Anything less than N100,000 as minimum wage will be an insult to civil servants– Senator Ned Nwoko warns

Senator Ned Nwoko, representing Delta North Senatorial District, has proposed ₦100,000 as the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers. He stated that anything less would be an insult to civil servants.

The Senator also advised cattle owners and herders to embrace the proposed law banning open grazing, saying the law benefits everyone, including them.

Speaking at the 6th edition of the Silent Heroes Awards in Abuja, Nwoko commended the event organiser, Mr Sunday Odita, for compiling the compendium.

“There are so many problems in Nigeria, from the economy to security issues, minimum wage and all of that. If you ask me about minimum wage, I will say that, at least, everybody deserves a rise. Even if we say a hundred thousand naira, I will think it is the ideal thing. But look, what can a hundred thousand naira do for anybody? Tell me, how many bags of rice can that buy? How many fuel tanks can that fill? So we have to be realistic about our economy.

“Government is meant to provide an environment for those who are doing business to do well or create jobs where possible. But we must have a minimum wage. It is not very good, to put it mildly, when people are paid a minimum wage that is abysmal and they are not able to achieve the basic needs of life.

“So, I think that a minimum wage of one hundred thousand naira is not out of place. That should be the beginning. That kind of amount should be what we should be looking at. Anything less than that is an insult on the civil servant,” he said.

On the issue of open grazing, he said: “I think the proposed ban on open grazing is a welcome development. It is in the interest of Nigerians, especially the cattle owners, herders and farmers. Every day we hear stories of farmer/herder clashes. It is either the farmers are killed by armed herdsmen or the herders suffer one casualty or the other, so with the ban, there won’t be any losses. Everybody deserves to live and move freely as a good citizen. Again, owners of cows and herders will benefit a lot. I was discussing with an armed herder, on why he was carrying an AK-47, he said it was to protect himself and his cows from thieves and cattle rustlers. You can see that while the ban will save farmers, it can also save the herders from being attacked. Second, this movement of cows from one state to another makes our cows look emaciated. If a cow is feeding in one place, it will be well-fed and look good. Look at the cows from Morocco and other countries that practice ranching, their cows look well-fed, healthier and bigger. Let’s leave sentiment alone, and move this country forward. There is more to gain than to lose with a complete ban on open grazing.”

While commending the Silent Heroes Initiatives, Senator Nwoko advised that one does not need to be a senator or a governor to be honoured.

He urged the organisers to look out for those truly silent heroes who are doing great things but are largely unknown.

He said: “Unfortunately, most of the deserving awardees who are doing great things quietly out there, unknown, are not here. But how do we get to them? How do you bring them up? You don’t need to be a senator, or a governor to be acknowledged. I am talking about those who are out there. They could be security men, they could be drivers, they could be cooks, but they have done so many wonderful things. These are the people I expect in the future for an event of this nature. Look for them. Ask the populace to identify those who have done remarkable things. Like someone at the shopping mall who has seen somebody being mocked and goes to defend the person. You know, something uniquely different,” he advised.

Meanwhile, the project coordinator of the event, Mrs Ozioma Sonia Odita-Sunday, said in her speech that the aim of the initiative is to “identify and recognise some silent achievers in their own right within our plural society.”

She added that the awardees were carefully nominated from among hundreds of other recommendations in view of the outstanding contributions they made over the years in their various spheres of life to add value to humanity.

She commended the women who made the list for the award, especially Mrs Judith Ogunlewe (née Ofulue), who is based in Canada but always comes to Nigeria to give free medical treatment and do some diagnoses for the less privileged.

Some of the notable Silent Heroes include Dr Mohammed Matawalle, Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, CNS Ikechukwu Ogalla, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, Professor Leroy Chuma Edozien and Moses Amiebenomo.