- As Buhari again, rules out naira devaluation
Labour said it would soon submit a proposal demanding a new minimum wage of N48,000 based on the impact of the global economic downturn on wages.
The General Secretary, National Union of Garment and Textile Workers (NUGTW), Comrade Issa Aremu, advised President Muhammadu Buhari not to bow to pressures to further devalue the national currency because the last devaluation eroded the value of the minimum wage.
“The last time we signed the minimum wage, which is N18,000, which is the current rate, and this was between 2009 and 2010, this translated to $124. But now on account of depreciation alone, this $124 has dropped to less than $60. So wages have been completely eroded on account of devaluation.
“In nominal terms, if we are talking just on account of the exchange rate, the minimum wage which is currently N18,000 should be about N48,000. And I am leaving this warning, if you dare devalue again, be sure that labour will also have to hike its own price in the market,” Aremu who was also the former Vice President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said. Aremu also advised President Buhari to urgently revisit the report of the 2014 National Conference and implement the holistic recommendations for the power sector.
He said the Federal Government should not allow the electricity tariff increase to sail through because the generating and distribution companies were underperforming.
“The point cannot be overstated; power/energy is so strategic to the industrialisation and the well being of the people,’’ Aremu said.
He also appealed to the Federal Government to review the privatisation contracts with the electricity generation companies (GenCos) and DisCos. Aremu said the firms should be given a two- year time-frame to allow them stabilise and provide efficient power supply to Nigerians before they could contemplate any tariff increase. He urged more transparency in future disposal of the nation’s assets in the name of privatisation.
He said: “The point cannot be overstated. Between 30 per cent and 35 per cent of textile and garment manufacturing costs are energy related expenses. Without electricity, there can be no industrialisation.
“The promise and expectation that President Buhari will revive textile industry generally is not possible without electricity,’’ the labour leader said.
According to Aremu, it is time for the Buhari-led administration to critically review the power sector reform with a view to increasing public sector investment.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has again ruled out the possibility of devaluing the naira, insisting that those with a taste for imported luxury goods should pay for them at their own expense.
Pressure has been mounting on the government to devalue the currency officially in line with market realities as it is now trading at about N380 per dollar at the parallel market though the official rate remains at between N197 and N199 per dollar.
Some analysts insist that government was only subsidising the private sector by refusing to allow the naira to float while also creating room for arbitrage and corruption with the huge gap between the official and parallel market rates. However, in reiterating his opposition to naira devaluation, Buhari said Nigeria cannot compete with developed countries which produce to compete among themselves and can afford to devalue their local currencies.
Speaking at a ‘Presidential Panel Roundtable on Investment and Growth Opportunities’ at the opening session of the Africa 2016: Business for Africa, Egypt and the World at Sharm El- Sheikh, Egypt yesterday, Buhari said the priority of his administration was to ensure national food security before export of food products.
The President stressed that Nigeria being a mono- economy dependent on oil, and with a teeming unemployed youth population, the way out of the current slump in the global oil market was for the administration to focus on agriculture and solid minerals development.
“The land is there and we need machinery inputs, fertiliser and insecticides.
“Developed countries are competing among themselves and when they devalue they compete better and manufacture and export more. But we are not competing and exporting but importing everything including toothpicks. So, why should we devalue our currency? “We want to be more productive and self-sufficient in food and other basic things such as clothing. For our government, we like to encourage local production and efficiency, ” the President stressed. He added that those who have developed taste for foreign luxury goods should continue to pay for them rather than pressure government to devalue the naira.
The President expressed optimism that Nigeria would get out of its current economic downturn, saying another major problem militating against economic revival is the huge resources deployed in fighting insurgency and international terrorism.
He commended the support being received from the international community in the administration’s fight against terrorism as well as cooperation in tracing looted funds stashed away in foreign countries.
Responding to a question on his performance since he assumed office, the President said his administration had been “quite focused” on three fundamental issues of securing the country, reviving the economy and stamping out corruption.
“The message on corruption has been driven home vividly and Nigerians are very acceptable to the message,” he said, adding that those accused of stealing public funds are cooperating by voluntarily providing useful information while investigations and prosecutions are ongoing.
In his opening address at the Forum, the Egyptian President, Abdel- Fattah El-Sisi, said Africa needs to concentrate on transforming into knowledge societies using innovation and research. The Presidents of Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia also participated at the Roundtable. In his opening message, Akinwunmi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AFDB), said “Africa must think big, act big and develop big”.
Before departing Egypt, Buhari and his Egyptian host, had a bilateral discussion on security, military cooperation, agriculture and solid minerals development.
The Nation with additional report from National Mirror
