The multi-billion naira Baro Inland Port in Agaie Local Government Area of Niger State, is yet to commence operation five years after it was inaugurated by former President Muhammadu Buhari, Daily Trust Saturday reports.

A gigantic mobile harbour crane overlooks the mass of water surging from the Niger River in front of the Baro Inland Port. It is one of the technical equipment for cargo handling that was procured for the take-off of the port ahead of its commissioning in 2019. Also staring at the water within the quay of the port is the Reach Starker and three forklifts, which, according to Usman Bumba, the port manager, are still in perfect condition and ready to perform their cargo handling functions.

But therein lays the paradox: this multi-billion-naira equipment, including other facilities, such as water hydrant system, water treatment plant and a 100 KVA generating set, have been lying dormant as no single cargo has been lifted or any vessel berthed since the ceremony unveiling the port for business activities over five years ago.

A visit by this reporter revealed that after the pomp and ceremony that heralded its inauguration by former President Muhammadu Buhari in January 2019, the Baro Inland Port, located in Agaie Local Government Area of Niger State, is yet to commence operation.

This is in spite of the fact that the N5.8billion project. which was awarded to a Chinese firm, CGCC Project Limited in 2011/12, has a cargo stacking yard of 7,000 square meters, a transit shed of 3,600 square meters and an estimated capacity of 5,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) at a time.

During the inauguration ceremony, Buhari said the project would enhance intermodal transportation connectivity in Nigeria, reduce the pressure of big trucks on the country’s roads, create huge economic opportunities for Nigerians and help in decongesting similar ports.

The then managing director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, said the completion of the port, which was abandoned by previous governments, would ensure the effective evacuation of farm produce and other commodities from Baro community.

On his part, former Governor Abubakar Bello said the port was a stepping stone for creating a Baro International Port City that would give Niger State global visibility and an effective source of sustainable income. He disclosed that a plan was underway for the acquisition of 728square kilometers of land for the master plan for the proposed Baro Smart International Port City and Regional Plan for Greater Baro Development Area, implementation of a rapid economic empowerment programme for the residents of Baro and its environs and the development of Baro International Port City.

Dashed hopes, expectations

However, a visit by Daily Trust Saturday to the facility showed that five years after commissioning formalities, the Baro Port remains a pipe dream as neither a cargo has been lifted nor a single vessel berthed.

“Our expectations for development are dimming by the day because since the port was commissioned, no activities have taken place there,” Ndagana Mohammed, a Baro-based school teacher said.

Mohammed said, “During construction, our environment, including farmlands, were destroyed. We made sacrifices to ensure that development came to our immediate community, but it appears that our efforts are in vain. We really don’t know what is happening.

“For over five years, the road from Agaie to Baro through Katcha has been dragging, thereby impacting negatively on our economic activities, such as fishing and farming. We are, however, hopeful that under the current Tinubu-led government, the port would take off.”

Like Mohammed, Ismaila Alhaji Aliyu, the councillor representing Baro ward at the Agaie Local Government, is also worried over the non-takeoff of the Baro Inland Port, five years after commissioning.

“It is worrisome because of the huge investments and immense benefits expected from the project. Any time I visit the place I get saddened, especially in view of the huge resources that have so far been committed into the project.

“During his recent visit to Niger State to commission a project, President Tinubu mentioned the Baro project, and I believe he would stand by his word by making it a reality.”

Why the port is yet to take off

Findings by Daily Trust Saturday indicate that apart from the issue of dredging, poor road network has been the main constraint in the takeoff of the Baro port.

It was observed that accessing the facility itself has been the major headache as the road and railway networks, which should serve as catalyst to its operation are in deplorable conditions.

There are two major roads to access the sprawling community – the 55km Baro/Katcha/Agaie and the Baro/Muye roads linking Gegu on the Abuja/Lokoja expressway, both of which are in a deplorable state.

The federal government is said to have initially awarded the contract for the Baro/Katcha/Agaie axis in 2009 but revoked it in 2012 due to an alleged failure on the part of the contractor to deliver the job on time.

However, the contract for the road was rewarded a few months to the 2015 general elections to an Indian firm, GR Building and Construction Nigeria Limited, at the cost of N17.5billion, with a 12-month completion period.

At the flag-off for the construction of the project in March 2015, the then Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen, reportedly said the road was among those the federal government planned to experiment with “rigid pavement” because it is the “gateway linking Baro Inland Port to other parts of the country.”

Daily Trust Saturday, however, learnt that after an initial release of funds by the Buhari administration, the contractor returned to the site, but progress has been quite slow due to government’s failure to advance additional funds for the project.

Findings showed that less than 20km of the road from the Agaie section has been asphalted, although the entire section, up to Katcha, was graded. However, the terrain between Katcha and Baro is a nightmare for commuters, especially during the rainy season.

Similarly, the Baro/Muye/Gegu section is also strategic as it links the port to the southern part of the country. But this section is equally in a deplorable condition and desperately needing intervention.

On the other hand, the rail network, a standard gauge line put in place by the colonialists to aid the movement of goods to the hinterland has become a relic.

“There used to be a railway network that linked Baro to Minna, established around 1911, but it became moribund in early 1970 despite its centrality in the transportation framework of the country,” Salihu Mohammed, the village head of Baro recalled.

He, however, lamented that since former President Buhari commissioned the project in 2019, nothing had happened in terms of takeoff, adding, “We have been expecting it to take off so as to boost our socio-economic activities.”

There are also concerns over the dredging carried out by the federal government following the construction of the port and the actual scope of the project itself.

Experts said the dredging supposedly carried out earlier was not the type that would allow for all-season navigation. A marine engineer said that even with the expensive dredging, there is a need for constant maintenance to sustain the draught.

Findings by Daily Trust Saturday indicate that almost 10 years after the supposed dredging, no maintenance dredging has been done at the Baro port. A source at the port said that after the initial dredging, there was supposed to be maintenance dredging every two years, but none had taken place since the last exercise.

All eyes on Tinubu

Several stakeholders have decried the current state of the Baro port and called on President Tinubu to urgently do something about it.

The chairman of Agaie Local Government of Niger State, Sayuti Halilu Ibrahim, said President Tinubu should make history by making Baro port a dream come true.

“This is the time to resuscitate the lost glory; it is about the people growing the economy. President Tinubu should make history by making Baro a reality. As a strategic port in the northern part of the country, we are hopeful that Tinubu would actualise it,” Ibrahim said.

While appealing for the completion of the access road from Agaie to Baro through Katcha, he said that apart from its economic advantages, the takeoff of Baro port, which is in the centre of the North, would also boost tourism.

In a similar vein, the Emir of Agaie, Alhaji Yusuf Nuhu, who expressed worry over the delay in the takeoff of the port said, “When it was commissioned, we thought it would take off immediately.

“That is the only access road for the haulage of goods from the port at Baro to the hinterland, and from Baro to ports in Lagos, Port-Harcourt, and vice versa.”

The emir, who spoke on the strategic importance of the port to the North and Nigeria in general, recalled the role it played during the colonial era in Nigeria.

“Baro used to be boisterous in the past when ships would be transported to the hinterland. The port was used to transport groundnut, cotton and some other goods from the North.

“Although it is yet to take off, we are not losing hope. I know that the road from Agaie to Baro through Katcha is one of the factors causing the. However, work on the road is ongoing and I believe it would be completed.” he said.

The emir called on President Tinubu to revisit the project and make it a reality.

Access road, maintenance dredging required – Port manager

Speaking on why the port is yet to take off over five years after commissioning, the Baro port manager, Usman Bumba, said lack of access road was a major problem.

“Due to lack of access road, concessioners who had showed interest in the project are being discouraged,” Bumba said.

He also said that since the initial dredging was carried out in 2009, there was the need for maintenance dredging of the river for enhanced navigability.

Bumba, however, said all the technical equipment procured for the port’s cargo handling were still in perfect condition.

He said, “I can tell you that concessioners who showed interest have been discouraged from coming here. There is also the need for maintenance dredging. But all technical equipment procured for cargo handling, such as mobile harbour crane, Reach Stacker and forklifts, are in perfect condition.”

[DailyTrust]

• LP petitions SGF, FG over invasion of secretariat
• Seeks disciplinary action against Ajaero, other Labour leaders
• Congress: Abure no longer party chair

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in last year’s general election, Mr. Peter Obi, may have lost his grip on the party after the LP leadership yesterday ignored his alleged mediation in the public spat between the party and its strongest ally in the run-up to the election, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

The LP fired a petition against NLC and its President Joe Ajaero to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Labour and Employment Minister and  Registrar of the Trade Union “over the vandalisation of party offices and false claim of party ownership” by the congress.

The party called for disciplinary action against Ajaero and other leaders of the congress.

But congress in a swift response claimed Julius Abure has ceased to be the LP national chairman.

The Nation gathered in Abuja yesterday that Obi had met with representatives of both sides with a view to reconciling them but all that appeared to have hit the rocks yesterday when the LP leadership denounced Ajaero and other leaders of the NLC for the Wednesday picketing of the party’s offices across the country.

The NLC is laying claim to the ownership of the party and wants the national EXCO led by Julius Abure to resign the national convention of the party convened.

A source close to the gladiators said: “Peter Obi met with some leaders of the party and that of the NLC, and he is mediating to ensure that peace returns to the party.

“He also met with other stakeholders, not just the party leadership and NLC. It is not a media stuff that’s why you didn’t see it in the papers. It is an internal party matter.”

National Chairman of the LP, Julis Abure, and the National Secretary, Umar Ibrahim, accused Ajaero of overreaching himself by using workers’ funds to picket and sponsor insurrection in the Labour Party headquarters; an action they said amounts to abuse of office and should therefore be called to order and properly sanctioned.

“It has become unavoidably necessary,” according to them, to request government’s urgent intervention, as the NLC “has over the years engaged in a war of attrition with our party.

“It came to a head and unbearable when the NLC under the leadership of Comrade Joe Ajaero directed the picketing of our party’s National Headquarters and our chapter offices across the country. The unwarranted attack in our office resulted in the destruction of several properties.

“The NLC claims to be owners of the party and therefore wants to impose the leadership of the party, exert overwhelming control to achieve a political end. It must be pointed out that once a Political Party is registered by INEC, it becomes a body corporate with a perpetual succession and a common seal (see the letter of INEC to NLC dated 3rd September 2015) where INEC stated clearly that the NLC has no superior status.

“Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2022 provides that a political party once registered has a life of its own and it is only regulated by its constitution. It is imperative to note that by the import of the above provisions, whosoever plays any role whatsoever in the registration of the party becomes immaterial. The party will thereafter be regulated by its constitution.

“It should be noted that Section 221 of the 1999 Constitution (As Amended) prohibits any association from contributing to the funds of any Political Party. It is a criminal offence under section 15 of the Trade Union Act to use Trade Unions Funds whether directly or indirectly to fund a Political Party.

“It is our argument that using workers’ funds to picket and sponsor insurrection in the Labour Party headquarters and its legitimate leadership is an abuse of office by the President of the NLC Comrade Joe Ajaero, and should therefore be called to order and properly sanctioned.

“Similarly, the NLC has no right to picket an organisation where there is no trade dispute. The Labour Party has no staff who are members of the NLC. The actions of the NLC is a clear violation of the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act, the Trade Union Act and other relevant laws.”

On the membership of the party, the petition notes that “It is of importance to further draw your attention to the fact that it is only members who are financially up to date with the party who have rights and obligations to in the party (See Article 9(3)(i) and (iii) of our constitution).

“NLC members are not card-carrying members of Labour Party. The Labour Party cannot be owned by any association. Membership of the Party is on individual basis. The Labour Party’s Constitution says the Party is open to all Nigerians who accept its ideology, programmes and the constitution, irrespective of their religion, ethnic, gender, social and economic status.

“However, the organs of the party as decided by the members assume leadership of the party. How this is achieved is well spelt out in the constitution.

“As lawful citizens, we didn’t want to confront them in an uncivilised manner in order to avoid breakdown of law and order. We had the option of also mobilising party faithful to confront them. Doing that at this point where the harsh economic climate is having its toll on the Nigerian people will result in anarchy.

“Hence, the urgent need to call the NLC and its leadership led by Comrade Joe Ajaero to order, educate them on the limit of their power, condemn their rascality, abuse of office and discipline them as appropriate.”

The Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, in a separate statement yesterday in Abuja asked the Federal Government, being the Regulatory Agency for trade unions, to define the role of the NLC, “particularly on its false claim of being the owner of the Labour Party for which NLC has continually harassed and intimidated the leadership of the party by way of interfering in the party’s activities and attempting to impose leadership on it.”

On Wednesday, the LP national EXCO met in Asaba, the Delta State capital and ratified the programme for the party’s convention.

On the same day however, the NLC Political Commission led workers to the national secretariat of the party in Abuja to picket it.

The workers called for the postponement of the convention and the resignation of Abure.

They also called for the setting up of a caretaker transition committee to organise a constitutionally recognised convention.

Head of Information at the NLC, Benson Upah, in a brief chat with our reporter, said the convention planned by LP leadership “is off the table for now.”

“Whoever touches Abure with a long pole now is on his own. I assure you of this.”

The proposed convention has pitted the party against the NLC, the House of Representatives Caucus and some supporters of the party.

The caucus leader, Victor Ogene, asked the leadership of the party to put an end to the infighting that is threatening the party and engage in further consultation in the overall interest of the party.

The caucus had also said that many stakeholders, including the lawmakers, were not carried along in the processes leading to the choice of date and venue for the convention.

Abure no longer LP’s chairman – NLC Political Commission

The NLC Political Commission claimed last night that Abure was no longer LP National Chairman and dismissed as sarcastic and pathetic his allegation that NLC leaders stole staff salary during Wednesday’s picketing of the LP National Secretariat.

Secretary of the commission, Comrade Chris Uyot, accused Abure of mischief.

His words: “Following this week’s successful take-over of Labour Party Secretariats nationwide by the Nigeria Labour Congress who are the real owners of the party, Mr. Julius Abure’s silhouette continues to hide from the long arms of the law over various allegations and charges bordering on criminality.

‘It is unfortunate that instead of courageously coming out to the open to defend himself against several fingers pointing in his direction, Mr. Abure has adopted the cowardly posture of crouching in the undergrowth of shame, lies, treachery and infamy to lay fictitious claims against a dignified, focused and honourable institution like the Nigeria Labour Congress.

“First is to make the point clear that Mr. Julius Abure has since ceased from being the Chairman of the Labour Party. Second, his latest missive that the successful takeover of the Labour Party Secretariat by workers who are the party’s rightful owners resulted in the theft of staff salaries is sarcastic and pathetic. It is unfortunate that Mr Abure has surrendered himself to the laboratory of public opprobrium on how the mind of an incorrigible liar, visionless usurper, timid traitor, and serial scammer works.

“The reclaiming of Labour Party Secretariats across the country was witnessed by many policemen, officers from the State Security Service, and many journalists including television crews. The import of Mr. Abure’s fictitious claim is that the police, other security agents and tens of journalists who observed the peaceful visit by the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission were accessory to the crime of petty theft. We expect the Nigeria Police and other security agencies to add this outrageous defamation to the long list of crimes perpetrated by Mr. Abure.

“During the nationwide peaceful reclaim of Labour Party’s secretariats, not even one canister of tear gas was fired as the picketing was conducted in tandem with the NLC’s philosophy and disposition to peaceful protests.

“For Abure to concoct such daylight falsehood clearly proves to all Nigerians that he carries moral leprosy and must be avoided at all costs. The inconsistency in Abure’s account – from allegations of missing billions now to the theft of workers’ salaries and destruction of valuables – clearly confirms our earlier assessment of him as a drowning political wannabe.

“After being rejected by all stakeholders in the Labour Party, we urge Mr. Julius Abure to show his face in public. He should not hide underground and be vomiting gibberish. The few insignificant scoundrels still hanging on to Abure’s tattered pockets of ill-gotten coins, including irresponsible grandfathers who have committed class suicide and show no visible means of livelihood, and who now appear on television to lie on Labour Party ownership must remember that history’s judgment on traitors is very dire.

“As for Abure, his cup of moral rascality, administrative indiscretion and political incompetence overflows. The Nigeria Labour Congress intends to institute a private legal process against him for the defamation of the noble character of the Congress. He should also be ready to answer questions on why he kept staff salaries in the office a self-admission to financial impropriety, sleaze, and disdain for due process cum accountability.

“While the security agents intensify their nationwide manhunt for Mr. Julius Abure and his ‘food is ready’ partners in perfidy, the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission wishes to remind all Nigerian workers and people that our focus can never be a tiny chameleon who lives under the coarse cannon of common criminality and fodders of low level infamy.

“We are focused on fumigating and ridding the Labour Party of rodents whose only source of livelihood and survival is in picking on the mahogany of ideological and moral clarity that the Labour Party of Nigeria represents.

“Labour Party must be thoroughly cleansed and repositioned as the vehicle for the socio- economic emancipation of all Nigerian workers and people.”

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has denounced the recent assault that resulted in the death of a village leader and additional residents of Rafi Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State.

Daily Trust had reported how at least 21 people including the village head lost their lives on Thursday afternoon when bandits in their numbers reportedly invaded a market in Madaka, an agrarian community in Rafi LGA.

According to residents, the attackers raided the market around 3pm when the commercial activities were in full swing and started shooting at the crowd.

Among those killed was a butcher who recently got married. He had gone to the market to purchase some items needed for business when the bandits struck.

Reacting to the development, Abubakar, in a post via X on Friday, said Nigeria had become a “killing field” under President Bola Tinubu.

He called for the need to speed up the introduction of state police.

He wrote: “It is saddening that Nigeria has become a killing field. Thursday’s killing of scores of persons, including the village head and abduction of an unspecified number of people by suspected bandits in Madaka, in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, is yet another confirmation that contrary to assurances, insecurity continues to be rife in our country.

“We have to prioritise security and speed up the process of a constitutional amendment that will introduce State Police so that states and local authorities can deploy mechanisms that best suit their environment in tackling this hydra-headed insecurity in our land.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the bereaved and the government and people of Niger State.”

• Committee’s target is for President to make announcement on May 1, says member
• Labour spoils for war with govs, insists states have money from subsidy removal

Indications have emerged that President Bola Tinubu may announce the new minimum wage on May 1 in commemoration of the International Labour Day and backdate its implementation to April.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that the National Minimum Wage Committee was working to ensure that all negotiations regarding the new rate were finalised before then with the expectation that the President would announce the new minimum wage in his Workers’ Day address.

A member of the committee, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue, said, “By next week, the minimum wage committee will meet again. It’s a continuous meeting. That is a meeting where all the reports from the zonal public hearings will be collated and reported, and then, you know, that will also give the committee the direction to work with.

“Our target is to ensure that Mr President announces the minimum wage by the 1st of May, which is the Workers’ Day, for it to take effect from April. So, we are working to meet the timeline.”

When reminded that the current minimum wage of N30,000 would cease to be valid on March 31, the committee member said it was unlikely that the new rate would be ready before then, adding that there was still a long way to go in arriving at an acceptable minimum wage for the country.

The source stated, “We have not got to the negotiation point yet. When you finish with the zones, it is the aggregate of what you collect from the zones that will determine the direction of the main committee. Now that we have finished with the zones, when the committee meets, it will collate all the positions of the zones and committee members.

“The positions of the NLC, TUC, NECA (the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association) and the government will be looked at. Then, we will look at the aggregate, find a percentage, and arrive at what will be agreeable.

“We are going to make some adjustments. I am sure the committee will also have a private meeting with Mr President; they will look at the ability to pay, and then with the state governors. NECA will also be involved and we will see how we marry those angles. It is not a one-stop affair.”

When contacted, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed, did not take his calls and he had yet to respond to text and WhatsApp messages sent to his mobile line as of the time of filing this report.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said he was not so conversant with the internal deliberations of the committee, but affirmed that talks were ongoing among the committee members who, he noted, were cognizant of the urgency of their assignment.

However, a presidential aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not the official spokesperson for the President, said Tinubu might not wait for May 1 to announce the new minimum wage if the committee was able to complete its assignment as scheduled, noting that ordinarily, the new wage should come into effect on April 1.

The aide said, “I don’t think the government will be able to wait until May 1 before announcing the minimum wage. The law says it should be concluded by early April.

“If the parties agree, why do they have to wait to make the announcement? Because they are negotiating and the law says negotiations should be completed by April.”

 Labour warns govs

The Organised Labour has warned state governors that it will not accept anything less than full implementation whenever the new minimum wage becomes law as it is ready to go into battle with such governors.

Labour’s position is coming at a time when the governors are asking the National Minimum Wage Committee to consider each state’s peculiarities in arriving at an acceptable figure, even as the panel is compiling the reports of its public hearing in the different zones.

The two labour centres in the country – the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress – are unanimous in rejecting the governors’ position, warning that it is a recipe for prolonged industrial unrest.

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum had urged the National Minimum Wage Committee to take into account the present circumstances, unique characteristics of individual states, and the effects on both the government and private sector employers’ ability to pay when determining the wage amount.

The NGF, in a communiqué issued after its virtual meeting, and signed by its Chairman and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq, made available to journalists on Thursday, stated, “Members reviewed the progress of the National Minimum Wage Committee and ongoing multi-stakeholder engagements towards agreeing on a fair minimum wage.

“Members urged the NMWC to consider the current realities, individual states’ peculiarities, and consequential impact on the capacity of the government as well as private sector employers to pay. Members also emphasized the need for proposals to be data-driven and evidence-based.”

Before now, the labour unions had said the existing national minimum wage of N30,000 was no longer realistic, citing the steep inflation rate of 31.7 per cent in February from 29.9 per cent reported by the National Bureau of Statistics in January.

In January, the Federal Government inaugurated the tripartite committee responsible for deliberating on the national minimum wage.

Vice President Kashim Shettima inaugurated the 37-member panel at the Council Chamber of the State House in Abuja.

Comprising representatives of the federal and state governments, the private sector, and organised labour, the committee’s mandate is to propose a revised national minimum wage for the nation.

During zonal public hearings in Lagos, Kano, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, and Abuja, workers in the North-West requested N485,000; North-East, N560,000; North-Central, N709,000 (NLC) and N447,000 (TUC); South-West, N794,000; South-South, N850,000; and South-East, N540,000 by the NLC and N447,000 by the TUC.

However, the Adamawa and Bauchi state governments suggested N45,000 as the new minimum wage.

The NLC on Friday said governors who fail to implement the new minimum wage when it becomes a law would be breaking the law.

The Congress also noted that it was working towards ensuring that tougher sanctions would be meted on such governors.

In an exclusive interview with Saturday PUNCH in Abuja, the spokesperson for the NLC, Benson Upah, noted that while the Federal Government had never defaulted in the payment of minimum wages, governors had never performed up to the task.

Upah said, “I want to tell you that any state that refuses to pay the new minimum wage will be breaking the law because it will be a national law. The present minimum wage of N30,000 was consensual, so the governors who have refused to pay are breaking the law.

“One of the things we are trying to do with the present negotiation is to ensure that enough sanctions are provided. We are going to ensure that sanctions are sufficiently tough to deter such criminally minded governors. When it comes to the minimum wage, the Federal Government has been adhering. We really can’t recall a situation of default in terms of payment of the minimum wage by the Federal Government.

“Where we had challenges in the past was about defiant governors and their number has been in the minority.”

Similarly, the TUC said it was unacceptable for the governors to undermine the payment of living wages to the workers with their divide-and-rule tactics, adding that state governments had no excuse to do whatever would be agreed on as the minimum wage since they now had more money available following the removal of fuel subsidy.

The Deputy President, TUC, Dr Tommy Etim, told one of our correspondents that the new minimum wage law being worked on would impose penalties on state governors and private sector employers who refused to pay the agreed sum.

He said, “Let me let you know that the Act will be amended to accommodate all those excesses, and then there will be those penalties. Definitely, the Act will be amended to take into cognizance the exclusion, the penalties, and the enforcement for any governor who decides to be recalcitrant; as well as employers of labour who decide to be recalcitrant in the implementation of the minimum wage.

“The bottom line is that once the President signs the Minimum Wage Act, automatically, what is expected is the implementation. We don’t need to tell anybody to do the needful; the employer who hires you knows that he is going to pay you. Telling employers to pay is like telling a Pope how to prepare the Holy Communion.

“Yes, some governors could not pay the N30,000 old minimum wage; that was then and not now. If they couldn’t pay the N30,000 minimum wage, it therefore means that the Act was weak.”

Etim added, “The quantum of money they (governors) are getting from the removal of fuel subsidy is enough for them to pay. I don’t want anybody to say some governors may not want to pay the new minimum wage when it is unveiled. The ability to pay is there because they have more money accruing to them (governors) as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy.

“You know that in 2019, the sum of N30,000 was in vogue, and things were relatively still at the comfort of the masses, but in this case, have you taken a look at how much fuel is sold per litre now, the price of cooking gas, the price of bread, transportation?  If anyone talks about the ability of the state governors to pay, it therefore means that we are preparing them to hide under that premise.”

The TUC deputy president added that there was no more room for excuses by the governors.

He said the process of getting a new minimum wage was still ongoing and that the TUC’s position on it had been well articulated and that it was tenable in all the zones.

Etim stated, “That is also what we are going to table because we will not give different figures as far as the national minimum wage is concerned. The TUC will come up with a common figure, except as we speak, (NLC president, Joe) Ajaero decides to drop his ego, and then walk in line.

“We are looking at many factors, including the ability to implement the minimum wage. It is not just for you to say N1m as minimum wage. You don’t make a caricature of a very serious matter. How do you arrive at N1m? You have to look at the ability to pay in line with the ILO (International Labour Organisation) minimum wage fixing conventions. You don’t have all those things on the ground and you are just announcing.

“That is why they (the NLC) couldn’t put their house in order. You find out that different zones came out with different minimum wages. It therefore means that the leadership did not show them the direction.

“When you look at TUC’s own, you will see that we have a direction and that is why our position on the minimum wage is in uniformity.

“However, as time goes on, we will get to the point of looking at our paper and then we will agree on our position.”

When asked if the NLC was in touch with the TUC to resolve their differences, Etim said, “I can tell you for free that nothing like that has happened. At my level in the TUC, a thing like that cannot take place without me being involved.

“Definitely, in the long run, we will come together. Let me also tell you that the mere fact that husbands and wives are quarreling does not prevent the children from eating.”

 State labour leaders

The Chairman of the TUC in Ogun State, Akeem Lasisi, said workers in the state would not accept any excuse that the state government might want to put forward to delay the implementation of the new minimum wage.

Lasisi said once the Federal Government announces the new minimum wage, the workers expect the state government to waste no time in implementing it.

He said, “Labour will refuse to accept the lame argument that workers must bear the brunt of the high-handedness of the government.

“The government must set a good example by cutting the cost of governance. Well-compensated and motivated workers are essential for the development of a nation.

“The increase in minimum wage will result in increased productivity and this will eventually increase in monetary value without causing inflation.

“The Organised Labour in the country will not tolerate any excuse from the state governors because workers dictate the development of a nation and must be treated with utmost concern and honour.

“Should workers perish for a nation to develop? It does not require rocket science for the state government to pay a new minimum wage. State governments should escape out of the doom and enter a boom to make workers happy.

“The minimum wage is backed by law; it is on the exclusive list. State governments’ failure to uphold their end of the bargain will be quite regrettable and unacceptable.”

Similarly, the Chairman of the TUC in Ekiti State, Sola Adigun, said there was no basis for the labour movement in the state to think that Governor Biodun Oyebanji would give excuses when the new minimum wage is unveiled.

Adigun said, “At every forum, we inform the governor that the implementation of the new minimum wage will not have any issue in Ekiti State; he has agreed to that, and by the grace of God, there is no going to be any issue.

“So, there will be no basis for us now to start crying or speaking about failure or non-implementation of what has not been agreed on.

“Labour in Ekiti State and the government will work out a meaningful minimum wage or living wage for Ekiti State workers. I don’t expect him (the governor) to do otherwise.”

The Osun State TUC Chairman, Abimbola Fasasi, said Governor Ademola Adeleke had been part of regional negotiations with labour on the new wage.

According to him, Adeleke’s involvement in the negotiations will make it easier for the labour movement to demand the payment of the new minimum wage in the state.

“Fortunately for us here, our governor is involved in the negotiations. It makes it so easier for us here in Osun,” Fasasi stated.

[Punch]