NLC President Joe Ajaero Slams FG Over Economic Hardship, Laments State Governors Failure to Implement New Minimum Wage

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has decried the high cost of living in Nigeria while accusing the Federal Government of undermining the value of labour workers.

In his address during the 2024 delegates’ conference of the NLC Youth Council, tagged; Youth and the New World of Work: Imperative of a New Social Contract, in Abuja, Ajaero lamented the high cost of feeding, transportation, housing, and other social amenities.

The NLC boss criticized some state governors who have failed to comply with the new ₦70,000 minimum wage signed by President Bola Tinubu, particularly considering the country’s harsh economic conditions.

Ajaero detailed that plans are underway and soon, youth executive councils would exist in every state council of the NLC, according to him, it will help provide platforms for addressing specific issues bothering the youths and encouraging deeper engagement in the trade union movement.

Ajaero advised the youths to stay focused, committed and united in their quest for a better Nigeria, stressing that these hard times require determination, not lamentations.

He said, “Comrades, let us speak plainly. The harsh realities of our country cannot be sugar-coated. We live in a nation where the rich grow fatter on the sweat of the poor, where our youth struggle to find meaningful work, and where the value of labour is often trampled underfoot.

A bag of 50kg rice sells for ₦105,000, transport from Abuja to Port Harcourt is above ₦50,000, decent housing has become a mirage, while basic healthcare is out of reach. Basic social services are becoming elusive even as we have to struggle to get some governors to pay us a paltry ₦70,000 National Minimum Wage—the product of a law passed by the state.

“Anyway, this is not a time for lamentation; it is a time for determination. No one will build our nation for us,” he concluded.

It should be recalled that in response to some State governors’ failure to implement the new minimum wage for civil servants in their states, the NLC President, after a Port Harcourt meeting, directed its members in affected states to embark on an industrial strike.

Investors King understands that Ajaero’s directive received wide compliance as members of the union took to the streets to register their frustration.