By Victor AhiumaYoung, Abuja

Organised Labour has called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately constitute a National Minimum Wage Negotiating Committee to review the current National Minimum Wage Act ahead of the expiration of the subsisting act in March 2024.

President of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU, Dr Makolo Hassan, who spoke in Abuja, said: “The call for the review of the National Minimum Wage has become urgent given the information given by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its Report for October 2023, which stated that the major contributors to the increase in inflation were food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel, clothing and footwear, transport, furnishings, household equipment and maintenance.

“The continued rise in inflation was attributed to the removal of petrol subsidy and the devaluation of the official exchange rate. I call on the President to, as a matter of urgency, constitute a National Minimum Wage Negotiating Committee to review the current National Minimum Wage Act.”

He also decried that “inadequate funding of tertiary institutions such as the universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education by federal and state governments has reached a critical juncture, leading to infrastructural decay, poor service delivery, and low staff morale. This is evident in the quality of products from these institutions. A country faced with this situation cannot be talking about quality manpower and development. This is at the heart of the reoccurring disputes between the Federal Government and Unions in the educational sector.

“We, however, acknowledge the effort of the Federal Government towards addressing the lack and decay of infrastructure in the education sector over the years through the establishment of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, and other interventions of the Federal Government such as the revitalization fund that came in through Needs Assessment.

“These efforts, notwithstanding, funding of education has fallen short of UNESCO’s recommendation of 26 percent allocation to the education sector in National budgets. It is, therefore, hearing from Government officials that the current administration will strive towards meeting UNESCO’s recommended benchmark for funding of education.

“The inadequate funding of existing tertiary institutions is further compounded by the indiscriminate establishment of tertiary institutions in every hamlet in the country by both the Federal and the State Governments. We call on the Governments to put a stop to this practice and adequately fund the existing ones.”