FG Can Pay N52,200 Minimum Wage-- Labour Leaders

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Osun have expressed

their convinction that the Federal Government can sustain the payment of N52,200 as workers' minimum wage.

The TUC Chairman, Mr Francis Oladele, said in Osogbo that "in spite of the economic meltdown, the country's resources can meet up with the demand of the Nigerian workers."

"With political office holders earning huge allowances we can as well afford it, the government should not use the meltdown issue as an excuse," he said.

Oladele said that even the payment of the minimum wage which the workers were agitating for would not solve their enormous financial burden.

"The payment will only reduce the burden, it is not a solution to the financial crisis which every worker is facing," he said.

The TUC chairman advised government to look for other sources of revenue generation to lessen the dependence on oil.

"We should go back to the basics and not necessarily concentrate on the previous traditional sources of revenue such as cocoa,groundnut and palm oil, but to look for more,'' he said.

The state NLC Chairman, Mr Femi Taiwo, also stated that "the take-home pay of an average worker is small, and government has no choice other than to pay what the NLC is agitating for.

"If government can pay huge money as allowances to those in the realm of power, then workers must also be paid well."