Adams Oshiomhole, the former governor of Edo State and currently senator representing Edo North senatorial district, condemned the N30,000 monthly minimum wage as a “criminal wage” on Sunday, claiming that his cleaner is paid no less than N60,000.
During a live interview on Sunday Politics on Channels Television, Oshiomhole remarked, “What we call minimum wage is a criminal wage.”
He considers the average responsible private-sector employer to be a better employer than the federal or state governments.
Given his background and knowledge of the cost of living, Oshiomhole argued that he could pay his cleaner no less than 60,000 “in a clean conscience,” even though he added that “if I had chosen to employ a cleaner and chosen not to clean the house by myself, that is the least I thought I could pay” her.
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“If you exchange N30,000 at N800 or N700 to the dollar, what does that translate to? So, the value of that minimum wage when it was N125 – when it was first introduced under, I think, (Shehu) Shagari’s government – is about two times or three times the value many years later, even in the public service.”
“I can tell you what I have decided to pay my cleaner. My cleaner is just a primary school – I’m not sure she has even a school leaving certificate. But she’s knowledgeable enough to clean the house,” he said.
“I found myself unable to pay her less than N60,000 – in fact, N60,000. It’s about my conscience. I’m trying to imagine what she has to pay for a house. She told me she has four children.
“I’m trying to imagine how she has to look after those children and I cannot question why she should have four children.”
