In a decisive move to forestall an indefinite strike by the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Zamfara State Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the labour union on the implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage.
The agreement, signed late Monday evening, came after a series of negotiations between representatives of the state government and NLC officials.
The agreement also addressed other labour-related concerns raised by the union, including issues of improved welfare packages for state workers.
NLC Chairman in the state, Comrade Sani Haliru, confirmed the suspension of the planned industrial action, stating that the MoU marks a victory for workers’ rights.
He praised Governor Dauda Lawal’s administration for its willingness to engage in dialogue and prioritize workers’ welfare.
“If you can see all our circulars, it states that a state where there is no implementation or an agreement, commitment signed, but we all witnessed what happened here this night, even the state Governor is inside his office waiting for the outcome of this meeting.”
“Before I was not happy with what was on the ground because I said we should come to an agreement but they said no they could not do it, I said okay let us go ahead with the strike, now that they have done what is expected of them, we would refer to our National Headquarters.”
The Zamfara Government represented at the meeting by the Secretary to the State Government, Abubakar Nakwada expressed the administration’s dedication to implementing the agreed wage increase.
He assured workers that the state government remains committed to fostering a harmonious relationship with labour unions.
“For me leading from the state government side, I would say it’s a very fruitful meeting, it has taken us many days but by special grace of God, today we are able to meet at a certain point of N70,000 minimum wage, the state Government has accepted and we have signed the MoU, no Victor no vanquish.”
Nakwada also confirmed that the implementation of the new N70,000 minimum wage will commence in March 2025.
“What we have signed, the implementation date is going to be in March 2025, reasons for that is that we have a committee working on the verification of the entire state workforce, this is intended to align the nominal role with regards to payroll so that it will balance, we are almost over 50% of that.”
“For us that is the assurance we have received from the labour unions, so we really don’t expect any strike from them, that’s an assurance they gave us during the meeting.”
The Zamfara NLC was preparing to embark on an indefinite strike today (Tuesday) if the state government failed to meet its demands for the minimum wage.
Zamfara is one of the twelve states listed by the NLC National body to embark on industrial action following the inability of the state governments to implement the new national minimum wage approved by the federal government recently.
