N18,000 Minimum Wage No Longer Sustainable, Says NLC VP, Aremu

Vice-President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Issa Aremu, has called for a review of the N18,000 national minimum wage, saying under the prevailing circumstances, it is no longer sustainable.

According to him, the minimum wage is due for review next year.

Delivering a lecture in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital titled, “Human Resource as a Critical Factor in National Development”, at a dinner organised by the Third Estate Organisation, Aremu, who is also the Secretary General of the National Union of Textile Garment Workers, said the minimum wage should not only be increased next year, but that salaries must no longer be delayed.

The union leader described delay in the payment of salaries as “wage theft”, saying, there is no excuse for delaying workers’ salaries. He also pointed out that labour is critical to national development and growth.

Aremu said candidates in the 2015 elections would be judged by their treatment of workers, adding that there should be reward for performance and sanction for non-performance.

He also faulted the defection of Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State from the Labour Party to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), calling for his resignation.

The NLC vice-president also urged President Goodluck Jonathan to implement the recommendations of the National Conference, especially the aspect that recommends barring politicians from defecting from one party to another, saying the practice distorts the political process and should be discouraged.

“President Jonathan can’t violate the recommendations of the committee he set up”, he said, while commending him for bestowing a national award on the designer of the Nigerian national flag, Pa Taiwo Akinkunmi and placing him on life salary, adding that he should be paid his arrears from the time he designed the flag.