By Oscarline  Onwuemenyi
Ahead of the meeting of the National Council of State today in Abuja, the Nigeria Labour Congress,NLC, Wednesday demanded that the Federal Government begin implementation of the new national minimum wage before the end of the year.

Speaking in a briefing in Abuja, the NLC President, Comrade Abdulwahed Omar, said Nigerian workers were resolved not to take it kindly on anyone who tries to stand in the way of the implementation of the agreed new national minimum wage.

He noted that after one year of deliberations and negotiations, all stakeholders including the Federal and state governments, employers and labour had agreed on “the very low minimum wage of N18,000.”

According to Omar, “Thursday (today) is certainly a very big day for Nigerian workers, as it would indeed show if those who make decisions in high places have the interest of the poor workers at heart or they are only after their own interests.

“Labour accepted this amount which it knows is not a living wage out of a sense of patriotism and conscious sacrifice for our country. However, the continue delay in implementing this new wage over half a year after the agreement was reached, is to say the least, provocative.

“If after the warning strike and the proposed Council of State meeting, the implementation of the new wage is delayed beyond this month, then Labour will have no option but to demand for payment of salary arrears.

“Whatever the case, the Labour movement will not allow the implementation of the new minimum wage to drag beyond this year.”

Omar noted that the warning strike embarked upon by organised labour two weeks ago “was avoidable, but we had to embark on it when it was clear that there were forces in the country out to sabotage the process.