
The Governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki has increased the minimum wage of workers in the state, while lamenting on the high rate of inflation in the country.
Obaseki, while delivering his Workers’ Day speech, stated that N30,000 wages would not be able to sustain any family.
He said, “As we all know, the minimum wage of N30,000 can barely sustain a family. It will be immoral and mindless of us to continue to pretend that we do not know that our workers are suffering.
“The government of Edo has now decided to review the minimum for Edo workers from N30,000 to N40,000 a month. Undoubtedly, Edo is the first state since the current outbreak of coronavirus to take this initiative.
“Even though we would have loved to pay more, we hope that this little adjustment would enable us to cushion the impact of the inflation that we are faced with. There is no doubt that the financial implications will be heavy and put another burden on the government.
“But as a government, we are prepared to make the sacrifices so that the workers can live a better life. Your welfare is our number one priority.”
Complaining about the difficulties faced by pensioners and other senior citizens due to the current economic crisis and inflation, the governor said, “I am very interested in our older people because they are some of the most vulnerable in our society. We had an interest in paying pensioners who had not yet received the payments even though these pensions were owned by the previous administration.
“In view of the prevailing economic circumstances, I have now approved, effective this May, the agreement we reached with the Union of Pensioners that the harmonised amount would be paid from May 2022.
“Government is aware of the difficulties faced by the pensioners due to the non-payment of pension and gratuities to pensioners by previous governments. This responsibility is huge, and it will require a substantial part of our resources to settle them.
“However, we are not a government that is known for running away from challenges; we will look for a way to tackle these challenges.”