Labour Unions, Nation Building and Implementation of the New National Minimum Wage in Nigeria -By Sa’ad Abubakar Zongre

Some of us have being clamouring for the introduction and adoption of History as a compulsory subject in our primary and secondary schools based on our conviction that a history-conscious society tends to be more enlightened, pragmatic, progressive, appreciative, accommodative, tolerant and just in it’s perception, understanding and interpretation of unfolding events in the country.

It is usually and understandably difficult if not impossible for someone with little, poor or no sense of history to view or comprehend current happenings/events based on their antecedents or preceding factors because his/her mindset is fixated on the issue(s) of the moment only; thereby rendering his/her understanding and interpretation of unfolding events defective, lacking in depth and largely misleading.

As a result of this, many Nigerians are oblivious of the crucial roles played by the labour/trade movement in the struggle for Nigeria’s independence and in nation-building thereafter. Their ignorance of this historical fact made them to erroneously assumed that the organized labour is only relevant or active in matters pertainining to fighting for the welfare of Nigerian workers only while ignoring other issues garmane to the continuous existence, survival and success of the Nigerian project.

They never knew that the Nigerian labour/trade movement was as instrumental as the “Jam’iyar Mutanen Arewa”, which later metamorphosed into a political party known as the Northern People’s Congress (NPC), “Omo Egbe Oduduwa”, which later also metamorphosed into a political party known “Action Group” (AG) and the more nationally-inclined political party known as “National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC) in the anti-colonial struggles that eventually led to the attainment of independence by Nigeria in 1960.

They also never knew that the most outstanding leader of the labour/trade movement during colonialism, Sir (Pa) Michael Imoudu was a nationalist to the core and a hero of Nigeria’s independence struggles in the same class with our foremost nationalists such as Sir Herbert Macaulay, Sir Nnamdi Azikiwe (the Zik of Africa), Sir (Alhaji) Abubakar Tafawa Balwa (the Golden Voice of Africa), Sir (Chief) Obafemi Awolowo, Sir (Alhaji) Ahmadu Bello (the Sardauna of Sokoto) etc, because of the courageous manner he mobilized indigenous/native workers in challenging some arbitrary colonial policies, particularly poor wages and working conditions in the overall interest of Nigeria’s struggles for independence.

They equally do not know that many members of the labour/trade movement or indigenous/native workers even paid the supreme price in their struggles for Nigeria’s independence with the bloodiest one been the “Iva” Valley Massacre of 18th November, 1949 in which over 50 coal-mine workers in the suburb of Enugu, present Enugu State revolting against poor wages and harsh working conditions were brutally gunned down by the ant-riot unit of the colonial police.

Most of those killed were reported to had breathed their last clinching their fists while defiantly chanting “Independent Nigeria…Independent Nigeria…Independent Nigeria”!

Having acknowledged and appreciated the vital roles played by the labour/trade movement in the attainment of independence and in nation building in the years that followed, the frontline nationalists that emerged as pioneer leaders of independent Nigeria rewarded workers with competitive salary and welfare packages in which even the lowest paid worker in those years lived a decent life free of deprivations which brought the best out of them in terms of high morale and productivity.

In the light of this, it is only those who may not be aware of the fundamental contributions of the labour/trade movement in the Nigerian project due to their weak sense of history that will be attacking or opposing any all inclusive giant efforts aimed at improving the overall living standard of the average Nigerian worker such as embarking on strike action(s) in demand for a holistic implementation of an improved new national minimum wage.
Those opposed to the strike action in demand for a holistic implementation of the new national minimum wage advanced several reasons for taking such a stand as follows;

i. That a holistic implementation of the new national minimum wage is largely not feasible at the moment because most states are not paying even the existing/old Minimum Wage of #18,000 in full.

ii. That the implementation of a new minimum wage will automatically lead to a rise in inflation; which would render the increment in wages almost useless.

iii. That the timing is wrong and has political undertones.

iv. That civil servants constitutes “only” 5% of Nigeria’s population and channelling huge sums of money for their welfare through an improved new minimum wage will deprive the government of much needed funds to service the needs of the remaining 95% of the population.

However, all their reasons are either unfounded, half truths, inaccurate or mere speculations based on the following observations;

i. Contrary to their faulty assumptions, majority of the states in Nigeria have being paying the existing/old minimum wage of #18,000 in full with only a few that are defaulting. As a matter of fact, three (3) states namely, Rivers, Lagos and Edo are paying higher than even the existing/old minimum wage of #18,000.

ii. It is also laughable and economically questionable to claim that implementation of the new minimum wage will result to increased inflation, since it is known to all that prices of goods and services have being on the rise on almost quarterly basis in the last three (3) years or so even without the implementation of the new new minimum wage.

So, what caused the over 100% rise in inflation? Certainly not the yet to be implemented new minimum wage but something else.

iii. There is also nothing wrong with the timing since the new minimum wage is due for upward review over two years ago but the Federal Government tactfully delayed the process citing economic recession, low price of crude oil in the international market and host of other factors to which labour/trade union understood and gave time until they were eventually pushed to the wall and strike action became the only option to force government to act as appropriate and honourably.
And what is political about a strike action meant to achieve an improved new minimum wage for the benefit of all Nigerian workers irrespective of political, religious, sectional or ethnic affiliations?

Anyone who supported strike actions for the holistic implementation of a new minimum wage during former presidents Obasanjo and Jonathan only to opposed it now due to petty sentiment is a hypocrite, sadist, enemy number one to workers and a deep pothole on Nigeria’s road to economic recovery.

iv. Agreed that civil servants constitute a “mere” 5% of the population in Nigeria, but they failed to tell us how many percentage of the remaining 95% are directly or indirectly dependent on this 5% for their source of livelihood.

It is a known fact that each of these 5% of workers cater for two (2), three (3), four (4), five (5), six (6), seven (7), eight (8) or more dependants directly and additional batch of almost equal number indirectly. So, when we multiply the numbers of direct and indirect dependants on each Nigerian worker, we will find out that at the end of the day, these 5% share their monthly salaries with an additional 55-65% of Nigerian population.
Thus, 5% of the approximately 180,000,000 current population of Nigeria is 9,000,000 and when additional 65% is added, it will amount to about 115,000,000 making a total of approximately 124,000,000 Nigerians out of the approximated total of 180,000,000 that depends directly or indirectly on the monthly salaries of workers. This even excludes businesses and other services or economic activies that thrives almost entirely on the patronage of salary earners.

Therefore, it is discernible that the struggles for the actualization of a holistic implementation of the new minimum wage is supposed to be supported by all Nigerians because the benefits directly or indirectly extends to about 70-75 % of the entire population, and its immediate implementation clearly holds the key to the accelerated and long term recovery of the Nigerian economy.

Zongre wrote from Yerima Bappa Sanda Road, Turaki “A” Ward, Jalingo.