If the federal government does not implement the N30,000 minimum wage proposal it agreed with workers, it should be ready to contend with a nationwide strike, the organised Labour has stated.
Following comments by Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed, that the figure was a recommendation, the General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress, Mr Musa Lawal, said Organised Labour decided to shelve its planned strike because the government had expressed the willingness to accept the report of the tripartite committee.
Media reports said he warned that anything short of the full implementation of the report would be met with stiff opposition.
“They can say anything they want to say. Why were they panicky before? Why did they agree to the N30, 000? They can call it a mere recommendation or whatever they want to call it but the important thing is that at the end of the day, if we do not get the N30,000, they know what we will do,” he declared.
Mohammed told State House correspondents President Buhari would study the report presented to him on Tuesday by the Chairman of the committee, Ama Pepple, before taking a decision on it.
His words: “I think it (N30,000) was a recommendation. Mr President will consider it and will make his views known in due course.”
Pepple said at the presentation of the report to Buhari two days ago that the committee recommended that the national minimum wage be increased from N18,000 monthly to N30,000.
She added that her committee drafted a bill that the Federal Government would send to the National Assembly to effect the change.