The Federal Government on Thursday, July 11, said that the responsibility is on the organised labour to enforce compliance to minimum wage payments by states across Nigeria.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, while speaking at the end of a two-day Pre-retirement Summit, organised by XEM Consulting Ltd, said the Nigeria Labour Congress should not abandon the enforcement to the government.
Represented by Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, OSGF, Nnamdi Mbaeri, the SGF said FG is currently discussing pension payment and it is important for organised labour to be part of the discussions.
His words, “Whether it is minimum wage or pension, the best law that can be made is the law you can enforce; if you make an omnibus law that you cannot enforce, that law is good as nothing.”
Mr Akume noted that FG has initiated several reform initiatives to lift the populace out of poverty.
He also urged Nigerians to be patient with the government as dividends of these reform initiatives materialise.
Also speaking, the national president of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, regretted that the current pension scheme fell short of taking care of Nigeria’s ageing population.
He said, “Nigerian workers before and after retirement are faced with challenging life situations; the lump sum payment should be increased by at least 50 per cent.”
A salary, pension payment system that works
Mr Ajaero said it is possible to create a system that assures Nigerian workers a retirement period of joy and not trepidation; the theme of this summit resonates with the present-day workforce.
“Retirement under the current pension scheme may become a death sentence for many; many questions fill the minds of workers post retirement as regards the pension scheme.
“Inadequate pension benefits, inflation, rising cost and the financial contributions made pre-retirement difficult to match the current monetary values at post-retirement,’’ Mr Ajaero added.
