By: Ade Phillips
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has stated in its New Year message that the government had failed on its promises to Nigerians on the N35,000 national minimum wage as agreed by the Federal Government and the NLC.
He said during the year under review, Nigerians have faced uncertainties, overcome obstacles, and witnessed moments that may have left them feeling disheartened.
“In 2023, we witnessed two major agreements signed between the federal government and NLC and TUC. The June 5th and October 2nd Agreements. Whether these have been faithfully implemented or not is open for every discerning Nigerian to see.
“Nigerians will judge that by our actions thus far, we have demonstrated enormous patience with this government and have been accused and labelled as having been settled by the government but we recognize that this is part of the burden of leadership which we are prepared to bear to ensure that we do not only take the right actions but that they yield the expected results keeping our nation surviving as an entity and avoiding fifth columnists from taking advantage of the situation to destroy our nation.
“In all of these, this government has shown enormous unfaithfulness in keeping to agreements; the N35,000 Wage Award has not been faithfully implemented, the PH refinery has not come on stream as projected while the National Minimum Wage Negotiation Council has not been inaugurated as agreed, the CNG has been distorted by agents of government for the benefit of a few.
“Divisions along our various primordial fault lines rather than heal became exacerbated this year mainly as a result of the unfortunate activities of Politicians who played them up in their bid to win elections. Our nation has therefore become more divided than ever with growing suspicion and increasing trust deficits along those lines.
“Citizens’ confidence in the government is therefore deeply wounded causing a further disconnect between the people and governments as the government continues with policies that negate the welfare of citizens. We observe only a few pockets of progress in governance in some states but largely, the instruments of governance are mainly deployed for the sole benefit of those who believe they have captured the instruments of governance and thus use them for their sole benefit.
“2023 is also a year where we have seen the increasing use of violence and unrivalled propaganda as tools of engagement in the nation’s industrial relations sphere. The boundary between the tools used in electioneering and in actual governance seems to have been ruptured as the same mindless violence and crudity witnessed during the last election cycle is now being used by those in government as a weapon in managing workplace relations in Nigeria. We have witnessed the government’s interference in the internal affairs of trade unions all in a bid to capture the levers of power in these unions and use them to seek to hold the civic space in our nation hostage and thwart citizens’ efforts at holding the government accountable, ” the NLC President, Joe Ajaero said
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