Nigerian Workers are Civil Slaves, Not Civil Servants — JFK

(1)Productivity is responsible for states’ inability to pay. (2)Minister Ngige should wake up to his role as Minister of Productivity, not just Minister of Labor

Since the back and forth on minimum wage began, I have been thinking of doing a thread on the debate. There are a lot of brilliant people on the different sides of the argument, and I respect most, But …

I don’t believe there’s any justification for an N18,000 minimum wage for workers in Nigeria. I think it is UNFAIR and UNJUST to argue that this wage should not be reviewed. I would have used the word ‘wicked’ too and I won’t be exaggerating.

N18,000 as minimum wage is below the poverty line ($1.90) and cannot sustain any government worker working at that level >>> $49.95 per month >>> $1.67 per day. Should this be reviewed? My answer is a resounding yes! Most have said we can’t afford it, but here is my take.

In economic terms, Nigeria is usually compared to a few countries — Brazil, Indonesia, Russia, South Africa and China with the acronym — BRINCS. Nigeria was removed from this comparison sometimes ago, but for this thread comparison, allow me.

There are two justifications for these comparisons, The population comparison for these countries and GDP. I won’t be adding China in the comparison. (They are not our mates!)

Here are the figures for population
Country 1960 — 2017

South Africa 17,456,855.00 — 56,717,156.00

Russian Federation 19,897,000.00 — 144,495,044.00

Nigeria 45,137,812.00 — 190,886,311.00

Indonesia 87,792,515.00 — 263,991,379.00

Brazil 72,207,554.00 — 209,288,278.00

Here is another chart showing the GDP of these countries.

Here is the minimum wage for these countries

Brazil — $287.89

Russia — $94.18

Indonesia — $97.85

Nigeria — $49.52

South Africa — $277

It’s not just ok to say Nigeria should just cover its head in shame also because we’re now the poverty capital of the world, we should also ask why? The Cable for example reported today that 1.1million Nigerians have fallen into extreme poverty. WHY?

There are of course no simple answers. But top of this list is a not-so-simple word, PRODUCTIVITY!!! It is the reason most states cannot afford to pay their staff salaries if they don’t receive FAAC at the end of the month.

Mr Ngige is Minister of Labor and Productivity not just Minister of Labor … Decreasing Productivity is one of the reasons state governors can’t afford to even pay the N18,000 minimum wage. What’s the strategy for increasing productivity in the states?

Someone once asked why is it that ships that offload goods at the ports in Nigeria 5 out of 7 times leave the shores empty? Nigeria is not exporting anything to the world asides crude!

Because I am solutions focused, I will just talk about Productivity. How do we increase productivity?

Restructure the goddamn country

There are plenty stories of economic prosperity that Nigeria witnessed during the era of the regions. In whatever way, Nigeria has to restructure.

Review the Land Use Act

Property rights are at the foundation of productivity and prosperity. It is almost a law of nature. That our leaders pretend not to know this is surprising.

Contract Rights

The next point is Industrialization, but that can’t happen without a solid adjudication system where contracts can be enforced. Asides the ports, this is why every business is setting up in Lagos.

Rapid Industrialization

Government and Business are two different things but our leaders need to start being entrepreneurial. Governors need to start thinking, how can we get more people to work so we can get more taxes. Restructuring would have solved this issue with getting taxes from one state and spending it in another.

Technology and Innovation

The fastest way to get Nigerians productive is to switch over job creation approach to creation of technological products that can be used anywhere in the world. The market is global, the initial investment is relatively low, the impact is huge and Nigerian youths are already creative.

What’s Next?

So what’s the solution to this wicked issue? Especially since labor is threatening strikes? How should the FG respond to this issue right now?

If you ask me behind close doors, I’ll tell you the solution is for labor to wait for the incumbent administration to lose the forthcoming elections and begin negotiations afresh with a new government.

A tentative date should be set, say 5 years time where the minimum wage will finally be at N65,000 and milestone increases be set every year. This increases will happen with the reforms which will be the responsibility of both the government to propose and workers to execute.

The proposed reforms will take the format of the last 5 points I highlighted above. Labor has the incentive to ensure these reforms are carried out, Government has incentive to ensure that productivity is increased once the reforms are carried out.

For more politically correct answers, I will probably have to think deeper.

Lastly, the argument for cutting cost of governance is not a valid argument for funding the increase in minimum wage in my opinion. Yes, cost of governance should be reduced, but it’s not sufficient to fund the increase from N18,000 to N65,000

In the end, ignorance is not what’s holding Nigeria back, political will is.