On the new minimum wage

Few days ago, it was reported that Mr. President has signed into law, the pending bill passed by the two chambers of the national assembly, approving N30,000 new minimum wage for workers in our country. For many workers, it is good news that is worth celebrating for two reasons. First, it means more money in the pockets of fellow workers, whose purchasing powers have been heavily whittled down over the years due to unbearable levels of inflation. Second, it signifies that government has the listening ears of the workers, who are demanding for a better deal.

Before now, workers had agitated for an upward review of the minimum wage, as required by law. Nothing really happened. Why this is so is simply because we find ourselves in a country where nothing works normally until there is agitation. There is hardly anything that works on its own in our dear country. The experience here is that state institutions are either too weak to run the system or that nobody even cares about whether things are running smoothly or not. We are in a society that merely exists by providence. In otherwords, nothing is deliberately put in place to ensure that certain input yields desired outcomes. Many things happen only by chance. What a confused society. It is this confusion of not putting the right mechanism in place to address the needs of workers that had encouraged workers’ restiveness across the country.

Before we continue, let’s revisit what an average worker daily encounters. Getting a paid job is extremely difficult. At the end, many workers settle for only what is available, not what they either desire or what qualified to do. For instance, a master’s degree holder from a leading university had to take up a teaching job in a private primary school when nothing was forthcoming after many years of graduation. The salary of that fellow is less than N10,000 per month. What should we expect from such a teacher, if not low productivity and morale? Because of the meager income, he treks to the office, eats just one meal in a day and does not have savings at all. By the time he gets back home in the evening, he is completely tired and exhausted. Hence, no time for revision and preparation of lesson plan for the next day. What suffers? Academic standards and shallow knowledge imparted on the students.

When the worker falls sick, he has no money to treat himself properly in a private clinic. Going to public hospitals is patriotic but the problem is that hardly do people get the desired attention from such places. It seems the operators of public establishments are less concerned with improving the lot of the ordinary folks. What appears to be paramount is merely seen to be doing their jobs, not rendering service or creating utility per se. For it is when they are seen doing their work that they are promoted, not necessarily creating utility or satisfaction. The worker has to still contend with feeding his family, paying school fees, self-maintenance and attending to other emergency needs with the meager pay. At the end, he resorts to taking of loans. Many workers are seriously enmeshed in one form of loan or another. This is the true situation with both public and private employees, except few business concerns that can afford to pay better wages to their workers. The truth is that at the end of the day, there is not much difference in terms of workers living a comfortable life.

It is for these reasons that the wage increase would make a difference, especially where the statutory workforce is more than 25 employees. Without further delay, the necessary machinery should be put in place to ensure that the next salary of workers reflects the wage increase. This should be the priority of government, considering the usual practice of delays when policy statements are made in relation to implementation. Already, this singular action by both the legislature and the executive has endeared them to the hearts of the people.

There is the direct effect of salary spendings on the economy of a nation. When the purchasing power of the workers is increased, there would be an improvement in the quantum of money in circulation. It means better empowerment for the workers, whose lifestyle should be better off, no matter how small is the wage increase when compared with previous earnings. Let the truth be told that the propensity to keep getting loans may not abate even with the new salary regime. The difference it should make would be that access to better income is made possible. It is only hoped that when the new minimum wage becomes operational, the total package to be earned is increased significantly. This gesture should motivate them for enhanced service delivery that would justify the workers’ pay. Afterall, the hallmark of any worker to his organisation is high productivity. This is what the new wage should stimulate.

Leave a Reply