Teachers reject N27, 000 minimum wage, insist on N30, 000 for all workers

Nigeria Teachers have rejected the N27, 000 minimum wage recommended by the Federal Government.

The Teachers who expressed their views through the Nigerian Union of Teachers, the umbrella body for teachers in the country, frowned at the National Council of State’s decision to peg the minimum wage at N27, 000 while it decided to pay N30, 000 to federal government workers.

It would be recalled that the National Council of State, at its Tuesday, Jan. 22 meeting, approved N27, 000 as the new minimum wage.

Dr Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment, said that the Federal Government would pay 30,000 as minimum wage to its workers.

The minister, however, said the state governors were at liberty to add to the approved amount if they so desired, but that the option of paying should fall below the minimum benchmark of N27, 000.

In December 2018, the tripartite committee had recommended N30, 000 as minimum wage. Dr Mike Ene, NUT Secretary-General, told newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, that the council should make the new minimum wage equal across board.

“It is unfair and needed to be addressed immediately because a worker is a worker everywhere in the country, either with the federal or state government. “The N30, 000 translates to N1, 000 per day, we insist that the 30, 000 stands for all workers in the country,’’ Ene said.

Dr Sabiu Sani, a lecturer with the Department of Economics, University of Abuja, said that the government should have implemented the tripartite committee agreement. According to him, “We are supposed to have leaders that we can trust and not those that show disrespect to contract.’’  

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Source: Vanguard