By Gift Samuel
Abuja-Ahead of the 2017 May Day celebration, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has appealed to the abductors of the Chibok girls to release the remaining girls and lay down their arms in the spirit of National rebirth.
This is just as the Congress reiterated the call for the Federal Government to review the National Minimum wage which it said is long over due for review considering the current economic trends, stressing that the current wage has been completely eroded.
The Chairman Joint Committee on May Day, Comrade Peters Adeyemi who made the call on Thursday, said the day will be used to celebrate the dignity of labour, working class solidarity, look critically at the available opportunities to work towards achieving economic revival and to advocate for the engendering of socio-economic policies that are pro-poor.
He however expressed dismay over the elongated debate on the increase of the minimum wage by the Federal government, adding also that the idea of removing Minimum wage from the Exclusive Legislative list by the senate is just looking for trouble.
According to him; “On this May Day, Minimum wage will take the centre stage because it is not a settled matter. It is a way to get the government to empower Nigerians and N18,000 is extremely on the low side”.
He took a swipe at the government over the series of recovered funds by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,(EFCC) which he said is yet to be used to improve lives as he called on the government to use the recovered monies to improve the lives of Nigerians.
He said; ” Hard working Nigerians are paid peanut and few elements have stolen to the point of abandoning the money they stole, that is the irony of the country, if any one says it is impossible to pay the new minimum wage, the person must be sick. Where are the recovered monies? Why not use it to improve the lives of Nigerians”.
The May Day Celebrity has the theme, “Labour Relations In Economic Recession: An Appraisal” and will hold at the Eagle square Abuja and all the Capitals of the 36 states of the Federation.
