Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State on Sunday
announced a new minimum wage of N25,000 with effect from May 1, 2016 for
workers.Oshiomhole who was addressing a rally organised by the
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), to mark
this year’s Workers’ Day at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin,
announced the increment from the present N18, 000 minimum.
“With
effect from today, the new minimum wage for government workers shall now
be N25,000, and the new minimum wage will cut across board”, the
former trade union leader said.
The workers who before the
announcement had expressed dissatisfaction over their poor welfare
jumped for joy and happily marched in appreciation of the new minimum
wage as announced by the Governor.
Earlier in their respective
speeches, the Chairman of NLC, Comrade Emma Ademokun and his TUC
counterpart, Comrade Ohue Marshal, had expressed concern over a number
of problems affecting Nigerians.
Some of them are the persistent scarcity of petroleum product, epileptic power supply and illegal electricity tariff increase.
They
also mentioned spiralling increase in cost of living, insecurity,
kidnapping, rampaging herdsmen, Boko Haram, irregular payment of
salaries resulting in accumulation of arrears, growing rate of
unemployment with the attendant social vices.
The Workers’ Day rally was however marred with low turn out of workers.
The new wage minimum wage comes at a time no fewer than 27 states in Nigeria are finding it difficult to pay workers.