Atiku who wrote to the Nigerian workers yesterday to mark this year’s May Day celebration, said he believes that whoever works should be adequately rewarded.
“The reward of a service well rendered is a reasonable wage that can keep the earner sensibly motivated to put in his best,” the former vice president observed.
He added that while it is adequate that the federal government can set the standard for the national minimum wage, such should however not be interpreted by respective state governments as being the maximum wage they should pay to their workers but simply the baseline for them to build on.
Apart from increasing the worker’s take home pay, Atiku said the welfare of workers would occupy the centre stage in 2019.
He added that the 15 per cent annual budget recommendation by Africa Union’s Ministers of Health as minimum benchmark for healthcare could be surpassed.
“There is an urgent need to make serious commitments to massive investment in the healthcare delivery system.
“We need a leadership that can gather enough investment in the upgrade of infrastructure and procurement of modern healthcare technology and equipment for our hospitals and primary and secondary healthcare facilities.
“This would drastically reduce the annual lose to medical treatment abroad. It is on record that Nigeria loses so much annually as a result of capital flight and medical tourism,” Atiku noted.
He stated that Nigeria has a better potential if a little more attention is accorded to developing its human resources through the education of the youth and adult population, and called for increase funding of the sector.
He regretted that majority of the states have failed to benefit from the Universal Basic Education (UBE) fund because they have not provided the required matching funds.
”I am a firm believer in our youths and the height at which they can take this country if accorded quality and affordable education. We have seen what investment in education has done to the economies of the Asian countries,” he added.
The former vice president said the situation where workers leaving public service will wait for 15 to 18 months for their pension o be processed would be seriously addressed.
Atiku further noted that many state governments were yet to join the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), adding that despite the hitches associated with the scheme, its benefits cannot be compared to its shortcomings.
“A critical factor here is that it is funded, and the funds once paid into the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) of workers, are protected from the general mismanagement and misappropriation that we see at virtually all levels of governance,” he observed.
He said the industrialisation of the country should be the basis for the 2019 engagement with the organized labour and the Nigerian people, particularly the manufacturing sector which is supposed to create jobs for the productive youths.