A former Chairman of the South Africa chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Bola Babarinde, has said Nigeria can pay a higher minimum wage than it is doing currently,if the country eliminates wastages and corruption in governance.
Babarinde, who was also the Deputy Director of Sanwo-Olu/Hamzat Campaign Council, Diaspora Directorate, noted that any meaningful minimum wage in present-day Nigeria could be up to N200,000 due to economic realities.
In a statement yesterday while reacting to President Bola Tinubu’s New Year Day broadcast, the APC chieftain said a living wage would encourage workers to put in their best as well as reduce stealing and other misconducts in public service.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Tinubu had said the Federal Government would implement a new national living wage in 2024.
The President said the decision made a good economic sense and was morally and politically right.
“A living wage should reflect intention to improve the welfare of the Nigerian working class,” Babarinde said.
The APC chieftain said President Tinubu came to power with some measures to reposition the economy and give succour to Nigerians.
He noted that ordinary Nigerians were suffering because “building can be more difficult to achieve than destroying”.
Babarinde added: “We should not expect a system that had been damaged for decades to be repaired and turned around in a jiffy.
“Sustainable development takes time.”
On President Tinubu’s travels to attract investments, the APC chieftain noted that they were based on his good intensions, but advised that the Federal Government should look inwards.
“This is the time to ask our universities, colleges of technology and technical schools to give us the Nigeria of our dream by helping with ideas on refining homegrown technologies for industrial and economic self-reliance.
“We must be serious about ease of doing business among our African countries and reduce obstacles in communication and transportation within our countries.
“Reduction of airfare and cost of telecommunications among ECOWAS nations should boost local trade, which will definitely help economies of those nations,” he said.
Babarinde urged Nigerian leaders to make sacrifices for the nation, saying financial recklessness must be avoided through fiscal discipline.
He urged the President to leverage the network, experience and expertise of Nigerians in the Diaspora to actualise his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
