Decentralisation of minimum wage negotiation anti-workers -NANS

The National Association of Nigerian Students on Saturday condemned the call made by a former Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi advocating for the decentralisation of minimum wage.

Fayemi had last week said that states should be allowed to have separate negotiations with labour on new minimum wage.

The NANS, National Clerk of the Senate, Abdul-Yekinn Odunayo, in a statement on Monday, described such call as “anti-workers”

The Federal Government and labour unions have been locked up in negotiations over a new minimum wage for months. While the labour insists on N250,000, the government is offering N62,000.

Fayemi in an interview last week had advocated for a decentralised minimum wage negotiation, arguing that states should determine what they can pay factoring in their peculiarities.

But, NANS while reacting to Fayemi’s statement called on the FG to ignore the former governor and rather compel the state governors to implement the new minimum wage if signed into law.

Odunayo described Fayemi’s statement as “uncalled for and capable of setting the governors against the FG.

“We want to urge the Federal Government to ignore former Governor Kayode Fayemi and his call for a decentralised minimum wage negotiation with the labour.

“In fact, we want the federal government to compel state governors to pay the new minimum wage if signed into law and mete out serious sanction and punishment to any state governor who defaults in the payment of the new minimum wage.

“It is dangerous and unproductive to allow state governors to determine what they can pay as minimum wage. This can spell doom for Nigeria and set the governors against the Federal government,” Odunayo said.

Meanwhile, NANS, under the leadership of Pedro Obi has backed the labour unions for demanding better pay as minimum wage.

The students’ body promised not to relent in giving every necessary support and encouragement to President Tinubu’s administration towards restoring the lost glory of the country and providing conducive conditions for every Nigerian to thrive

NANS insisted that, both the federal and state governments must prioritise workers’ welfare and implement policies that would improve the living conditions of Nigerians.