A lawyer and security expert, Dr. Charles Omole has advised Nigerian workers to resign if they are not satisfied with the Federal Government’s ₦60,000 new minimum wage offer.
This comes following the nationwide strike by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) on Monday which has halted commercial activities across the country as major government parastatals, banking institutions, schools and other businesses were shut down.
While NLC and TUC are insisting on ₦494,000 due to the current high cost of living, FG ‘stands’ on its ₦60,000 new minimum wage offer.
Meanwhile, Dr. Omole in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Monday stated that it is impossible for an employer to pay more than he can afford.
His words: “I hope those castigating the government know that it is not compulsory you stay in the employment of government. If you are not happy with the 60k offered as Minimum Wage; you can resign and go and get another better paying jobs elsewhere.
“You don’t have to stay where you are not being appreciated. You cannot force an employer to pay more than he feels he can afford. But you are free to resign and leave. It’s your constitutional right.
“By the way; do you people know what percentage of government workers are on minimum wage? You will be surprised that they are not as many as you think as a proportion of overall headcount.”
According to him, depending on minimum wage for livelihood defeats the whole essence of education and skills acquisition.
“If you can live comfortably on minimum wage; what is the benefit of aspiration, education and getting skilled. Read the Act and see who gets minimum wage in government. They tend to be unskilled, uneducated workers performing routine manual jobs. It’s merely a starting point from where you make progress.”
The security expert disclosed that most workers working for the Federal Government are not on minimum wage, emphasising that “we need a sense of proportionality in this debate.”
Omole explained that increasing the minimum wage will also lead to increasing all wages, thereby maintaining parity of levels in the civil service.
He further said that the cost for government is not just the minimum increment, stressing that it is an increase across the board for all staff.
