The Nigeria Labour Congress Lagos Council has expressed mixed reactions to the newly approved national minimum wage of N70,000 for civil servants in the country.
While acknowledging that the increase is a step forward, the council believes that the amount is unsustainable for workers in Lagos State considering the prevailing economic situations.
The Chairman of NLC Lagos Council, Comrade Funmi Sessi, accused the Governors’ Forum of being responsible for the meager new minimum wage approval, stating that they insisted on paying N50,000 during negotiations. She expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for approving a higher amount but noted that it still falls short of their expectations.
Sessi emphasized that the N70,000 minimum wage may not be sufficient to cater to the living demands of workers in Lagos, considering the high cost of living in the state. She appealed to the Lagos State Government to consider the “Lagos factor” and negotiate further to add a special allowance to the wages of workers in the state.
“We in Lagos State, rightly know that Lagos is a city, we need to negotiate further with the state government… Lagos State Government needs to look critically into our own and add Lagos factor to our wages,” Sessi said.
She highlighted the high cost of living in Lagos, citing the example of rent allowances, where a two-bedroom flat costs at least N1 million annually. Sessi appealed to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to consider the plight of workers in the state and negotiate a better deal.
“I would like to express a mixed reaction to the newly approved N70,000 minimum wage by the Federal Government… We believed, and we know that President Bola Tinubu would have done better than the approved N70,000. If not for the reactions of the Governors Forum, where the Governors insisted on N50,000, we believed President Tinubu’s approval would have been in the range of N100,000.”
She continued, “Though, the N70,000 falls short of our expectations but we still thank God, at least we were able to push a little further than the N62,000 the government was proposing to pay because of the reactions of the governors and private employers as well.”
Sessi also appreciated the added percentage to retirees’ stipends, ranging from 20% to 28% depending on their level.
