Renowned Catholic priest and spiritual director of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Ejike Mbaka, wants lawmakers and government officials to also earn the N62,000 minimum wage proposed by the Federal government.
He said this while reacting to the monthly proposal of the Federal Government following the strike declared by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress.
Speaking in an interview with AIT, Mbaka said governors, senators, and members of the house of representatives should also earn the N62,000 minimum wage.
“We can push these poor Nigerians to the point of rebellion. That is my fear. All of us were in Lagos that day, so we couldn’t come back.”
“Just like a joke the labour people entered into the airport and stopped every operation and if this happened again it might be tantamount to what nobody dreams or what we dream but out of fear we cannot release it to the public.
“If we decide to give labour N60,000 or N62,000, why not generalise it to the house of assembly members, senatorial members, house of representative members, and governors?
”All of them are civil servants. So, are the others slaves? I cannot imagine why somebody can amass billions and billions as a sitting allowance, wardrobe allowance, newspaper allowance, vehicle allowance and what they call suffering allowance.
“The people that should have such allowances should be the poor masses in the villages. As teachers, how much are they being paid? Our nurses and doctors, how much are they being paid? Let us be realistic, our civil servants that wake from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
“They wake up early and return late. How much are they being paid? And look at the level of inflation in the country.”