The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has given states and employers till the end of March to implement the new national minimum wage across the country.
The NLC said that stringent measures have been place against defaulters after the expiration of the ultimatum.
The President Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, Mohammed Ibrahim, stated this at a one day National Leadership Retreat organised for the union’s National Administrative Committee Members on Wednesday in Abuja.
The theme of the retreat was, ”Leadership Challenges amongst Activists”.
According to Ibrahim, who is also the National Internal Auditor of the NLC, the measures were imperative due to the continuous delay by states and institutions to manipulate wage payments.
He added that one of the issues in the implementation of the minimum wage is that of insincerity.
“The national minimum wage has been signed into law, and payments should have commenced nationwide.
“But in most institutions and states, what they did was just to award a certain amount or a figure they are merely using to play with the intelligence of workers as minimum wage.
“But I am happy that the NLC is not sleeping on this matter and we have been engaging.
“But going forward, I can assure you that we are taking very stringent measures to ensure that between now and the end of this first quarter, that the minimum wage and consequential adjustment will be implemented.
“Any state or employer of labour that refuses to implement the national minimum wage and the adjustment in workers’ salaries accordingly will face the consequences.
“The labour laws are there and we have all that it takes to enforce our rights against those employers,” he said.
Speaking on the theme of the retreat, Ibrahim said that some members sabotaged strike actions, weakening the effectiveness of industrial actions.
He also admitted that industrial actions had lost their effectiveness due to government indifference and worker fatigue.
The SSANU president explained that while strikes remained a last resort, the union would explore alternative negotiation strategies.
He emphasised the need for continuous training of university staff and better funding of tertiary institutions.
Ibrahim, however, said that universities must remain the centers of learning and innovation, requiring continuous capacity building for staff.
