According to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, President Muhammadu Buhari is the first labour friendly president of Nigeria.

Top exhibit: the administration is considering the N56,000 minimum wage proposed by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

Ngige stated this, on Monday, while speaking with the executive members of the Organisation of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA).

He gave four reasons.

1) The federal government will review the request for increase in wage… though not yet

“The other day, labour requested increased wages for workers and they have only done what they are supposed to do. Therefore, nobody will quarrel with them. At the appropriate time, we shall all sit down because what the labour is asking is for the re-negotiation of an existing Collective Bargain Agreement (CBA). And every CBA-based agreement is subject to re-negotiation at any given time that any of the partners requests it.”

2) It’s just the way it is 

“It is wrong for people to think that whenever the labour makes such a demand, the nation is boiling. The labour in Nigeria has for the first time met a labour-friendly government under President Muhammadu Buhari.

3) Renegotiation of the wages will cut across levels

“The government has put machinery in motion as we speak because I have got a letter as the Minister of Labour and Employment for my advice. We shall advise the government the way such a tripartite negotiation will be handled so that everybody will be satisfied without any industrial unrest.

“Government in this sense includes also the state and local governments whom such wages will be binding on. When government takes a decision, we will now move to another stage in the process of re-negotiating the CBA,” he said.

4) The federal government believes in due process

“We are in an era where due process supersedes every other. People can only perform their roles and give way for other people to also perform theirs.”