Civil servants across the country have asked the state governors to slash their salaries and allowances and those of their appointees to enable them to pay the new minimum wage of N62,000 proposed by the federal government.
The civil servants, who spoke to our correspondents on condition of anonymity, yesterday, slammed the governors for saying they could not afford the proposed wage.
The workers said they would sue the governors should they refuse to implement the new minimum wage when approved by the federal government.
This is as the organised labour also yesterday described the stance of the state governors on the issue as insensitive, wicked and selfish.
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) had, on Friday, stated that state governments could not afford to pay N60,000 as new minimum wage and that some states would end up borrowing to pay workers.
Civil servants speak
In separate interviews with our correspondents yesterday, civil servants across the country expressed surprise at the governors’ position on the new minimum wage.
Kwara
A teacher in Kwara State, who simply identified herself as ‘Madam Dame’, said: “No worker can survive with the present situation. Before the removal of fuel subsidy, we know what Kwara State used to get, which has now risen to over N9 billion monthly in addition to the increased IGR. They (governors) should be able to pay the minimum wage conveniently.”
A staff of the state’s revenue service said, “Just N60,000; the states should be able to pay. This is wickedness in this economic hardship. The labour should continue the strike if the other parties refuse. I spend N30,000 monthly on transportation, it doesn’t make sense.
“Nigerian governors have money and they can pay it. If they insist they can’t, then they should revert the fuel price. The governors should have mercy on Nigerian workers.”
For Mr Nosahare, who works in a ministry in Kwara State, “Governors are just playing with our feelings; they are not ready to do anything for us. They should look at what the citizens are going through in the present circumstance. They should try to tame or control the escalating prices of food and other amenities which are the major problem.”
Enugu
A civil servant in Enugu State, Mrs Nwaka Ogbonne, said state governments should join the federal government and pay the proposed N60,000 minimum wage.
“These days, we even hear that they (the governors) receive times three, what their predecessors were receiving as monthly allocations. So, why shouldn’t they pay the proposed N60,000 minimum wage? They don’t have any genuine reason not to pay, except that a lot of them have decided to be anti-people in their policies,” she said.
Another civil servant in the state, Mr James Nwokporor, said governors should show the political will to complement the federal government’s efforts in ameliorating the suffering of workers.
“No governor in the present day Nigeria has any reason not to pay the proposed N60,000 minimum wage. But the truth remains that they (the governors) have constituted themselves as a major problem facing the country.
“They should look inwards and diversify the economies of their states; that is assuming, without conceding the fact that the monthly allocations are not enough to carry their wage bills,” he said.
Kaduna
A civil servant in Kaduna said: “We are not happy to hear from the governors that N60,000 as the minimum wage is not sustainable for them, especially considering the increase in federal allocations,” he said.
Abdul reminded the governors that “the next elections are approaching, and workers are aware of what actions to take to effect change in government.
Usmanu, a worker in the Kaduna State judiciary, accused state governors of insincerity, asking “why can’t they reduce the number of their appointees to save more money to pay the workers who do most of the work.”
He emphasized the need for governors to increase their states’ internally generated revenue (IGR) to adequately pay workers’ salaries.
Bayelsa
A staff member of the Bayelsa State Physical Planning Agency, alleged that governors in Nigeria “are real enemies of the masses for rejecting the proposed N60,000 national minimum wage even when the labour union is proposing something higher based on economic realities.”
He said: “This is man’s inhumanity to man, if the removal of fuel subsidy and other subsidies were meant to bring more money to the government, they should use that money to better the lives of the working class by paying them the salary commensurate with the situation in the country.”
Dailytrust
