Last Month President Bola Tinubu signed into law the N70,000 new National Minimum Wage Act. Though, some states have begun discussion on the consequential adjustment arising from the new wage ahead of its implementation, most states even the Federal Government are yet to begin implementation as the consequential adjustment has to be agreed on.
To agree on the consequential adjustment and implementation of the new minimum wage is another phase of the long and even protracted battle for workers, especially at the state and local government levels.
To prepare its state councils for the task ahead, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has begun the training of its state council leaders to prepare them for effective strategies for a successful process and help them to learn from past mistakes and map strategies to effectively deliver the benefits of the new wage to workers.
Welcoming participants at a two-day Workshop for the Northern Zone of the country, President of NLC, Joe Ajaero warned state council leaders against betraying workers for personal gains, warning of severe consequences for leaders who compromise their position for selfish reasons.
He said "The choice of the theme for this workshop; "Strategies for Effective implementation of the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act" is therefore intended to help prepare us to evolve effective strategies for a successful process during this cycle. It is intended to help us learn from our past mistakes and map strategies to effectively deliver the benefits of the Law to our members. As we have pointed out earlier, it is only when our members begin to enjoy its benefits that we beat our chest and exclaim; "we have done it"
"Remember comrades, Production they say in Economics is not complete until it reaches the final consumer so this national minimum wage exercise cannot be said to be complete until it reaches all of our members wherever they may be working. Your comrades are the vessels that would be used in delivering this. The extent to which you can deliver the expected benefits is dependent on your capacity and your character. Your focus and determination including your resilience and how you can communicate the process to our members in your respective states is very important. The situation to you presents both challenges and opportunities to you.
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"However, the overall outcome is going to be dependent on the choices you will make. What those choices will be will largely be determined by what your interests are; either to be a responsible and responsive leader or to lead for yourselves and cronies. You must however remember that any of the choices you make will have its consequences.
