Our take on NLC’s N56,000 minimum wage proposal, by Nigerians

Kelly Abrahams, (Consultant) “We just hope that the government will be able to pay the money, but the only fear I have is that, will they be able to pay it? Because it is of no use promising that they are going to pay this money and at the end of the day you fail […]

Kelly Abrahams,
(Consultant)

“We just hope that the government will be able to pay the money, but the only fear I have is that, will they be able to pay it? Because it is of no use promising that they are going to pay this money and at the end of the day you fail to do that. So if they can pay fine, but if they are not sure, they shouldn’t just raise people’s hope like that. My main concern is to ensure that they would be able to pay the money and if they cannot pay, they should announce the amount that they are willing to pay consistently.

Mrs. Uwanu Uwa, (Businesswoman)

“If the government can actually meet up with that, I think it is a good idea, but looking at things around us, I don’t think Nigeria is actually ready to pay any worker N56,000. I for one, I do business and I don’t think I can pay my staff N56,000 right now because by the time I pick up my bills, I wouldn’t have so much money to take back home before I now start paying N56,000. As I am speaking, if I see cheaper labour, I will opt for it, so N56,000 minimum wage is a good idea if we are actually ready for it, but I don’t think Nigeria is ready for that.

Mr. Collins Uwanu
Uwa, (Businessman)

“It is not about the money, it is about our leaders, we lack leaders that are visionary in all our institutions, starting from the president. All these things are meant to be a proactive plan that today we don’t have to fight about minimum wage; we are supposed to be planning ahead. Before the budget would have been approved, all these are supposed to be planned by our government, so talking about the N56,000 minimum wage, everybody is confused because even if they give them the money, at the end or even tomorrow, they will still come up with another plan. So what we have to do is to set up an institution that will be proactive and we have to plan and all problems will be solved accordingly.
Emeka, Human (Resource and Business Development Consultant)

“I think it is proper to increase salaries as workers work, but asking for an increment in salary to the tune of almost 300 percent doesn’t make sense. Why I am saying that is because we would practically be inviting inflation. Research and history have clearly shown us that, anytime salaries are increased, prices of items in the market go up; hence we are considering that, we should also be considering a tendency of market items going up in price. Presently, the price of oil has drastically fallen … this clearly shows that our economy is dropping. Logically, it wouldn’t be advisable to increase the minimum wage to that amount with the way the economy is dwindling. Yes, I agree that salaries be increased from my own point of view and as a human resource personnel. But not to that amount, it could be increased by some percentage, not more than 10 percent. From N18,000 to N56,000 is not economically wise.”