Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has said his administration will commence the payment of the ₦70,000 minimum wage, once the issue of consequential salary adjustment has been addressed.
The governor also announced the extension of the ₦25,000 wage award to workers and ₦15,000 wage award to pensioners by another three months.
Makinde said the extension will cover the period that the negotiation on the consequential adjustment will last. He noted that the payment of the wage award will stop upon the conclusion of negotiations to effectively implement the minimum wage.
Governor Makinde stated these on Saturday during the 2024 World Teachers’ Day Celebration with the theme: “Valuing Teachers’ Voices Towards a New Social Contract for Education.”
The event was held at the NUT (ENDWELL) Model College Sports Complex, Owode Housing Estate, Apata, Ibadan.
He said: “On the minimum wage, negotiation will start next week and we will pay the ₦70,000 minimum wage. But the consequential adjustment is about to be negotiated. The NLC and our team will sit down to discuss it.”
Governor Makinde lauded teachers in the state for their massive support for him during the 2023 elections and their immeasurable contributions to building the state.
He said his government will continue to prioritise the welfare of teachers and all civil servants in the state so that they would continue to be productive.
Makinde noted that education remains one of the major pillars of his government. He promised to fix more education infrastructure so that teachers can continue to impart knowledge in a conducive environment in order to guarantee a better future for the state.
“I want to say kudos to the teachers. Everywhere I went during the campaign, you mobilised yourselves and supported us wholeheartedly. So, I appreciate you and I say thank you.
“We are going through challenges as a country. We have issues of minimum wage and fuel price, but I want to appeal to you to say that tough times don’t last but tough people do. We will outlast these challenges we are faced with.
“Any country that wants to develop must educate her people. So, for us in Oyo State, we will continue to specially look after our teachers, because they are dealing with our future.
“You teachers, you have to be put where you belong. So, I thank you for your support and dedication to duty. We still have a long way to go.
“When we came in, with the UBEC grant and matching fund, we used to give them, we were spending about ₦3 billion every year on infrastructure. So, for the past five years, we have done about ₦15 billion but it is not enough – just like a drop in the ocean.
“The gap we have to fill, when we did the analysis a few years ago, it was around ₦40 billion but I can tell you now that it will be close to ₦70 billion.
“If we continue to spend ₦3 billion yearly for the next 15 years, we still won’t cover the gap on ground. So apart from SUBEB, we will have education intervention funds of a minimum of ₦10 billion every year towards bridging the infrastructural gap in education.
“And, of course, we will employ more teachers and we will put them in a conducive learning environment that would guarantee better outcomes for our students,” the governor said.
Makinde commissioned a block of 10 classrooms built by the NUT at the NUT Model School. He said his administration’s commitment to fixing inner roads remained on course and that it will work on inner roads within the Owode Housing Estate.
Earlier in his welcome address, NUT State Chairman, Comrade Raji Ismail, thanked the governor for his “unprecedented achievements in the education sector and for being mindful of teachers’ welfare.
“[These he did] through his encouragement of career progression for primary school teachers, regular payment of salaries, promotions, payment of leave bonuses and healthcare insurance, among others.”
Also in his goodwill message, the chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the state, Comrade Kayode Martins, assured that the governor will do everything necessary to implement the minimum wage as expected.
