Senator Chris Ngige, the Federal Minister of Labour and Employment said on the occasion of Workers Day, that the Buhari administration has done well for Nigerians in terms of labour and employment of its citizens.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, Ngige claimed that the Buhari-led administration has only had the best interest of Nigerians in the labour market. “This government has done a lot in terms of labour administration, and my ministry is at the centre of it. I can tell you without any fear of contradiction that this is the first government in Nigeria that has not done retrenchment of workers because of paucity of funds or because the economy is bad,” he said, also mentioning that Buhari gave an order no citizen should lose their jobs or be owed salaries by the federal government, despite the economic issues.
Acknowledged that there had been economic problems, which had, in turn, led to an increased cost of living, he said that the cost of living had gone up worldwide, and Nigeria hasn’t been an exception. “The cost of living and inflation has been biting,” he said, confirming he noted it in many more African countries. However, he said, “This government reviewed the minimum wage we inherited from 18,000 where we met it to 30,000 at a 66% raise” while also working consequential salary adjustment for everyone else without the prompting of workers, in order to increase the salary of other workers.
Speaking on the report that said that the country had created 119,000 jobs in the past eight years, he said, “The 119,000 jobs are jobs created directly by the federal ministry of labour through her skill acquisition centres and our parastatal DNDA. That is not the holistic job created in Nigeria. Job creation is a cross cutting thing that involves many ministries, departments, agencies of government, the private sector, the state government, and even the local government.”
When he was questioned on what he would tell Nigerians who would seem unsure of the incoming government, he said, “I am asking the Nigerian workers to have hope, have patience. Whatever we are doing now for them, the new incoming government will also do more. I have no doubt in my mind that they will do that,” going on to say that the new government has the capacity to do more.
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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