Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday assured the Nigeria workers of speedy passage of the new National Minimum Wage. Buhari said this in a message to the workers on the
occasion marking the 2017 May Day Rally with the theme, “Labour
Relations in Economic Recession: An Appraisal”.
The message reads: “I am happy to inform you that Government will
give expeditious consideration to the proposal contained in the
Technical Committee’s Report which was submitted to it on April 6, 2017.
“Government will take necessary steps to implement the final
recommendation of the Main Government/Labour Committee as it relates to
the setting up the new National Minimum Wage Committee and the needed
palliatives.
“This is in order to reduce the discomfort currently being experienced by the Nigerian working class.
“I want to assure you that government will continue to do all at its
disposal to better the lots of all Nigerians and more importantly to
provide a commensurate welfare for all Nigerian workers”.
Buhari said that he was aware that the economic recession had huge
implication for the conduct of industrial relations and noted that this
arose from the fact that the economic recession by its nature was
characterised by a substantial risk of the vicious circles of
low-productivity.
He said others were mass retrenchment of workers and closure of
workplaces due to high cost of doing business, unregulated
subcontracting and outsourcing with its consequences on welfare of
workers among others.
“In the face of these inevitable challenges, you have shown maturity
and understanding in spite of the situation in which we found ourselves.
“I strongly salute your great sense of patriotism and loyalty to the country,” he said.
Buhari appealed for effective deployment of labour relations, an
amalgamated approach that would be used in creating a conducive work
environment that would attract foreign investment for wealth creation.
“Therefore, I call on the organised labour to continue to partner
with this administration by resorting to social dialogue as an
indispensable tool for conflict resolution
“Today, we stand in solitary with workers all over the world to
commemorate this historic Day which marked a turning point in the
economies of the nations and the welfare of the working class”, he said.
He commended the organised labour for their support and encouragement
to the administration’s fight against corruption which was the bane of
sustainable economic development.
He added: “My commitment to fight against corruption is total and irreversible. We must fight corruption before it destroys us.
“As a matter of fact, the workers should be in the forefront of
activities in the realisation of the WhistleBlowing Policy of this
Administration”.