The reappointed Minister of
Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has pledged to promote industrial harmony
and speed up processes for the implementation of the new minimum wage.
Mr Ngige, while addressing
journalists at his residence after his inauguration as minister by President
Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday in Abuja, said that he was a man of his words.
He said that he would follow due
process to put smiles on the faces of Nigerian workers.
“The issue of consequential
adjustments in the minimum wage is currently being handled by the permanent
secretary in my ministry and he has made some progress.
“By tomorrow (Thursday), we will
get the notes from him and, I and the minister of state will know how to key
in.
“The most important thing is that
we want to make sure that the matter is addressed as quickly as possible so
that we can put smiles on the faces of Nigerian workers.”
Mr Ngige pledged to resolve all
impending disputes in the sector, noting that his track record had reflected in
his efforts in the last three and a half years.
”I don’t know what I will do
differently. I am a man of due process. If you are also a man of due process,
you will be my friend. Do things the way they should be done, and not
abnormally.
“I put in all my energy in
whatever assignment I am given and I have been doing that in the ministry of
labour in the last three and a half years.
“I remain committed to working
with labour unions. The Nigeria Labour Congress is a federation of some labour
unions. We also have the Trade Union Congress and the United Labour Congress
which, though, has not been officially registered,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
reports that there was a face-off between the minister and NLC over the
constitution of the board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF)
shortly before Ngige exited the ministry in May.
The two parties had engaged each
other in a war of words over Mr Ngige’s refusal to allow a former labour leader,
Frank Kokori, to head the board of the Fund
NAN also recalls that NLC,
through its immediate past General Secretary, Peter Ozo-Eson, had appealed to
the president to give Mr Ngige a new portfolio in the next cabinet, arguing
that he was not fit to handle the labour ministry.
His words, “We think that
government will be looking for problem if Ngige is returned to the ministry of
labour as a minister because he does not understand how the place works and his
own approach will create unnecessary industrial crisis.
“If the government is properly
advised, it should look for where to put him. Ngige is a square peg in a round
hole in the ministry,” Ozo-Eson had said.
NAN reports that Ngige was at the
forefront of negotiations for the N30,000 new minimum wage which had since been
signed into law by the president.
(NAN)
this one is looking for who to deceive.. Buhari has signed the minimum wage into law now for so long and here we are, still earning less than 20k
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