Senator Nwoko Proposes N100,000 As New Minimum Wage

In the midst of clamour for a new minimum wage, the member representing Delta North in the 10th Senate, Senator Ned Nwoko, has proposed N100,000 as the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers, saying anything less than that is an insult on civil servants.
Nwoko who stated this while answering questions from newsmen at the 6th edition of the Silent Heroes Awards in Abuja also commended the compendium put together by the organizer of the event, Mr. Sunday Odita.
According to him, “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 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 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 mildly when people are paid 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 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.
While commending the Silent Heroes Initiatives, Sen. Nwoko however, advised that one does not need to be a senator or a governor to be honoured. This is as he urged the organizers to look out to those truly silent heroes who are doing great things but largely unknown to the world.
Meanwhile, the Project Coordinator of the event, Mrs. Ozioma Sonia Odita-Sunday earlier in her speech said the aim of the initiative is to “identify and recognize some silent achievers in their own right within our plural society.”
Some of the notable Silent Heroes include; Dr. Mohammed Matawalle, Gov. Ahmed Usman Ododo, CNS Ikechukwu Ogalla, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, Prof. Leroy Chuma Edozien, and Moses Amiebenomo among others.