– Get Additional N25,000 for Next Six Months
- By Kamil Opeyemi
President Bola Tinubu on Sunday announced a partial increase in the wage to be earned by workers in the category he called “Low Grade” workers.
In his Independence Day address to Nigerians, Tinubu, who said he is much aware of the hardship Nigerians are going through, asked them to endure.
He said the current hardship are the necessary sacrifice that must be made to end the rot of many decades.
Announcing the new minimum wage temporary increment, the Nigerian president said a sum of N25,000 would be added to the salaries of workers in the low grade category.
“Based on our talks with labour, business and other stakeholders, we are introducing a provisional wage increment to enhance the federal minimum wage without causing undue inflation. For the next six months, the average low-grade worker shall receive an additional Twenty-Five Thousand naira per month,” the Nigerian president said
Explaining why Nigerians must endure, he said the country’s resources had been shared among a few that he called “greedy few.”
“Reform may be painful, but it is what greatness and the future require. We now carry the costs of reaching a future Nigeria where the abundance and fruits of the nation are fairly shared among all, not hoarded by a select and greedy few. A Nigeria where hunger, poverty and hardship are pushed into the shadows of an ever fading past,” he said
His announcement is coming amidst tension over a nationwide strike, slated to commence on Tuesday October 3rd.
Tinubu said it makes him unhappy seeing the people of “this nation shoulder burdens that should have been shed years ago” adding “I wish today’s difficulties did not exist. But we must endure if we are to reach the good side of our future.”
He went further, “ My government is doing all that it can to ease the load. I will now outline the path we are taking to relieve the stress on our families and households.
“ We have embarked on several public sector reforms to stabilize the economy, direct fiscal and monetary policy to fight inflation, encourage production, ensure the security of lives and property and lend more support to the poor and the vulnerable.