The Ogun State Chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) on Wednesday staged a protest at the Ogun State House of Assembly, Okemosan, Abeokuta.

The Ogun NLC is protesting calls by some states for the decentralisation of minimum wage.

The workers, led by Emmanuel Bankole, said the National Minimum wage is the right of Nigerian workers, which must not be hijacked from them under any guise.

According to Bankole, the national minimum wage is what protects unorganised workers, unskilled and the vulnerable, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to leave it on the exclusive list.

In his message to the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo, Bankole enjoined him to intervene by guiding members of the house not to vote in support of the removal of the minimum wage from the exclusive list.

Bankole explained that the removal of the minimum wage from the exclusive list would breed poverty and inequality among the nation’s workforce, saying it is a declaration of war on Nigerian workers.

He stressed that the protest would be the first stage of the struggle for the survival and livelihoods of millions of Nigerian workers.

Responding, the Speaker assured workers that their request would be granted anytime the bill comes up for debate.

Oluomo promised that all the demands of the Ogun NLC would be presented to Governor Dapo Abiodun, noting that all issues affecting workers’ welfare were being addressed by the State Government.