BY GBENGA OLARINOYE
OSOGBO— A chieftain of the pan Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Opadokun, has blamed the federal government for the lingering industrial crisis over the implementation of the N18,000 minimum wage, claiming that the federal government did not make necessary provision for the implementation of the law.

Opadokun, who is also a former secretary of Afenifere and the National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, identified absence of true federalism as the major cause of the minimum wage crisis.

The Afenifere leader who spoke in Osogbo, Osun state capital yesterday said, “The problem with Nigerian geo-political setting is that consistently, we abuse the major concept of federalism. In a federation, the centre does not have the power to negotiate on behalf of the component units like in this case of wage increase. Hence, the current problem we are experiencing in some states over the payment of the new minimum wage.

“If truly the federal government wants the states to implement the minimum wage totally, then something has to be done for the states, in terms of finance.The federal government should do something urgently if it does not want the collapse of this entity call Nigeria.”

He also appealed to public workers in Osun to reason with the government over the minimum wage issue.

Opadokun urged the labour leaders to the dialogue with state government instead of demanding that the implementation of the N18, 000 be done across the board once and for all.

He said “I am appealing to the labour leaders in Osun state not to shun dialogue. Even in war, at the end of the day, you will sit at a round table to talk matters. The idea of saying we want to have it total from day one may not be helpful. I think that Aregbesola is basically geared towards making lives better for the ordinary man on the street, labour inclusive.”