BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG
TRADE Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, yesterday, commended both Lagos and Ondo States governors for taking the initiatives to increase the wages of civil servants in their states even before the N18,000 new national minimum wage was passed into law by the National Assembly.

TUC in a statement by Mr Peter Esele and Chief John Kolawole, its President-General and Secretary-General, respectively, specifically commended Governor Babatunde Fashola for not only accepting the recommendations of the 14 approved labour unions in the state civil service, but for also pegging the new state minimum at N18,780,a figure that is N780 above the national approved benchmark of N18,000, while some Governors were still dragging their feet on the issue.

According to the statement: “It is also an eye opener to claims in some quarters that paying the new wage will create a huge hole on their state’s treasury. The total amount voted monthly as security votes by these states is more than the total sum required for the new wage.

“TUC is even more surprised that both governors are not members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), whose governors should have been in the forefront in the fight for wage increase across the land. We still submit that the paltry sum of N18, 000 agreed after series of meetings involving the Labour movement, Federal and States government as well as the representatives of the organized private sector was not the best for the Nigerian workers.

“The representatives of the workers accepted that amount in the interest of national peace and development. We also maintain that majority of the states can conveniently pay even above the approved new wage as exemplified by the Lagos State government, whose recent position has gone along way to justify our earlier held opinion that Lagos, Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Kano and Kaduna States are rich enough to pay above the approved N18, 000 minimum wage.