Nigeria’s President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is making a bold statement ahead of his inauguration on May 29, 2023, as he promised to take tough decisions to reposition the country for the benefit of the citizens and workers.
Politics Nigeria gathered that Tinubu solicited the people’s cooperation and support for his incoming administration in fighting poverty, ignorance, disease, disunity, and ethnic and religious hate, which he described as “common enemies.”
The President-elect said these in a statement to commemorate the 2023 Workers’ Day on Monday, May 1, just as the Nigeria Labour Congress demanded that the retirement age for civil servants should be raised to 65 years and the length of service to 40 years.
The pledge by the former Lagos State governor is coming against the backdrop of the high inflation, huge foreign debts, infrastructure deficit, high youth unemployment and insecurity confronting the country.
In the statement titled, ‘President-elect’s solidarity message to Nigerian Workers on International Workers’ Day,’ Tinubu said his ‘Renewed-Hope Agenda for a Better Nigeria’ was a covenant he was prepared to keep.
However, the former Lagos senator revealed that the ensuing weeks after his inauguration would require doggedness as the public service reforms he hopes to implement would require tough decisions.
“My plans for better welfare and working conditions are clearly spelt out in my Renewed Hope Agenda for A Better Nigeria. It is a covenant borne of conviction and one I am prepared to keep.
“In Nigeria, I shall have the honour and privilege to lead from May 29, workers will have more than a minimum wage. You will have a living wage, to have a decent life and provide for your families.
“The days ahead will, however, demand better understanding and cooperation from all sides, because leadership will require that we take tough and hard decisions so that our people and all Nigerian workers can live more abundantly,” Tinubu said.
While extending a hand of fellowship to the organised labour, he assured that they would find in him an ally and fellow crusader for social and economic justice for all Nigerians.
He also promised to keep his pledge for better working conditions for the workers as espoused in his agenda for the country.
He noted, “On this special day, as your President-elect, I extend my hands of friendship to the Nigerian workers through the two central labour unions – Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress.
“In me, you will find a dependable ally and co-labourer in the fight for social and economic justice for all Nigerians, including all the working people.
“Your fight will be my fight because I will always fight for you. My plans for better welfare and working conditions are clearly spelt out in my Renewed Hope Agenda for A Better Nigeria.
It is a covenant born of conviction and one I am prepared to keep.”
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, also addressed workers during the May Day event at Eagle Square in Abuja as he demanded a fresh retirement age for civil servants in the country.
Ajaero also called for a general review of core civil servants’ salaries to narrow the gap between other civil servants’ emoluments and those in other segments of the public service.
He said that the extension of years of service should go around, as it had been done in other sectors of the public service in the country, disclosing that only a few other establishments, including the core civil service, are now left out.
“We are, therefore, demanding that the age of retirement and length of service in the entire public service, including the civil service, be reviewed upward to 65 years of age and 40 years of service,” he said.
Ajaero said that the union had, over the years, demanded salary review but had yet to receive the Federal Government’s attention.
