states the financial capacity to pay whatever is arrived at as minimum wage .
There should be a benchmark . But in a federal structure , you do not dictate to states . There should be a benchmark agreed upon by the various labour unions to ensure that no state goes below the benchmark . Nigerian workers are suffering . States that have more financial muscle could pay more while there should be a minimum benchmark for other states that do not have much . If you are comparing Kebbi State with Lagos State , you should also know that the workforce of Lagos State is higher than that of Kebbi State for instance .
Lagos has a lot of money but it has a lot of responsibilities too when compared to Kebbi State . So , Kebbi State for instance , should not look at the financial muscle of Lagos State , it should also look at the responsibilities of Lagos State which is higher than its ( Kebbi ’ s ) own . Refusal to pay workers ’ salaries under the Labour Law is a criminal offence , but unfortunately this is a nation where laws are observed in the breach . It is a criminal offence for a worker not to be paid at the
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agree that states should be able to determine the minimum wage they pay to their workers . The issue of minimum wage should be predicated on standard procedures . We have the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress who should work out the standard minimum
• Usman Abdul ( President , Campaign for Democracy )
• Mr . Issa Manzuma ( Chairman , Nigerian Bar Association , Ilorin branch )
end of the month .
All tiers of government must be alive to their responsibilities . That is the oath of office they took .
The oath of office comprises duties and obligations that every government promises to discharge . The first item is security , and the next is the welfare of the citizens . They are contained in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ( 1999 ) and it is part of the oath of office . In referring to social welfare , Section 17 subsections 1 , 2 and 3 of the 1999 Constitution is quite apposite ; it is quite relevant . it states that ‘ the state shall direct its policy thrust to ensuring that all citizens , without discrimination on any group whatsoever , have the opportunity for security , adequate means of livelihood as well as adequate opportunity to secure suitable employment .’ The emphasis is on means of livelihood . If salaries are not paid , how can a man ’ s means of livelihood be secured ?
wage for states .
Many state governments are flamboyant in expenditure . They have abandoned capital projects littering the states here and there . They also owe workers salaries . There is no state which is not viable in Nigeria and which cannot conveniently pay salaries . Why some of them find it difficult to pay the agreed proposed minimum wage is because of their running costs .
They allocate the bulk of the money accruing to the states to their commissioners , their agencies and to themselves . There is no state that cannot generate revenue internally . In addition to the subventions from the Federal Government , they can clear workers ’ salaries . Let states therefore harness their igR and work out a minimum wage which should be at least N40,000 or N45,000 . There must be a standard benchmark and all states must operate within that benchmark so that we can better the lot of our workers . There is no poor state in Nigeria .
• Compiled by : Success Nwogu , Ifeanyi Onuba , Kamarudeen Ogundele , Olaleye Aluko and Alexander Okere