Against the hue and cry by Nigerian state governments over the paucity of funds, leading to inability to pay workers’ salaries, fiery Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana, has said the non-payment of workers was a deliberate act to starve workers in the states.
Falana, who spoke in Lagos on Saturday, April 30, 2016 while delivering a lecture organized by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), expressed pains over the inability of governments to fulfill electoral promises to Nigerians, just as he described the N18,000 minimum wage monthly as starvation wage.
Despite the infinitesimal nature of the starvation wage, Falana said it is still not paid as and when due as stipulated by law.
Falana said, “According to President Buhari, workers in 24 out of 36 states are owed arrears of salaries. Although the Nigerian people have been asked to be prepared to tighten their belts, no tier of government in the country has taken steps to reduce the expensive costs of running the public serÂvice.
“Over 70 percent of the budÂget still goes for servicing a parasitic bureaucracy. No govÂernment has reviewed projects that constitute a drain on public treasury. Governors still travel so regularly to Abuja and other places in hired jets.
“There are 11 planes in the presidential fleet! Public officers move around in long convoys. The government’s have hired hundreds of aides and consulÂtants. Jobs which can be hanÂdled by civil servants are firmed out to contractors at skyrocketÂing prices.”
Speaking against what he called government irresponsibility to Nigerians and specifically to workers, Falana asked the present administration to responsibly carry its constitutional obligation to Nigerian workers by providing a living national minimum wage and not otherwise.
“By virtue of Section 17 of the Constitution the government is under an obligation to provide for a living national minimum wage and make conditions of work just and humane and ensure that the health, safety and welfare of all persons in employment are safeguarded and not endangered or abused.
“But in total disregard of its constitutional responsibility to Nigerian workers the governÂment has provided for a starÂvation wage of N18,000.00 per month.”
Falana further said there was no proof that the present govÂernment is being sincere with Nigerians.
“With the extravagance in government there is no sign that we are going through tough times,” Falana noted. “Our public officers are paid the highest traveling allowances or estacodes while our legislators are the highest paid in the world”.
