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THE POLITICS OF MINIMUM WAGE IN NIGERIA by Andrew Efemini.

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I just read that the Nigeria Labour Congress is asking for sixty eight thousand, five hundred naira only as the new monthly minimum wage.

This would appear as a remarkable leap given the current figure of eighteen thousand naira only, which is in every sense, a slave wage.

The current minimum wage reminds me of labour’s popular slogan ‘my take home pay cannot take me home’.

What we need is a wage reward system that is not just about increase in figures but a wage system that guarantees internationally competitive purchasing power parity. What can our minimum wage provide for the workers? That is the main issue.

My friends who studied economics have taught me to appreciate that devaluation of currency and fuel price manipulation can make two hundred thousand naira become as worthless as one thousand naira.

We have observed the Breton Woods Institutions; World Bank and IMF, impose conditionalities on Nigeria that include deregulation of downstream sector and devaluation of the naira.

As we have also observed, governments have relied on these policies to sustain the payment of wages in Nigeria.

We note with bitterness that wages fixed in 2009 when the naira exchanged for less than two hundred naira to a dollar is still being paid to workers at a time the naira is exchanging for nearly four hundred naira to a dollar.

I causally told a German last week that as a Professor, my monthly earning is barely one thousand Euros. He exclaimed “how can that be the case? Professors in Germany earn between five thousand and ten thousand Euros”.
My slave wage is part of the politics of minimum wage in Nigeria.

The challenge before the Nigeria labour Congress is not just securing increase in minimum wage but actually to protect the gained wage increase from ruin through policies dangerous to real income stability.

For the records, Mexico has a minimum wage of $4.5 per hour. That translates to $45 per day of ten hours work. In a month of 22days of work, we have $990. At an exchange rate of N360 to $1, we have N356, 400 as minimum wage in Mexico.

What looks like huge increase from N18000 to N68500 by international average is still within the slave wage bracket. This fact complicates the minimum wage politics in Nigeria.

Two questions need our attention at this point; how come wages are so poor in Nigeria? and what can we do about the situation?

Maybe, the inability to find the right answers to the above questions really explains the persistence of slave wages in Nigeria.

A simplistic attempt to address the questions points to:
1. Low productivity sufficient to drive high wages. The size of an economy that can drive high wages can easily be projected.
2. GDP to population size is pointing to doom. Resources sufficient for 50m people in modern States is catering for 180m Nigerians.
3. Non industrial economy weighing the wage system down.

The above responses amount to nothing when we look at the political roots of the wage crisis in Nigeria:
1. The political structure from federal government to local government structure defines and impose an expenditure pattern that suffocates high wages.

We hear government and Breton Woods Institutions lament the high recurrent expenditure, lamenting high recurrent expenditure pattern that provides for only slave wages.
2. Wasteful government expenditure in all sectors of the economy. This cannot be resolved until we restructure Nigeria’s political economy.

The impact of slave wages is worse in the education sector. Maybe, we should add the public civil servants.
The informal sector housing Nigeria’s largest population of the poor suffers consequential negative impact of poor public sector wages.

We must realize that decent wages have multiplier effects in a society but they are planned for.

There is no reason to believe that Nigeria Labour Congress or government is prepared to take the bull by the horn in resolving the minimum and slave wages in Nigeria.

Finally, it is sickening to see increasing social conflicts and violence arising from either zero wages or slave wages.
Maybe, we need to take a new look at the wage dilemma confronting the country.

Step up to the challenge: Facebook user challenge Nigerians to point out one project completed by Buhari since 2015 and win a Lexus R300…………. No one seems to know of any!

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Facebook user, Victor Ezeonochie, has challenged Nigerians to point out any project initiated and completed by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration and win a Lexus R300 SUV.

Nigerians, marking what some termed “a disastrous mistake and calamity” of President Buhari being declared as the winner of the March 28 2015 presidential election, have on Tuesday, challenged followers of President Buhari and the ruling All Progressive Congress on social media, to point to one project initiated and completed by the administration in its 3 years of occupying leadership positions in Nigeria but no one has stepped up to the challenge.

Another challenge by a Twitter user, Oke Umuhonwo, challenged ‘Buharists’ with 20,000 to showcase projects done by the administration. However, other Twitter users increased the challenge prize to #500, 000 with the prize remaining unclaimed as at Friday.

https://twitter.com/jackdre02/status/979055510430322694?s=19

Similar challenge by Aniefiok Uduabasi on Facebook yielded no results.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1916515405049436&id=100000729861492

New endorsement deal delights Ekong

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The Nigeria’s Super Eagles defender William Troost Ekong is excited to have bagged an endorsement with Swiss based company Tag Heuer.

The Buraspor player was the skipper of Super Eagles on Friday when they defeated their counterpart from Poland in Wroclaw.

The player announced the deal via his Instagram page and showed his happiness.

“Happy to announce that I am now part of the @tagheuer family! Had fun receiving my watch yesterday in London. Thanks to all who came down. #dontcrackunderpressure #TagHeuer,”
wrote Ekong.

Ekong made his debut for Nigeria in 2015 in the AFCON qualifier against Chad.

“Instead of cleaning up Ogoni, they are planning to build prison and cemetery” – Wike …. Says no worthy politician should remain in APC.

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Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has declared that no worthy politician should remain in the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the party cannot conduct primaries, congresses and convention. This is even as he stated that no rational person in the state will contradict the major transformation taking place across the state.

Wike spoke on Thursday at the Government House, Port Harcourt, when he received the lawmaker representing Tai Constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Mr Mathew Dike. Dike had on Tuesday, defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the APC and was received into the party fold by the Chairman of PDP in the state, Chief Felix Obuah.

The governor, who lauded the former APC lawmaker for ‘seeing the light’, stated that Dike will enjoy the full benefits of his membership of the party. He said, “They came here to flag off the Ogoni clean up, but instead of cleaning up Ogoni, they are planning to build a maximum security prison. They have made the two seaports in the state redundant.

“What Rivers State has suffered in the hands of the APC federal government is horrible. They have not executed a single project in the state. The APC federal government works daily to sabotage Rivers State, but we are still making remarkable progress.

“No rational person in the state will say that we are not massively developing Rivers State in line with our campaign promises. “Everywhere in the state, we are rolling out projects for the benefit of the people and to enhance the quality of their lives”.

Presenting the new PDP lawmaker to the governor, PDP Chairman in the state, Obuah said Dike’s defection has moved with the last set of APC members to the PDP in Tai local government area. Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Mr Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani said the works of the Rivers State Governor are attracting more people to the PDP.

In his speech, the member representing Tai Constituency, Mr Mathew Dike said that his defection was engineered by Tai people who asked him to move to the PDP. He said any politician not following Wike in Rivers State is doing the state a disservice because the governor has performed satisfactorily.

Reps Deputy Majority Leader, Umar Jibril, is dead

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The member representing Lokoja/Kogi Federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Umar Jibril, is dead.

Aged 58 years, Mr Jibril, a three time member of the house, died in the early hours of Friday in Abuja, one of his political associates, Amuda Dan Sulaiman confirmed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) .

He was until his death, the Deputy Majority Leader of the house.

He was also a former Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly.

(NAN)

Army arrests most wanted Boko Haram suspect.

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Nigeria Army says it has arrested one of the terrorists on its most wanted terrorist list.

In a statement released on Friday by the Director Army Public Relations Officer, Brigadier General Texas Chukwu, the Army said one of the Boko Haram suspects in white shirt is No.5 on the Nigerian Army wanted list and three other suspected members of the group have been arrested by troops of Operation Lafiya Dole.

The vehicle conveying the suspect and three members of the civilian vigilante (Civilian Joint Task Force), were intercepted by troops on Thursday 29th March 2018 at the Forward Operations Base along Kano – Azare road, in Bauchi State.

On interrogation, the Civilian Joint Task Force members claimed to have arrested the suspects in Lagos and he is taking them to Department of State Service (DSS) office in Maiduguri for further investigations.

Efforts are being made to contact DSS office in Maiduguri for possible confirmation of the Civilian Joint Task Force claims. Meanwhile, troops has intensify search on the major highway to deny and arrest any fleeing Boko Haram terrorists, the statement said.

Amaechi commends NPA for developing Lekki deep seaport.

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Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has commended the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Tolaram Group and China Harbour for the development of the landmark Lekki deep seaport project.

The Minister who spoke during the flag-off of the construction of the project, said: “This will be the first deep seaport in Nigeria. What we have had are river ports. This will help to improve the capacity of Nigerian ports with modern procedure. Amaechi said the ports concession agreement covered 45 years on a build, own, operate and transfer basis.

Meanwhile, Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, has said that the vision of the NPA is to provide the enabling environment for Nigeria to have the best ports in Africa and the event moves the nation closer to that reality.

She said: “Funding for the Lekki Deep Sea Port project is structured at equity and debt ratio of 20:80 respectively. And in line with the commitment of the Federal Government to promote private sector investment, the NPA has a fully-paid five per cent minimal investment enough to give it a stake, to give the investors comfort and enable it perform its oversight technical regulatory functions without being unduly hindered by commercial considerations. The other 95 per cent interest is owned in 18:8 ratio by the Lagos State Government and the Tolaram Group respectively.

“As statutory regulators of ports in the country, the NPA is committed to providing the technical support and regulatory environment that would see to the timely completion of construction work and ensure efficient operations and management of the port upon commissioning.”

“We will work with all stakeholders to see the Lekki Deep Sea Port becomes a world class facility and an enviable edifice that can stand the test of time, become an institution that will be the pride of all stakeholders and encourage more of such investments in the country.”

The Federal Government yesterday said that it had in the past two budgets provided an aggregate of N90 billion for the development of special economic zones. It said the Lekki Deep Seaport project is in line with the objectives of creating such economic zones.

Also, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Nigeria is expected to rake in over $200 billion from the operations of the deep seaport as President Muhammadu Buhari expressed commitment to a conducive-business environment that would aid investments.Buhari, who spoke yesterday during the flag-off of the construction of the Lekki Deep Seaport, represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said when completed, the project would generate up to 170,000 direct and indirect jobs in the economy.

Managing Director, Tolaram, Haresh Aswani, assured that the project would be completed within three years, and it would generate over $200 billion revenue for Lagos and Federal Government.He said the project would support and enhance the growth of various free zones in the area.

The Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, represented by his deputy, Idiat Oluranti Adebule, said “this port, which is expected to be delivered by 2020, will be one of the biggest in West African sub-region.“Lagos State government has a 20 per cent equity stake in the Lekki port project, and is an indication of the faith of the Lagos State government in the project,” he said.

Buhari’s visit costs Lagos #1. 28bn – Analysts say.

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The public holiday declared on Wednesday, March 28, by the Lagos state government ahead of President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit has cost it N1.28bn

– Traders at the famous Computer Village regret the shutdown of the market which caused huge losses for them

– Also, many passengers missed their flights at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) as key routes leading to the location were blocked

Analysts at Proshare Nigeria have reported that the public holiday declared by the Lagos state government on Thursday, March 29, in expectation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit cost the state N1.28 billion of its revenue.

The analysts on Wednesday, March 29, stated that while it is difficult to assess the impact of the public holiday on Gross Domestic Product (GDP), given that it was mainly observed by only the state’s civil servants, “the sudden nature of the holiday and the linkages between the public and private sector will most definitely shock productivity regarding mobility of labour across the state.

“Expectedly, sections of the informal sector, especially trade, will experience a seizure in act; and from estimates available to us, the public holiday will cost N1.28 billion of Lagos State revenue.” New Telegraph Thursday, March 29 reported that the government’s closure of major routes in the state for the visit resulted in the shutdown of business activities in major parts of Ikeja, the state capital.

Between the early morning hours to well into the afternoon, the popular Information Technology (IT) market popularly referred to as “Computer Village” in the heart of Ikeja, was closed as security personnel blocked access to roads and streets in the area.

Ojikutu Adeniyi, the president of the Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN), informed newsmen that the the trade centre contributes an estimated N1.5 billion to the nation’s economy daily. Adeniyi stated: “Computer Village provides the highest number of ICT solutions in Nigeria and Africa at large.

The market, also known as the hardware capital of Africa, employs the highest number of graduates in any market in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. “As you are aware, the activities of Computer Village go beyond selling of mobile devices, it is a hub where a lot of technical activities go on.

The level of repairs, refurbishment and software-related activities that are carried out here entails skills that are at par with the expertise needed for manufacturing mobile devices from scratch.”

Moreover, in respect the international and local airports located in Ikeja, it was discovered that many passengers missed their flights because major routes leading to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) and the local airport were blocked, causing some of the airlines and airport workers not to get to their offices.

Referring to the development, a respected economist, Boniface Chizea remaked: “While it is true that the security of the President should be taken very seriously, it should also be borne in mind that Lagos contributes 30 per cent to the country’s GDP. So a lot of effort should always be made not to disrupt economic activities in the state.”

President Muhammadu Buhari, governors of Oyo, Abiola Ajimobi; Kano, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje; Sokoto, Aminu Tambuwal and the former secretary to the state, Babachir Lawal, among other prominent personalities attended Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 10th Colloquium. Tinubu used the colloquium to commemorate his 66th birthday.

NAIJ.com

RIWAMA cancels sanitation exercise, terminates contract of two contractors

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The Rivers State waste management Authority, RIWAMA, has canceled this month’s sanitation Exercise, billed for Saturday 31st march 2018.

Sole Administrator of RIWAMA, Felix Obuah, said that the cancelation is to enable Christians living and doing business in the state perform the rites of the holy week leading to Easter Sunday.

Meanwhile the contracts of two service providers have been terminated with the agency over inability to keep their zones clean which include Dline, parts of Aba road and Oyigbo in spite of repeated warnings and appeal by the agency.

In a statement released by the media aide to the Sole Administrator, Jerry Needam, the sacked contractors include Pavick PHC Multi services and 799 Emmax Nigeria ventures.

INEC asks police to intervene in vote buying.

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The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) has called on the Nigeria Police Force to pay special attention to addressing open vote buying as the country prepares for Ekiti and Osun governorship elections.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu made the call when he received the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) , Ibrahim Idris, who paid him a courtesy visit at INEC headquarters on Wednesday in Abuja.

Yakubu said that the issue of vote buying was becoming worrisome to INEC as witnessed in recent elections.

He described vote buying as a violation of the electoral act and malpractice that the police must stop.

He described the police as a security agency responsible for securing peaceful environment for conducting credible elections in the country generally.

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