Minimum Wage: At The End Of The Day We Will Only Give You What We Can Afford – Minister Tells Organised Labour

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate, has said that the Bola Tinubu led administration cannot promise a wage that it cannot afford.

Pate asserted that the government has deliberate not to make promises it cannot fulfil.

The Minister stated this during an appearance on Channels Television’s ‘The Morning Brief Show’ on Wednesday.

Speaking further, he said the government is committed to improving the welfare and wages of doctors, nurses and other health workers in the country.

He appreciated health workers who go abroad for training and return home to offer their professional services to the country.

According to him, “We appreciate them. There are few who chose to go abroad for training. We’ve approved for some of them to go to other places to be trained. We expect that when they train, they will come back home.

“We are expanding the training of those who are around and improving the working conditions.

“Many of the legacy issues are 10 years; promises that had been made and could not be achieved. So it’s pointless to keep making promises and setting yourself up when you cannot fulfill them.

“One thing for sure: this President is committed to the welfare of the Nigerian workforce and in our case in health the sector, he is the champion for Health Resource in the African Union, and that says a lot about where his mind is in terms of the health workforce.

“In the context of the wage review that is ongoing in the country, of course with the Salary Incomes and Wages Commission, we have made submissions to have some adjustment of the remuneration of the health workforce.

“At the end of the day, it’s what the economy can afford. At the end of the day, you cannot give what you don’t have and so we have to be very deliberate not to promise things that are impossible to fulfill.”