The Founder and Spiritual Director of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Nigeria (AMEN), Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka has said that members of the national assembly should also earn the N62,000 minimum wage.
He insisted that the N62,000 minimum wage ought to be made to go round, stressing that even the lawmakers are themselves civil servants just like the core civil servants. He argued that those Nigerians working as civil servants are not slaves to anybody. The controversial priest 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.
Mbaka, who spoke during an interview with AIT, maintained that governors, senators, and members of the House of Representatives should also earn the N62,000 minimum wage. He said: “We can push these poor Nigerians to the point of rebellion. That is my fear. All of us were in Lagos that day, we couldn’t come back.
“Just like a joke the Labour people entered into the airport and stopped every operation and if this happens again it might be tantamount to what nobody dreams or what we dream but out of fear we cannot release 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 Representatives members, and governors?
“All of them are civil servants. So, are the others slaves? I cannot imagine why somebody can be amassing billions and billions as 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 work from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. They wake up early and return late. How much are they being paid. And look at the level of inflation in the country.”
