Members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday assured Nigerian workers of their support for a “living wage” to be paid to them by employers in all sectors of the economy.
They also backed a raise in the National Minimum Wage to increase the purchasing power of workers.
The members had passed a resolution specifically to “appreciate the efforts and resilience” of workers in the face of the current economic challenges in the country.
A member from Imo State, Mr. Ezenwa Onyewuchi, had moved the motion on the matter and led the debate, urging authorities at all levels to appreciate the sacrifice of workers.
“The House is worried that the economic recession has been hard on the average Nigerian worker and there is the massive depreciation of workers’ purchasing power, job losses and unpaid salaries/benefits,” he stated.
Several members, who supported the motion, admitted that the current national minimum wage of N18,000 was no longer realistic in the face of the declining purchasing power of workers.
For instance, a member from Kogi State, Mr. Sunday Karimi, observed that the depreciation in the value of the Naira invariably affected the value of what N18,000 could buy from the market.
He added, “If the Naira has lost about 50 per cent of its value, what it means is that the N18,000 can only buy goods in the worth of N9,000 today.
“But, worse still, some states like Kogi, it has not paid salaries for 15 months.
“How are these workers expected to survive? Are we saying that these workers don’t have families to feed, pay school fees or rent?”
The session was presided over by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, who highlighted steps already taken to improve the welfare of workers.
He assured the organised labour that the House would speed up any proposed legislative process to cater for their well-being.
Dogara said the House would not hesitate to pass a bill to raise the minimum wage.
“make efforts to ensure that May Day rallies would continue to have meaning.”
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