In a significant development that has brought smiles to the faces of many workers in Nigeria, the Federal Government has initiated the long-anticipated payment of the N35,000 minimum wage award. This landmark decision is a testament to the government’s commitment to improving the welfare of its employees.
The increase in the minimum wage from N18,000 to N35,000 marks a major victory for Nigerian workers, who have long campaigned for better compensation to cope with the rising cost of living.
The call for an increase in the minimum wage had been a persistent demand from various labor unions and workers’ organizations in Nigeria. The struggle to secure this wage increment spanned several years and involved negotiations, strikes, and collective actions. The government’s decision to approve the wage increase was the culmination of these efforts.
The government of President Bola Tinubu has started paying federal public staff their N35,000 wage award for the month of September.
The N35,000 minimum wage is expected to significantly improve the standard of living for workers across the country. It will help them better cope with the economic challenges, inflation, and rising costs of essential goods and services.
The wage increment is likely to have a positive impact on the labor market. It can attract and retain talent in various sectors, enhance job satisfaction, and potentially reduce the incidence of industrial actions and strikes.
The Federal Government has initiated the payment process, ensuring that the increased wage is promptly disbursed to eligible workers.
A few ecstatic employees said that, as of Tuesday, they had begun to receive credit warnings.
One of them attested to the fact that, contrary to what the federal government had stated, they had only received payment for September.
“Yes, I did receive it. I saw the alert about 15 minutes ago. I think it is for September because the alert indicated September,” the source said.
Another civil servant said ,”Yes, I have seen mine too but we are expecting to see another alert because the President said it would start from September so maybe another one will come which will read October.”
President Tinubu approved N35,000 as a provisional wage award for all treasury-paid federal government workers for six months.
This wage award followed the outcome of the meeting between the representatives of the federal government and leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to stop the planned nationwide strike by the unions aimed at protesting subsidy removal.
Here are screenshots of bank alerts received by two of the civil servants:
