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Minimum wage: Labour to crack down defaulters by March, says SSANU President

By Cross Udo, Abuja

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday threatened to take decisive action against state governments and other employers of labour that fail to implement the national minimum wage of N70,000 and pay consequential adjustments by the end of the first quarter of 2025.

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) President, Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, disclosed this while speaking to journalists at the association’s national leadership retreat in Abuja, organised for the union’s National Administrative Committee (NAC) members.

The SSANU President, also the National Internal Auditor of the NLC, warned that states and institutions that continued to delay or manipulate wage payments would face serious consequences.

Fielding questions on the alleged non-payment of the new minimum wage and the consequential adjustment by some employers of labour, Comrade Ibrahim said, “The problem with the government and employers of labour is insincerity.

“The national minimum wage has been signed into law, and payments should have commenced nationwide, but in most institutions and states, these things are just an award.

“In most universities and state governments, they did just to award a certain amount, a figure they merely use to play with workers’ intelligence.

“But I am happy that the NLC is not sleeping on this matter and that we have been engaging.  And you can see that it was only when the NLC gave the directive that any state government that refused to implement the national minimum wage should face a strike that you started seeing different state governors rushing to sign. Most are even kangaroo agreements that have not seen the light of day.”

Ibrahim said that the NLC was not sleeping on the issue, assuring that the union would enforce workers’ rights through labour laws and industrial actions if necessary.

“But in the future, I can assure you, because I am the National Internal Auditor of the NLC and at the level of leadership, we are taking very stringent measures to ensure that between now and the end of this first quarter, any state or employer of labour that refuses to implement the national minimum wage and refuses to adjust 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,” to he added.

On his takeover of the alleged demand of N8m from each vice chancellor of universities during the budget defence before the institution’s budget could be approved, the SSANU President said that if the allegation turned out to be true, labour would ‘fight’ the lawmakers.

He said, “Well, number one, I am not a Vice Chancellor, and therefore, I cannot speak on behalf of Vice Chancellors. But when too much of rumours, naturally metamorphose into a reality, before the budget defence, we didn’t hear about this allegation.

“Now that the budget defence is going on, we have heard the allegations, and we have not seen anybody from the Senate or the House of Representatives coming out to deny it. We pray that that is not true.

“However, if it is true, then it is most unfortunate because universities Today, as they stand in Nigeria, all our public universities, I can tell you without fear of any contradiction, no university has enough resources to pay for its electricity bill.

“No University, no public university. In Nigeria, many universities have been operating without electricity for the last three months. So where will they get the eight million naira they will give the National Assembly members.

“So, if our leaders, who we have elected to go to the National Assembly and formulate laws and ensure that the system is not short-changed, are the ones asking for this money, then definitely our unions will also look at this very passionately as we resume this year.

“And I’m telling you, the National Assembly is not too big for us to fight. We will fight them because all of them belong to our constituencies. We will chase them out without further delay. We will only work with progressives.”

*Raises concern over internal sabotage by members

Speaking on the challenges labour unions face, the SSANU President said that some members sabotage strike actions, weakening the effectiveness of industrial actions.

“Unfortunately, some of our members work against our collective struggle. They engage in blackmail and underhand dealings to derail strike actions. However, this is not unique to SSANU; it happens in every sector. We are holding this retreat to educate our members on the importance of unity and discipline within the union,” he stated.

Ibrahim also admitted that industrial actions have lost effectiveness due to government indifference and worker fatigue. He noted that while strikes remain a last resort, the union explores alternative negotiation strategies.

He emphasised the need for continuous training of university staff and better funding of tertiary institutions.

He stressed that universities must remain centres of learning and innovation, requiring continuous capacity building for staff.

“As leaders of this great union, we must ensure our national executives are equipped with the latest global trends. SSANU is an affiliate of NLC, and we have benefited from international training programmes. It is important that we bring this knowledge back home and share it at all levels,” he said.

The retreat featured key speakers, including former NLC President Ayuba Wabba, former SSANU President Chief Promise Adeusi, and the Institute of Mentoring and Coaching Director-General, Dr Rotimi Mathew.

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