President Bola Tinubu is returning from his extended European vacation to mounting economic, labour and security pressures, with Federal workers giving his administration until September 30 to address demands that include reducing petrol to ₦500 per litre.
The President returned to the country through the Lagos Airport at about 6.20 pm on Tuesday, September 29, after spending about four weeks in Europe, initially on what the Presidency announced as a three-week working vacation.
The return from the vacation was immediately dampened by the opposition with Atiku Campaign spokesman Kenneth Okonkwo questioning the secrecy of the President’s itinerary and the resort to Lagos during a television appearance on Channels Television on Thursday night.
MJConcept TV News reports that irrespective of the Atiku Campaign’s assertions, that there may be little time for Tinubu to settle back as some of the issues that intensified during his absence demand attention.
₦500 PETROL ULTIMATUM
At the top of the pile is the demand by public-sector workers for a drastic reduction in petrol prices.
Federal workers have thrown their weight behind demands for the pump price of petrol to be reduced to ₦500 per litre, warning that they are prepared to join a proposed three-day warning strike if the Federal Government fails to respond to workers’ concerns.
The Federal Workers Forum (FWF), which made its position known on Tuesday, also demanded a substantial review of Federal workers’ salaries, proposing a minimum monthly pay of ₦300,000 and as much as ₦1.5 million for officers on Grade Level 17.
National Coordinator of the forum, Andrew Emelieze, said in a statement in Abuja that the resolutions were reached during an online general meeting of federal workers held on Sunday.
According to him, the workers unanimously backed the demand by the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, JNPSNC, for petrol prices to be brought down to ₦500 per litre by September 30.
“We call on all federal workers to mobilise and prepare for any industrial action declared by labour leadership should the Government fail to meet these demands,” Emelieze said.
The Forum said it would be looking to President Bola Tinubu’s October 1 Independence Day broadcast for indications that the government was prepared to address the concerns raised by organised labour.
It warned that failure to do so could pave the way for federal workers to participate in the proposed three-day warning strike.
“Failing, federal workers will be ready to embark on the three-day warning strike proposed by labour,” Emelieze said.
Beyond petrol prices, the FWF said the economic pressures confronting workers had made an immediate salary review imperative.
Emelieze demanded a wage structure beginning at ₦300,000 and rising to ₦1.5 million for Grade Level 17 officers, arguing that such an adjustment would help workers cope with the prevailing cost-of-living pressures.
The forum also demanded the restoration of the wage award as a reasonable Cost of Living Allowance, COLA, insisting that payments should be made promptly.
“We fully support labour’s fight for a living wage. Federal workers and the Nigerian populace have suffered enough,” he said.
However, the forum argued that the government must first settle outstanding obligations arising from the existing ₦70,000 national minimum wage before negotiations on another wage structure.
It urged the JNPSNC to demand full implementation of the minimum wage from July 2024, including consequential adjustment arrears and the 40 per cent peculiar allowance.
“It is illogical to discuss a new wage structure when the ₦70,000 minimum wage has not yet been fully implemented by the Federal Government,” Emelieze said.
The workers also opposed proposals to concession or privatise King’s College, Lagos, and other federal unity colleges, calling instead for increased government investment in public education.
The forum criticised the Organised Private Sector over its opposition to an immediate wage review and urged the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress to reconsider their strategies for engaging the government on workers’ welfare.
It further demanded a town hall meeting between President Tinubu and federal workers to discuss their grievances and measures for improving productivity.
For the FWF, the escalating demands are no longer merely about salary figures but about whether earnings can meet the increasingly expensive realities confronting Nigerian workers.
“We demand justice and a decent wage, not pity,” Emelieze declared.
NEW WAGE BATTLE
Tinubu also returns to renewed pressure for higher wages.
While the JNPSNC has pushed for negotiations towards a new wage structure, the FWF is demanding an immediate salary review that would put the minimum monthly pay for federal workers at ₦300,000, rising to ₦1.5 million for Grade Level 17 officers.
The forum also wants outstanding obligations arising from the ₦70,000 national minimum wage settled.
The demands reflect a wider complaint that salary increases have been overtaken by rising costs of food, transportation, housing and energy.
REFORMS MUST PRODUCE RELIEF
Beyond organised labour, Tinubu faces the larger challenge of translating his administration’s economic reforms into improvements Nigerians can feel.
The Government has pointed to improving macroeconomic indicators, domestic refining and investment as evidence that its reforms are working. The political challenge, however, is demonstrating those gains at the household level through jobs, incomes and lower living costs.
INSECURITY
Kidnapping, banditry and communal violence also remain significant concerns in different parts of the country, keeping security high on the President’s agenda.
The timing makes Tinubu’s October 1 Independence Day broadcast particularly significant.
Workers will be listening for his response to petrol and wage demands, while millions of Nigerians facing economic pressures will be looking for indications of when the sacrifices demanded by the government’s reforms will translate into improved living conditions.
Tinubu left Nigeria on August 30.
He returns to an overflowing in-tray — and a workers’ ultimatum that expires almost as soon as his European vacation ends.