Minimum Wage From N30,000 To N70,000, Highly Commendable— Prof. Abass
A Professor of International Law Ademola Abbas has shared some sentiments about the newly approved minimum wage by President Bola Ahmed- Tinubu, tagging it as ‘highly Commendable’.
This, he declared on Friday during Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
Recall on Thursday, the Organised Labour unions and the Federal Government finally came to a fair agreement after months of series of deliberations and strikes.
The reason for the call for wage increment was as a result of the ripple effects caused by the fuel subsidy removal by the new Tinubu- led administration, increasing the cost of living for average and low income earners in Nigeria.
However, the Professor of Law noted that what the government did was well-done whether Nigerians like it or not, but advised that the government still need to intensify in bringing down the inflation.
He said on the show, “What this government has done in making this increment from N30,000 to N70,000 is commendable whether we like it or not. It is highly commendable.
“However, what the government now needs to do is to work very hard to bring down the inflation. That is when this particular wage is going to have a decisive and desirable impact on the working masses of Nigeria.”
Earlier, the Co-Founder of civic group BudgIT, Seun Onigbinde had said he had hoped that the wage would fall in between a N100,000 to N120,000 because things are really bad economically.
Seun Onigbinde believes the new minimum wage of N70,000 reached by labour unions and the Federal Government won’t do much for workers, especially with the rising inflation levels in the country.
Onigbinde said, “It’s not enough, in my own view. But it’s a great start because when you look at minimum wage, you have to do that in two levels.
“So, I feel it’s a great start. It doesn’t look great as I want it to be. I was hoping we could get something within the N100,000 to N120,000 corridor because things are really that bad in terms of galloping levels of inflation.
“But the government has left a window that within three years, there’s an opportunity to revise this current minimum wage. So we will look forward to that.
“And maybe by then, there will be clear arguments about the fact that the current inflation situation that we have right now, is worrisome. And whatever minimum wage or whatever increase that we are talking about now, it is just not enough at all.”
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