- FG biting more than its fair share
- Nigeria has slave but not minimum wages
- Labour should demand top-bottom negotiation of all wages including those of President, Governors
- States should set up cash allocation committees
- Buhari should take Nigeria’s security more seriously
- sack security chiefs, rejig security structure
By Banji Ayoola
Nigeria’s prevailing revenue allocation formula is due for a review to enable state governments pay the N30,000 minimum wage being demanded by workers, and meet their other obligations according to labour veteran and former chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, in Ondo State, Comrade Oyekan Arije.
He said that the Federal Government is biting more than its fair share of the revenue allocation formula while the states generally are starved of funds, as he asked labour and the state governors to collaborate and demand from the Federal Government for a review.
He spoke with The Radiance in Akure the state capital where he also called for a top to bottom negotiation of all wages being drawn from the government till including those of the President and the Governors. These he said, involve a review of the remunerations of the least paid and highest paid public servants.
He was sad that governors are unwilling to pay N30, 000 as the minimum wage, as he decried the outrageous ratio between the highest and lowest paid public servants in the country, which he put at about ratio one to 1.6 million.
His words: “How do you expect a person to survive on N30, 000 today when the government appropriates N450 a day to feed a prisoner. At the rate of feeding a prisoner in a year, you would spend over N164, 000.
“If the worker is to provide for his wife and two children, he would require N657, 000 for feeding alone at the rate of feeding the prisoner. And yet people are saying that N30, 000 which is N360, 000 per annum is too much.
“Mark you, the prisoner would not buy clothes; he would not pay for medical treatment; he would not pay rent; he would not pay tax. But the worker on N30, 000 per month would pay tax, buy clothes, the children would go to school, all from N30, 000.”
He recalled that in May 1985 when the nation had the first minimum wage of N125, this amounted to 195 dollars per month at the exchange rate of 64 kobo to the dollar. But today, 33 years after, 195 dollars is over N70, 000 at the prevailing exchange rate.
He said: “So it makes me sad. When I look back, it makes me sad because as it is today, what we are having in this country are slave wages and not minimum wages.”
On the way out, Arije said: “Labour should square it out with government. Enough is enough of the mess of the governors. The Governors Forum is unknown to Law. The Constitution does not provide for Governors Forum. It is a club. How can a club be dictating to the country.
“If they cannot pay, then they should get out. As a matter of fact, the time is ripe now that labour should demand a top-bottom negotiation of wages. And the ratio between the less paid and the highest paid should be bridged. Then you would know that the governors would see reason.
“Labour should insist that they want the emoluments of the workers, people who draw their income from the government till, they should negotiate their income, their salaries from the least paid to the highest paid, to the President because it is not their personal money.
“They would take imprest; they would corner the contracts; they have so many ways of amassing wealth. Labour should insist that enough is enough.”
He believed that only a review of the revenue allocation formula which increases allocation to the states would douse the tension over the minimum wage as it did in the Second Republic.
He recalled that in 1982 September, when there was a strike action in Ondo State over workers demand for wage increase, he convinced the then NLC President Comrade Hassan Sunmonu of the need for a review of the revenue allocation formula.
According to him, Sunmonu promptly visited and convinced President Shehu Shagari, who subsequently approved a review of the then revenue allocation formula which increased states allocation from 24 to 30 percent.
Also, Arije advised the governors to follow the transparency and openness of former Ondo State Governor Adekunle Ajasin by setting up Cash Allocation Committees.
His words: “One thing that Ajasin did which other Governors did not do was that every month, the Cash Allocation Committee would sit down to order the priorities of what government income was to be spent on after the Ministry of Finance would have done its cash projections. NLC Secretary and Chairman were in the Cash Allocation Committee.
“So we knew that government did not hide anything from us. Ajasin would chairman the meeting. Chief (Reuben) Fasoranti, the Finance Commissioner was there. Akosile, Finance Permanent Secretary was there. Akinyemi, the Accountant General of the state, myself and the Secretary of NLC were there.
“We ordered the priorities together. In fact we were convinced that the state government could not meet its obligations in the areas of salaries payment.
“That was what brought the idea to me that there should be a review of the revenue allocation formula which made me to meet Sunmonu to discuss this thing. And thank goodness it worked.”
He said: “For equity, the governors should respect the humanity of the workers, while conscience should dictate a collaborative effort between the governors and labour to demand a review of the revenue allocation formula to secure a higher share and percentage of the common pot that is the Federation Account for the states.
“That is what labour and the states should collaborate because the Federal Government is biting more than its fair share.
Rather than the governors saying they won’t pay, they should now learn to put up argument that the revenue allocation formula be reviewed to give them higher percentage.”
According to him, with wage increase, “there would be more money and it would be pumped into the economy if there is a readjustment of remunerations and you reduce the top because the top is too heavy, to add to those below.
“There should be a redistribution of the wealth of this country especially for people who earn from government workers.If there is redistribution, there would be more money and it would enhance the economy of the nation.”
On the Cash Allocation Committee, he noted that former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola set up one in 2015, which doused the industrial tension which had gripped the state over a dispute.
Arije said: “In 2015, somebody requested me to assist (former Osun State Governor Rauf) Aregbesola when he had dispute with his workers. Among other things, I advised him to set up a Cash Allocation Committee where labour would be represented and that would afford labour to know what comes to the purse and how it is disbursed.
“And I suggested to him that instead of coming to Ondo State to look for somebody who would help him, there is somebody here with him in Osogbo who is even better than myself. Alhaji Sunmonu is in Osogbo. He is from Osun State and he has retired back home.
I advised him to talk to Sunmonu. And that is why Sunmonu is the Chairman of the Cash Allocation Committee in Osun State today. The time of Aregbesola is over now. We don’t know what (Governor Gboyega) Oyetola would do.
But Sunmonu since 2015 has been in charge of revenue allocation in Osun State. As a matter of fact by the time the Chief of Staff who is now the present Governor, got the request, the letter appointing him to him, he told that well he could not take the appointment until he had discussed with the labour movement in the state if they wanted him to take up the appointment.
“And they begged him to take it because they knew that they would benefit from it. And he confirmed from the National President of NLC and TUC, and they agreed that he should accept the offer.
“He negotiated the 50%, 75%, 100% earning of workers in Osun State which probably doused the tension at that time.”
He said: “That is where the Governor is not going to hide anything because for governors who would put N2 billion for their security vote, they would not even want you to know how much comes in as IGR.
“Sunmonu asked. How much do you generate a month for IGR. Can’t you generate up to N5 billion. If you can do that, your problem would be over. So they put him in charge of both the revenue generation and disbursement.
“If the governors are open, workers would assist them to solve their problems. But because they are not open, that is why they don’t want workers to even know how much they earn.
“A time was during the time of Ajasin that even though I was on level 12 at that time, the Accountant General sent me to Lagos to go and pursue the fate of our cash allocation for that month in December 1980 because he (Ajasin) was open.
“Some governors would receive XYZ allocation from the federation account, they would declare XY to their workers. They would have an IGR of ABC, they would declare AB. So as a result they are not open. And to that extent they would not want the workers tto know what comes into the kitty.
“But to an extent, I want to blame the workers for that because it is not the governor who collects the revenue.
“The unions should have their tentacles in the appropriate places such that they can know what comes in by way of statutory allocation, loans, grants, everything and IGR.
“During my time, without hassles, I would get the figures even before we started working together on the cash allocation because the governor was open, he had nothing to hide.”
On security, he asked the President to relieve the security chiefs of their positions because of alleged inefficiency.
“How can Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa be killing our soldiers as if they are killing fowls. The President should be more serious about the security of this country and he should not see only his kinsmen the Hausa Fulani as the only people who can guarantee security in this country.
“It had never been so before his time that all service chiefs, all the security paraphernalia would be occupied by just one ethnic group. He should diversify.”
Arije said: “I must be frank. I am not happy about the goings on in the country today. Murder here, kidnapping there, killings, Boko Haram, think of it. The country is not safe. And it appears that the government has been overwhelmed.”
“Corruption has taken over the country. It was in the papers yesterday (Monday November 26); and even on Sunday what this nation expended on military equipment since 1999.
“Is it not interesting that our soldiers are still using obsolete equipment whereas annually money is budgeted for defence. Where has the money gone? To the extent that our soldiers are using obsolete weapons which render their flanks to danger. No wonder the Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West Africa have been overrunning our troops in recent times.”
SHe counseled: “The youths and the elderly ones, we should learn how to be contented; and we should allow the Lord to take control of our lives; and whatever we do on earth here, we should remember that we would give an account one day.”
