Govs, lawmakers should also earn N62k minimum wage — Father Mbaka

The Catholic priest Ejike Mbaka said that the N62,000 minimum wage that the federal government wants to set should also be paid to governors and members of the national assembly.

Mbaka asserted this while making an appearance on AIT on Saturday, when he was asked of his opinion on the new minimum wage claim by Organised labour.

TopNaija recalls that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) went on an extended strike because the federal government didn’t give them the new minimum wage they wanted. This caused problems with services that people needed.

But organised labour “calmed down” the strikes for one week so that they could talk with the federal government about a new minimum wage.

After that, talks between the federal government and organised labour started up again on June 6, and the new wage was suggested.

Speaking on the development, Mbaka said Salaries of members of the national assembly have been shrouded in secrecy, eliciting speculation and debate from Nigerians.

Mbaka said, “We can push these poor Nigerians to the point of rebellion. That is my fear. All of us were in Lagos that day, we couldn’t come back.

“Just like a joke the labour people entered into the airport and stopped every operation and if this happen again it might tantamount to what nobody dreams or what we dream but out of fear we cannot release to the public.

“If we decide to give labour N60,000 or N62,000, why not generalise it to the house of assembly members, senatorial members, house of representative members, and governors?

”All of them are civil servants. So, are the others slaves? I cannot imagine why somebody can be amassing billions and billions as sitting allowance, wardrobe allowance, newspaper allowance, vehicle allowance and what they call suffering allowance.

“The people that should have such allowances should be the poor masses in the villages.

“As teachers, how much are they being paid? Our nurses and doctors, how much are they being paid? Let us be realistic, our civil servants that wake from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

“They wake up early and return late. How much are they being paid. And look at the level of inflation in the country.”

Mbaka asked the government to “speedily” address the minimum wage issue with the organised labour to avoid another strike.

The cleric said it is a matter of handling the bull by the horn tactfully but very speedily because “if they are not careful, this crisis of a thing can be hijacked and nobody knows the ripples effect.”