James Atang Itsegok
As Nigeria’s general elections have come and gone and results already declared, no time is as good as now for both elected officials and the electorates to hone in on the job ahead. Elected officials, be they governors or lawmakers, need to familiarise themselves with reports showcasing what people most desire in the coming years.
This will be part of deepening democracy; and in any event, Nigerians are using various platforms to set agenda for the in-coming government. It is important that these expressions are taken seriously, given that the country is plagued by a myriad of governance deficits.
A recent survey conducted by Political Africa Initiative (POLAF) reveals that the electorate want the government to address issues around rising poverty, the health, insecurity and education sectors. This is in synergy with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data, which state that at least 133 million people are experiencing multidimensional poverty in health, education, living standards and work and shocks.
Beyond these, creeping disillusionment, unemployment, insecurity or rising crime wave as well as very high cost of living are some of the issues begging for urgent attention. Newly elected officials must seize the momentum of their freshness in terms or in government, coupled with the renewed goodwill offered by the people, to hit the ground running in solving these problems.
In 2020, Nigeria recorded an all-time high unemployment rate of 33.3 per cent. Analysts have projected that it may have grown well above 40 per cent. Also, the proportion of Nigerians living in poverty seems to be increasing; while poverty and inflation are biting harder in the country. The country’s inflation rate rose in January 2023 to a fresh 17-year high after slowing down in December.
Despite the odds, Nigerian democracy is sophisticated, it should be celebrated, Nigerians should be happy. This year, 2023 we celebrated twenty-four years of uninterrupted democracy; that is why we do advise the government to celebrate it in a big way. Now, there is everything to celebrate. Since 1999, we have had seven presidential elections, in many states there have been change of government from the ruling party to the opposition party in recent years; if you ask me that is a success. The process may not be perfect, we may not be there yet, or in a position that we can sit down and relax. But if you look at it no democracy ever sits down and relax; even in America before they had a right wing racist as the President. You had in UK a Prime Minister that wants to suspend parliament; in Nigeria that has not happened. We had Obasanjo and his plot for life presidency, which was presented like a third term agenda. If we had not aborted that Obasanjo would still have been ruling now. We should celebrate our democracy.
Despite these achievements, some Nigerians on the street still thinks there is nothing to celebrate, because their condition of living has not improved? However, there is a difference between democracy and good governance; what you are talking about is good governance. Democracy is the right of the people to have a say on how they are been governed. The privilege of every citizen to elect the person they think can do the job; may be, by doing so, it could be on tribal reasons, religion, ethnicity or all that. If you say this individual is a Christian, but is not competent but you voted him into public office and then you turn around and blame democracy, I am sorry. It does not work that way; democracy gives you the liberty to choose your leader, even if he is the wrong person. Like in the United States where people knew that the man was a racist and they still went ahead and voted for him; that is democracy.
For emphases, I would say it again that democracy is a freedom and it allows you to choose your leader. So, what you discover is that voting is done based on what I called primordial sentiment; ethnicity plays a huge role in how Nigerians vote, religion plays a key role too on how Nigerians vote. That is a back-way of looking at things; so, the moment we decide to embrace merit that is to say; this individual is not from my tribe, but he is competent I would vote for him. That is why I say we should de-emphasise certificate; the focus should be on integrity, but these days the average Nigerian is taking money before voting. People say, poverty is the reason for bad choice, but I would say bad choice is the reason for poverty. Look at the voter turnout in the last general election, out of the total 93.47 million registered voters, only 24.9 million persons voted in the just concluded presidential and National Assembly elections. This represents a meagre 26.72 percent voter turnout, the lowest since the return to democracy in 1999. Some people think they are too big or too rich to vote and yet turn around to complain about bad governance.
As part of our expectations, a living wage is very important to the livelihood of Nigerian workers and their family. Oftentimes people look at a worker as an individual but the livelihood of a worker goes beyond him or herself because it extends to the family. The wage a worker earns in a month has multiple uses and impact.
Therefore, the government should start seeing a worker as a tree with many branches, whose monthly earning contributes in no small measure to maintain peace in the society and sustain the economy of the country. The fact that the government apparently refuses to prioritise provision of living wage is because the government chooses to be blind to the importance of living wage. Today in Nigeria what we call minimum wage is grossly inadequate or lack of its implementation. If you look at the value of goods and services in the market, it is obvious that the Nigerian government’s N30,000 approved minimum wage is worthless and of no value to the market prices of goods and services. As at today, when you minus a worker’s transportation and daily feeding from the N30,000 minimum wage, you realise that a worker cannot afford to feed or take care of his or her dependents. And this is why we clamour for a living wage.
With this reality in mind, we as trade Union expect the incoming government not to wait for them to protest before it embarks on policies that facilitate a better living wage for workers. No one needs to be told of the positive ripple effect of workers earning a living wage. A living wage for workers is a chain reaction that works wonders to the economic and general well being of a nation.
We also need to note that a living wage can only be beneficial when the government regulates the price of goods and services. With the current inflation and skyrocketing price of goods and services, even if the minimum wage is increased today to whatever amount, workers will still be at a disadvantaged position. So to start with, the incoming Nigeria government must find a way to ensure that prices of basic commodities like petroleum and the likes are affordable.
This is why workers have a duty to rethink who should be in the helm of affairs of Nigeria. Because a leader who understands and cares about the welfare of workers will surely pursue policies that will be of benefit to workers and citizens at large. So, workers need to always vote for leaders that can fight corruption because provision of workers welfare is mostly hindered by corruption. When, because of corruption, resources are scarce, there won’t be funds available to pay a decent wage to workers.
As Nigerians hope for a better living condition under a new administration starting from May 29, 2023 decent work and a living wage tops workers’ expectations. A living wage is very important to the livelihood of Nigerian workers and their family. Oftentimes people look at a worker as an individual but the livelihood of a worker goes beyond him or herself because it extends to the family. The wage a worker earns in a month has multiple uses and impact.
Therefore, the government should start seeing a worker as a tree with many branches, whose monthly earning contributes in no small measure to maintain peace in the society and sustain the economy of the country. The fact that the government apparently refuses to prioritise provision of living wage is because the government chooses to be blind to the importance of living wage. Today in Nigeria what we call minimum wage is grossly inadequate. If you look at the value of goods and services in the market, it is obvious that the Nigerian government’s N30,000 approved minimum wage is worthless and of no value to the market prices of goods and services. As at today, when you minus a worker’s transportation and daily feeding from the N30,000 minimum wage, you realise that a worker cannot afford to feed or take care of his or her dependents. And this is why we clamour for a living wage.
With this reality in mind, we as a trade union expect the incoming government not to wait for us to protest before it embarks on policies that facilitate a better living wage for workers. No one needs to be told of the positive ripple effect of workers earning a living wage. A living wage for workers is a chain reaction that works wonders to the economic and general well being of a nation.
We also need to note that a living wage can only be beneficial when the government regulates the price of goods and services. With the current inflation and skyrocketing price of goods and services, even if the minimum wage is increased today to whatever amount, workers will still be at a disadvantaged position. So to start with, the incoming Nigeria government must find a way to ensure that prices of basic commodities like petroleum and the likes are affordable. This is why workers have a duty to rethink who should be in the helm of affairs of Nigeria. Because a leader who understands and cares about the welfare of workers will surely pursue policies that will be of benefit to workers and citizens at large. So, workers need to vote for leaders that can fight corruption because provision of workers welfare is mostly hindered by corruption. When, because of corruption, resources are scarce, there won’t be funds available to pay a decent wage to workers.
It is unfortunate that what workers are paid in Nigeria is salve wage not a living wage. So this is why we are calling on the incoming government of Nigeria to prioritise paying living wage to workers.
Therefore, the priority for a living wage for workers should go beyond announcing a certain figure of minimum wage to paying a living wage to workers without making issues of it. Employment and living wage, also known as decent wage are the best things any citizen would love to have. In Nigeria, it is a double tragedy because there is a high rate of unemployment and most workers are paid depressing wages. Wages paid to workers in Nigeria are ridiculous and among the lowest in the West Africa sub region.
Also it is really depressing to talk about living wage in Nigeria today. This is because it is disheartening that both the federal and state governments complain about paying a miserable sum of N30,000 national minimum wage, a figure that is below what most private sector employers pay. And it’s laughable that many state governors have refused to pay the minimum wage, claiming not having money to implement the N30,000 minimum wage which is below $50.
If somebody goes to work for 30 days and you pay him or her below $50 and the fellow has a wife, a child and doesn’t own a house, from where will he pay for his house rent, his child school fees, transport himself to work weekly, feed himself, the wife and the child? So, you see we are in a cul de sac, where nothing seems to work. Therefore, it is time for federal and state governments in Nigeria to prioritise payment of a living wage. Look at the reality of the economic situation in the country and pay workers a wage that can sustain them and their families.
Building bridges and roads are good development projects, but a decent living of your citizens is even the most important developmental project. Government officials and politicians should know that they can only live in peace and enjoy the money they amass from public funds if there is peace on the land. All over the world, the issue of wage and employment is always at the front burner. Whether a country’s economy is flourishing or weak, the issue of wages is always important because when people work they expect to earn a wage. So, at any given point in time, this is an issue that will always come up for discussion.
Looking at the issue of living wage and employment from the point of national development, without the workforce, whether in the public or private sector, there won’t be anything called economy or society. Productivity and production are key to life in any way you want to look at it. Therefore, the workforce is a necessity. If you don’t have a workforce, you can’t grow the economy, you can’t produce and you actually cannot do anything. As the workforce drives the economy, their motivation is wage and that wage should be sustainable.
Workers deserve a living wage. We should also take into cognisance that each worker has dependents, citizens of the country that wage sustains. Whereas in Nigeria the government hardly provides a social security net for the unemployed, you need not be told the implications continue in the path of not paying living wage to workers. Political stability in recent times in Nigeria is evidence of what may come. Banditry, Boko Haram, kidnapping, etc., are already here. Imagine that the majority of the people who have made the above listed crime behaviour a way of life, are working and earning a living wage, the reverse will surely be the case. So, if you tie all of these together, you begin to understand that the clamour for a living wage or proper remuneration is not displaced.
A responsible government must understand and appreciate the fact that production is key to a sustainable economy and that if the workforce is not well remunerated, the result is always disastrous. So, employment, living wage and production are very key. Therefore, every responsible government must always come up with policies that pursue stability and harmony of its country by providing employment opportunities and living wages for its citizens.
The importance of living wage and decent work cannot be overemphasised, especially in this era of economic crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and other factors. Provision of decent work and payment of living wage are among the best policy plans a serious government should pursue to sustain its economy and maintain a peaceful society. Another one like these two is provision of social security net.
The positive chain reaction effect of paying workers a living wage is strong purchasing power, more consumption of goods and services, more production, employment opportunities, tax for the governmen2t and economic growth of a country. Even without workers demanding or protesting for it, a government that wants to develop its country and by extension the economic wellbeing of its citizens need not be told that decent work and living wage is sacrosanct to achieving it.
Incase both the federal and state governments in Nigeria don’t know the gains the provision of decent work and payment of living wage offers to the socioeconomic development of a country, they should inquire today and begin a walk in this direction because the benefits are huge. Living wage is what motivates the workers to strive towards attaining productivity. Living wage no doubt enhances the well being of citizens and economic growth of a country. Therefore, paying living wage and provision of decent jobs are the best developmental strides the incoming administration should prioritise for the purpose of ensuring peaceful and viable Nigeria as a country. Workers are looking forward to it. They are tired of earning wages but being. It is expected therefore of the incoming government to take a total shift from the mentality of not prioritising workers welfare to making it the first among most important policies. Government must begin to make targeted efforts to reduce the level of poverty and suffering of workers. Investing in workers welfare by paying a living wage and provision of social security is a path that will lead to better days in every facet of Nigeria’s economy and development.
