Date: 2022-02-09

Ahead of 2023 polls, former Vice President, Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) and now Director General of Michael Imodu National Institute for Labour Studies, Ilorin, Comrade Issa Aremu has said that the passage of Electoral Act into law should not be an end to enduing democracy in the country but rather Nigerians should avoid "political dealers" that have no interest in the national development of the country.

Speaking in Ilorin with journalists on the state of the nation, the former labour leader said that the quality politicians that can develop Nigeria should be sourced for in order to move the nation forward.

He said: "As we are moving towards 2023 elections, we must have quality control of our politics. Our politics must be very strong in quality elected leaders, not elected dealers. It would be nice to see the Electoral Act passed into law,so that we can have free and fair election and I have no doubt that the executive will do what is necessary. But that is just the means to an end."

He added: "The end is the development of Nigeria. We may have free and fair election, votes may count as they have been counting with all our challenges, we are going to produce governors ,senators, president, what we must ask at the end of the day is that do they deliver development to Nigeria? and that's where the energy should be this time."

The MINILS DG further said: "Now, whoever wants to become our senator, our governor, our president must respond to issues of national development .Let there be a disagreement but let's know what the disagreements are.And the disagreement should be about what will build Nigeria, and not what will divide us."

He also said: "So, this argument that we need a president from the North or South, Muslim or Christian have nothing to do with development. There is no northern water,no Southern food, food is food, water is water for everyone, no Christian or Muslim electricity."

He also said that ahead of 2023 , the real contestation should be about politics of real development.

"This is where, in my view the new national development plan unveiled by President Buhari is timely. All the campaigns that would be carried out should be based on that national development plan."

On the issue of implementation of new minimum wage in Kwara state, he urged other states to emulate how the state came into amicable resolution with the Labour movement in such a way that it drew applause from the stakeholders.

He said: "It is highly commendable for organised labour and the Kwara state government to amicably resolve the issue of the new minimum wage. I think the Kwara example should be recommended to other states that are yet to conclude the negotiation and implementation of the new minimum wage as well as the consequential adjustments attached.

"It also shows that if there is the will among the stakeholders, there will also be a way for amicable resolution on issues dealing with wages and salaries of the workers. The negotiation has been quite protracted.

"It is also commendable that the President Muhammadu Buhari's administration had amicable resolution which led to the review of then subsisting N18,000 minimum wage to N30,000. it was borne out of a genuine collaboration between the executive and the legislature. don't forget that the new minimum wage is an act of parliament signed into law by the president. I want to say that it is commendable that Kwara state has applied the same spirit of dialogue, negotiation and compromises. When I looked at the content of the agreement, it is divided into two. They are quantitative and qualitative.

"The qualitative aspect of the agreement says no worker will lose his her job as a result of the new minimum wage and consequential adjustment. It is not that what government gives with the right hand, it takes back with the left hand through retrenchment.

"That again, again is remarkable both at the state and federal level. You have improvement on pay and guaranteed jobs for workers."