By Kunle Adebiyi
President Bola Tinubu has announced a N25, 000 wage award to low grade workers in the civil service, as part of measures to cushion the impact of the fuel subsidy removal policy.
Tinubu made the pledge on Sunday, October 1, as part of his Independence Day Broadcast to the nation, where he noted that the salary increase will last for a period of six months.
Commenting on the crisis facing Nigerians and the proposed indefinite strike by members of the organised Labour, Tinubu said he was attuned to the hardships that have come.
He said he had a heart that feels and eyes that see.
“I wish to explain to you why we must endure this trying moment. Those who sought to perpetuate the fuel subsidy and broken foreign exchange policies are people who would build their family mansion in the middle of a swamp.
“I am different. I am not a man to erect our national home on a foundation of mud. To endure, our home must be constructed on safe and pleasant ground,” he said.
The President went further to state that “reform may be painful, but it is what greatness and the future require. We now carry the costs of reaching a future Nigeria where the abundance and fruits of the nation are fairly shared among all, not hoarded by a select and greedy few.
“A Nigeria where hunger, poverty and hardship are pushed into the shadows of an ever fading past.”
According to Tinubu, “there is no joy in seeing the people of this nation shoulder burdens that should have been shed years ago. I wish today’s difficulties did not exist. But we must endure if we are to reach the good side of our future.
“My government is doing all that it can to ease the load. I will now outline the path we are taking to relieve the stress on our families and households.
“We have embarked on several public sector reforms to stabilize the economy, direct fiscal and monetary policy to fight inflation, encourage production, ensure the security of lives and property and lend more support to the poor and the vulnerable.
“Based on our talks with labour, business and other stakeholders, we are introducing a provisional wage increment to enhance the federal minimum wage without causing undue inflation. For the next six months, the average low-grade worker shall receive an additional Twenty-Five Thousand naira per
