The Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment Dr. Chris Ngige have stated that President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration is responsive to worker’s needs and demands
The Minister made this known at the 2019 Worker’s Day celebration held at the Eagle Square, Abuja.
According to the Minister “Government’s favourable responses to workers’ struggles have been immense and admirable over the years but of recent it is to be noted that the current Administration in its four (4) years during my period as the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, has negotiated on behalf of workers the payment of promotion arrears, transfers and matters ancillary to all categories of civil and public servants in all Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDA’s) and embargos on promotion and employment were lifted even while government earnings had dropped due to low oil revenues”.
Ngige said, efforts have been made by this administration to create jobs and retain existing ones, diversified the economy in Agriculture and prominent amongst the initiative put in place for this purpose includes Borrowers programme, handled by the Central Bank of Nigeria, Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (DFI), Youth Farm Lab as an initiative to train Nigerian Youths on livestock production and sustainable urban agriculture, noting that these areas of social protection is aimed at creating jobs and wealth for teaming Nigerians.
The Honourable Minister who was represented by the Minister of State Labour and Employment, Prof Stephen Ocheni, said the theme for 2019 Worker’s Day Celebration “Another 100 years of struggle for Jobs Dignity and Social Justice” is apt, because it reflects the centurion age of worker’s history. Nigeria as a member State of ILO since 1960 has ratified over fourty (40) of its conventions including the core Labour conventions.
Earlier the President, Nigerian Labour Congress Comrade, Ayuba Wabba, commended President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly for signing the new National minimum wage into law “a major milestone in our struggle was the campaign for a new National minimum wage of N30, 000”, the two chambers of the National Assembly passed the bill into law in the first quarter of 2019 and President Muhammadu Buhari gave his assent to the bill on 18th April, 2019. There is no better Workers Day gift as the N30, 000 new National Minimum wage which takes immediate effect,” he said.
Comrade Wabba called on the current Chairman of ECOWAS, President Muhammadu Buhari to use his good offices to capacitate the regional Social Dialogue Forum to function properly and enjoined the Federal Government to prevail on the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment to reactivate the Social Dialogue Mechanism via the functioning of the tripartite National Labour Advisory Council which is the apex statutory body that advices on Labour regimes and industrial relations in the Country.