Mr. Roland Pereotubo Oweilaemi, President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, has warned that many State Governor’s will not implement the N30,000, new National Minimum Wage for their workers, a development which, he predicted, would lead to a nationwide labour unrest and economic collapse.
Oweilaemi, who doubles as President-General, All Ethnic Nationalities in the Niger Delta, who spoke exclusively with The NEXT EDITION on Monday, maintained that currently, many of the governors had owed workers’ salaries to the tune of between six and 11 months.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari recently assented to the New National Minimum Wage Act, which provided for N30,000 as monthly minimum wage for the least paid Nigerian worker.
But, the State Governors, under the auspices of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), maintained that the new wage was unrealistic as their purse might not carry the responsibility, moreso as they had not been up-to-date in salaries when the minimum wage was N18,000.
Oweilaemi maintained that rather than restoring joy to the nation and the workers, the N30,000, new minimum wage would usher in imminent crises in the country.
The IYC boss stressed: “How can such states pay the new wage? This new wage will generate a big problem for our economy. Already, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has warned Nigerians that worst times are awaiting our economy. With the threat of recession, Nigeria economy will not survive the looming holocaust if the new minimum wage is implemented.”
Oweilaemi referred to a recent economic analysis of States that had been economically viable and those that had not been so, as made by Economic Confidential, an economic news magazine on its Annual States Viability Index (ASVI) report, just released in May, 2019.
According to him, the report had it that 17 States are insolvent, as their Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) in 2018 were far below 10% of their receipts from the Federation Account Allocations (FAA) in the same year.
He stated: “The index declared that without the monthly disbursement from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), many States remain unviable and cannot survive without the federally collected revenue, mostly from the oil sector. The IGRs of the 36 states of the federation totalled N1.1 trillion in 2018 as compared to N931 billion in 2017, an increase of N172 billion.
“The report also indicated that the IGR of Lagos State of N382bn is higher than that of 30 states put together whose IGRs are extremely low compared to their allocations from the Federation Account. Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, which is not a state, but the nation’s capital generated N65bn IGR against N29bn it got from the Federation Account in 2018.”
The IYC boss said that Lagos State still remained strong in its number one position in IGR with a total revenue generation of N382bn compared to FAAC of N260bn, which translates to 146% in the 12 months of 2018.
Lagos, he added, was followed by Ogun State, which generated IGR of N84.55bn compared to FAAC of N93bn, representing 90%; Rivers with N112bn compared to FAAC of N237bn representing 47% and Kwara State with a low receipt from the Federation Account has maintained its impressive IGR by generating N23bn compared to FAAC of N81bn representing 28%.
Continuing, Oweilaemi argued that other states with impressive IGRs includes “Edo with IGR of N28bn compared to FAAC of N112bn representing 25%; Kano generated N44bn compared to FAAC of N183bn representing 24%; Enugu with IGR of N22bn compared to FAA of N92bn representing 23%; Ondo with IGR of N24bn compared to FAAC of N108bn representing 22.77%; Kaduna with IGR of N29bn compared to FAAC of N131bn representing 22.44% while Delta State earned N58bn IGR against FAAC of N285bn representing 20%.”
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The report, he added, also indicated that the 10 States with impressive IGR generated N808 bn, while the remaining States merely generated a total of N295bn in 2018, even as it was discovered that States with less than 10% IGRs were in 17 as in 2017.
The IYC boss warned: “These poor States may not stay afloat outside the Federation Allocation due to socio-political crises, including insurgency, kidnapping, banditry and herdsmen-farmer clashes. Others lack foresight in revenue generation drive coupled with the armchair governance.
“States that may not survive without the Federation Account due to poor internal revenue generations are Ebonyi, which realised a meagre N6.14bn compared to a total of N76bn it received from the Federation Account Allocation (FAAC) in 2018 representing about 7.98%; Bayelsa with IGR of N13.6bn compared to FAAC of N192bn representing 7.10%; Taraba N5.96bnbn compared to FAA of N88bn representing 6.77%; Adamawa with IGR of N6.2bn compared to N97bn of FAAC representing 6.77% and Borno with IGR of N6.52bn compared to N122bn of FAAC representing 5.3% within the period under review.
“However, major poor internal revenue earners are Katsina, which generated N6.9bn compared to FAAC of N138bn, representing 5.03%; Yobe N4.48bn compared to FAAC of N89bn, representing 4.86% and lastly Kebbi N4.88bn IGR compared to FAAC of N101bn representing 4.88%.”
He maintained that the Economic Confidential’s ASVI report further showed that only three states in the North, Kwara, Kano and Kaduna, could garner IGR above 20%, compared to their Federal allocations, where as seven states in the South, Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, Edo, Enugu, Ondo and Delta recorded over 20% IGR in 2018.
“The four Southern States with the poorest IGR of less than 10% compared to their FAA in 2018 are Akwa Ibom, Ekiti, Ebonyi and Bayelsa. Similarly, 13 Northern States, Benue, Nasarawa, Gombe, Zamfara, Niger, Bauchi, Jigawa, Taraba, Adamawa, Borno, Katsina, Yobe and Kebbi, have poorest IGR.
“From this report, released by Economic Confidential, how can those insolvent States pay the new minimum wage? he asked, adding, “It is not economically possible, except through economic diversification, which will allow States have direct control of their resources.”
