Prof. Charles Soludo, Governor of Anambra, stated that the N30,000 national minimum wage for Nigerian employees is insufficient to support the ordinary worker and his family.
Soludo made the remarks while speaking to state employees on Monday at the 2023 May Day celebration at Awka’s Dr Alex Ekwueme Plaza. “Paying N30,000 national minimum wage to Nigerian employees is exposing them to life in denial,” he claims.
“I say this because the sum cannot buy a bag of 50kg rice, much alone other home difficulties that people confront on a regular basis,” he explained.
The governor, in response to the list of concerns laid out by the chairmen of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and his Trade Union Congress (TUC), stated he recently raised the salaries of workers by 10 per cent to cushion the effects of inflation on workers.
He said that as an expert in economics, he was aware of inflation in our economy which had made workers to be in serious pain given what they earn as salaries. Soludo used the medium to direct the state workers to end the Monday sit-at-home which he noted was becoming a cheating on government.
“In more than a year now, workers in Anambra and other states in the South-East no longer work on Mondays and this has made it for them to work for 70/80 per cent monthly, while they receive their monies 100 per cent.
“This can no longer continue because it is like it has become a convenient excuse and we must get our state back on track,” he said.
Soludo stated that under his supervision, any employee who retires must receive his or her retirement benefits. He also stated that, in addition to other ventures, he would continue to pay monthly salary.
He informed labor leaders that the only way for him to execute the much-desired salary increases was for the government to cut the workforce in half.
Soludo, who praised state workers for their dedication, urged them to do more because he will ensure that they receive higher benefits as state revenue increases.
Humphrey Nwafor and Chris Ogbonna, the NLC and TUC state leaders, have already enumerated the difficulties confronting workers in the state in separate presentations.
They maintained that wages received by Anambra workers cannot feed them and their families while appealing that those due for promotions should be promoted.
