N30k Minimum Wage: Makinde Gets Strong Support From Oyo Group

Seyi Makinde has received strong support on his decision to negotiate with organized labour in Oyo State on the implementation of the new minimum wage for workers in the state.

Oyo Kajola Group, OKG, in backing the stance of the governor-elect of Oyo State said he was justified because of the reality of the state’s financial capacity and that because it was in the overall interest of the state.

Abiola Ajimobi, the outgoing governor of the state had in his message to workers in the state last Wednesday declared that the state would immediately commence the implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage. That is despite the fact that he is leaving office in three weeks.

The socio-political group, OKG in a statement made available to gwg.ng said the governor-elect’s position was “candid, forthright and patriotic,” noting that his statement was based on the factual analysis of the financial situation of Oyo State at present.

This was just as the workforce in the state and all well-meaning residents have been implored to be ready to “reason and make compromises with the new government when such need arises, until the new government finds its feet.”

According to the group, in a statement signed by its media coordinator, Taiwo Ogunlade, it was uncharitable for opposition politicians and mischief-makers to twist Makinde’s candid view about the situation in the state, saying: “the extant reality in Oyo State is such that the state’s financial capacity would not be able to bear the burden that will be occasioned by the sharp rise in wage and a good-hearted and truthful chief executive, which is what Makinde has promised to be, cannot shy away from expressing these worries.

“While the governor-elect has promised to transform the state immensely and to turn around its internally-generated revenue, which will make it less dependent on federal allocations, all these cannot be done in a hurry. The workers, who we believe, have always been partners in the progress of the state, should be ready to negotiate with the new government, so that it could find its feet and stabilise governance,” the group said.

“The financial reality and preliminary findings of the governor-elect, which showed how the state has been groaning under a heavy financial burden under the outgoing government and how the government has continued to pile more burdens with last minute attempts to ground the incoming government, led Makinde to make the statement. 

“It will be uncharitable for the outgoing government, which has less than a month to leave office to rush into paying a wage that will become unsustainable. Oyo State workers should not forget in a hurry how Governor Abiola Ajimobi had, in 2011, dilly-dallied over the new minimum wage and how he had waged wars on the workers, ranging from threats to blackmail,” the statement added.

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