There are explanations as to why the Zamfara State government put off paying the civil servants’ November salary, claiming technological issues for the failure to pay the N30,000 minimum wage that was agreed upon by the government and the State’s labour leaders.
Sani Halliru, the state head of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), provided the explanations, pointing out that the state administration was unable to resolve technological issues that prevented the payment of November payments.
The state public servants were given assurances by Comrade Haliru and the state TUC chapter that Governor Matawalle’s permission and directive for the implementation of the N30,000 minimum salary, which was intended to begin in November 2022, was postponed because of some unanticipated events.
Speaking to reporters in Gusau, the state capital, Halliru, who was speaking on behalf of the two labour organisations, explained that preparations and some technological difficulties were to blame for the workers’ paychecks for November 2022 not being paid on time.
In light of the labour leaders’ intense interest in the matter, he pleaded with the state civil workers to accept the postponement in good faith. He also noted that it was in their own socioeconomic best interests.
He asserted that the labour forces in the state had made sure that the protracted fight for the N30,000 minimum wage was carried out smoothly, and he stressed that the November salary would be given as soon as the necessary preparations and technical setups were made.
Comrade Haliru, however, offered no details regarding the purported technological issue that prevented the payment of the November paycheck that the civil servants were expecting to receive last week.
The State NLC leader explained that until the ongoing payroll sanitization is finished and every employee is assigned to the proper grade level by the end of December 2022, Local Government employees would also get the payment of the N30,000 minimum wage.
Members of the state administration council, including vice chairperson 1 Comrade Sa’adu Bala Gwaram, treasurer Comrade Shehu Sani Doki, secretary Comrade Muhammad Sani k/kwash, vice chairman Comrade Audu Isaiah of the TUC, auditor Comrade Aliyu Gadanga, and chairperson Comrade Binta Yusuf of the NLC women’s wing, were present for the event.
Recall that the State administration and the union leaders signed an agreement stating that the minimum wage will be introduced at the end of November 2022 in September of this year.
The N30,000 minimum wage has been in backlog since April 2019, according to PulseNets, although the labour leaders pledged that it would start at the end of November 2022.
A civil servant who preferred anonymity said, “I have never thought that the N30,000 minimum wage would be implemented because we do not have vibrant labour forces in the State.”
He emphasised that the N30,000 minimum wage has been a topic of discussion in households since 2019 and that the so-called labour leaders have been watching without taking any action while many civil servants have died and others have retired without receiving the minimum wage. He said that labour leaders today are toothless bulldogs that can bark but cannot bite.
“Even if they succeed in achieving the N30, 000 for the state civil servants, I cannot clap for the labour leaders because it is too late, in many states of the federation workers have been enjoying the minimum wage since 2019”
Instead of listening to the hollow rhetoric of the State’s labour leaders, he instructed civil servants to simply pray and look to God to change the hearts of those in positions of authority to implement the N30,000 minimum wage.
