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Issues around minimum wage in Kwara




At the level of the local government, the wage bill and other statutory payments, which stands at N2.5bn as at September ending, is 91 per cent of their total receipts from the Federal Government. This does not include other expenses. When added, those expenses bring the wage bill to between 100 per cent or 108 per cent of their federal allocation. This (N2.5bn) wage bill, to be sure, is pegged to the N18, 000 minimum wage.  It will rise to roughly N2.9bn when the new minimum wage is implemented (depending on what the labour and the government eventually agree upon).


The question has always been where to get the difference between what is earned as allocation (an average of N2.6bn, including their 10 per cent share of the IGR and the balance with which to pay the minimum wage. If we assume that allocation may indeed rise to N2.9bn to allow for payment of the minimum wage, does it mean that all that is done at the LGAs is payment of salary? What happens to infrastructural development?






But, how did Kwara State get here? What were the yardsticks for recruiting people into the public sector? Were there any needs assessment that warranted the numbers the state has now? There are very brilliant and hardworking civil servants across the MDAs in Kwara. But are these eggheads in the majority today? How did we employ senior civil servants who cannot write good memos or design proposals? What yardsticks did we employ to recruit a teacher who cannot write a simple sentence or communicate in the language of instruction?


The education sector was not spared. Some chaps once narrated (on Twitter DM) how they got employed as sunset workers (teachers). Their parents got the slots from their friends in government. While headhunting may not always be a crime, it is not a licence to load the workforce with persons that cannot do the job. It is not a licence to give free meal ticket to friends and cronies without commensurate benefits to the system that pays the bill.



For Kwara to pay minimum wage at the local government level, especially the consequential increment, they would spend 107 percent of their total monthly receipts from the federal government for just workers’ salary. As noted above, this does not include other expenses.

The situation is not so better at the state level. Currently, 71 percent of the entire FAAC receipts goes into paying salaries of workers. This does not include the cost of running government and allocations to the MDAs.

Last month, Kwara got N4bn as allocation. But that is half the story. The allocation went up because the federal government has suspended full payment of loans until April next year. This means allocation would dip when full repayment resumes. Also, deductions for foreign loans, which the government inherited, have now risen by almost 61.9 per cent (from N39.6m to N64.1m monthly) because of the recent devaluation of the naira.

Some NLC members in the state during an event

The minimum wage table being debated between the labour and government will add N263m to the current wage bill of the state government. If this sails through, it means Kwara will now spend 79 per cent of its total FAAC receipts on average to pay workers alone.


But, again, how much should a state like Kwara spend on wage bill? For those who want government to run like business so that the public can get value for their money, which business spends 79 per cent of its earnings to pay wages alone?



The government, for its part, appears to be trying to rev up its revenue without imposing more burdens on the stressed populace. But the facts are clear: businesses in post-COVID-19 are struggling to survive and must be so treated. Similarly, the government is carrying out reforms in the civil service without sacking workers. Investments would come with steady allocation of resources to infrastructural development to open up the state while reforms designed to ease the business climate are ongoing. North, South, and Central parts of the state are recording undeniable infrastructural developments worth billions of naira without borrowings so far.

Salaries are paid 100 percent latest by 25th of every month, while arrears are being sorted gradually.

The labour movement comprises very responsible citizens and leaders in their own right. Everyone is stressed. The waste and indiscretions of the past are gone with the past, even though they haunt us all. The government, to be fair, has been prudent. No official vehicle has been purchased for the Governor, his deputy, cabinet members or other aides. Those with official vehicles inherited them. Even so, operational vehicles worth millions of naira have been purchased for smooth running of the civil service.

There is no easy answer to the minimum wage riddles at hand. Rigidity pays no side. And no side can afford the luxury of partisan sentiments. All that matters now, and would be in the overall interest of the state, is a huge dose of patriotism, forbearance, and good faith on all sides.

As somebody who was once in government and was indeed a part of the Kwara struggle over the years with appreciable knowledge of the state and sincere love for workers, I appeal to the labour unions to kindly take a hard look at the issues and put the interest of the state above every other consideration. That is the sacrifice we all have to make at this point.

• Dr. Ajia, a former university teacher, publishing executive, and public policy analyst lives in Ilorin.


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