The tug-of-war over a new minimum wage between the federal government, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and the Trade Union Congress dates back to Buhari’s days. However, the tension appears to have come to a head with the arrest of NLC’s president, Joe Ajaero.
Here’s a brief timeline of events.
You could say the current spat started in October 2023. The NLC threatened to go on a nationwide strike over minimum wage, but the plans were suspended following an agreement with the federal government.
As part of their agreement, the FG agreed to pay its workers an extra ₦35,000 (not the new minimum wage) for the next six months (which was due in April 2024).
Fast-forward to 2024. President Tinubu, during his Democracy speech in June, said that a new bill on minimum wage would soon be introduced in the National Assembly. One month later, nothing materialised, just rounds of meetings between labour leaders, the presidency, and the state governors.
At the 67th Annual Meeting of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) on July 15, Joe Ajaero remarked that the FG’s bad policies are the biggest threat to business survival and livelihood in the country. Ajaero also stated that all elected politicians should be under the wage system, making their remuneration transparent. He even suggested that legislators should work on a part-time basis.
“The money being spent there is unimaginable. We should know your wages,” Ajaero said at the end of his speech.
On July 18, Joe Ajaero announced that the NLC and other labour movements had rejected President Tinubu’s proposal to pay ₦70k as the new minimum wage. According to Ajaero, the Organised Labour declined the offer because the FG would increase the pump price of petroleum products if it paid the new minimum wage.
On August 7, the Nigerian police invaded the Labour office to allegedly search for materials related to the August 1 nationwide protests.
Subsequently, the police headquarters summoned Joe Ajaero to submit himself for questioning about a terrorism financing case. But Joe wasn’t available. Following an agreement with the police, the meeting shifted to August 29, 2024, and Joe Ajaero submitted himself with lawyers like Femi Falana and Deji Adeyanju behind him. He was left to go on the same day.
But it wasn’t over.
In another letter dated August 28, the police headquarters invited Joe Ajaero and the NLC general secretary Emmanuel Ugboaja to their office again. They were expected to submit themselves on September 5 as part of an investigation into “criminal intimidation, conduct likely to breach public peace, and malicious damage to property.” According to an unnamed officer, Joe Ajaero and Emmanuel Ugboaja didn’t honour the police’s invitation. The reason for their no-show wasn’t stated.
But what began as a pressing issue for a new minimum wage and fuel subsidy has now turned into a dogfight. On September 9, 2024, the Department of State Security (DSS) arrested Joe Ajaero at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja. He was going to London to attend the ongoing Trade Union Congress (TUC) conference.
According to a statement from the NLC, Joe Ajaero is in detention at the National Security Agency’s (NSA) office. The Labour Congress described it as “an assault on Nigerian workers by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government.”
According to human rights lawyer Femi Falana, the DSS’s arrest of Joe Ajaero isn’t related to the previous police invitations. At the moment, the reason for his arrest is unclear.
This is a developing story.
