President Bola Tinubu has urged the 36 state governors to commence the payment of wage awards to workers in their various states, while the new minimum wage is decided upon. Tinubu who made this appeal on Monday during a working visit to Minna, Niger State capital, noted that proper implementation would lessen the hardship in the country.
During the flag-off of the agricultural mechanization revolution for food security and the commissioning of the remodeled domestic terminal of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Airport in Minna, the president disclosed that “If all of you, the sub-nationals have been paying the wages award, pending the determination of the new salary wage. Let all the states start paying the wages award. Whatever they are taking now plus the wage award would relieve the public.
“Please, I am not giving an order, I am appealing to you states, start paying the wages awards, let everyone start paying it. It is a relief to the people. The mechanism is the fact that it won’t be inflationary if we announce the new salary wage in a few weeks or months, they would have gotten used to the basic wages of N30,000 plus the wages award, and it will have a dampening effect on the market. Please get sub-nationals together and NEC should adopt this.”
Tinubu continued by promising that the student loans and other economic measures would soon be implemented. “The student loan program will commence, there will be unemployment benefits for our graduates, and the social security program for the elderly and vulnerable will commence, we are fine-tuning all these areas. We will relieve people of hunger.”
While addressing the herdsmen crisis as regards insecurity, he added “Give me two to three weeks. You will be part of the inauguration of the livestock change in Nigeria. I know what it means to economic sabotage for roaming cows to eat up the crops and vegetation of our lands, it could be painful but when we reorient the herders and make provision for cattle rearing. The Governors should provide the lands and as the President, I am committed to giving you a comprehensive program that will solve this problem.”
Before concluding, the president pledged his support to the state government and praised the governor of Niger State for his persistent and aggressive efforts to ensure an agricultural revolution for food security, including the state's ascent to the top of the national food production rankings.
He concluded by stating that his administration is not concerned about making excuses or blaming the past governments.
