N18,000 minimum wagell cause inflation -NUPENG boss

THE chairman of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) in Oyo State, Chief SalimonAkanni Oladiti, has warned thatwith the policy of deregulating the downstream sector of the oil industry, the N18,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers, recently signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan, will be worthless in the face of imminent inflation in the country.The NUPENG boss, while addressing newsmen in Ibadan, on Sunday, after the May Day celebration held at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Oke Ado, Ibadan, said the new minimum wage might be meaningless after all.According to him, the N18,000 minimum wage was not enough because of the imminent inflation in the country, coupled with the soaring exchange rate of naira to United States (US) dollar.He said thederegulation of the downstream sectorwould affect the prices of goods in the market, because once the prices of litres of petroleum products soared, other commodities in the market and the cost of living generally would have gone beyond the reach of the common man.With the N18,000 minimum wage, an average Nigerian worker will be forced to run from his landlord who is already waiting to collect his own share. Going to the market, the food sellers will be waiting for him with increase in prices of food stuffs, thereby making him not really enjoying the new minimum wage, he said.
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