Wage Award or Vote Buying?
By Wole Oladele
Nigerian politicians have apparently discovered another old political trick, only this time dressed in the language of workers’ welfare: wage awards!
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has announced a six-month wage award for workers and pensioners, coming just six months before the next elections.
Coincidence? Perhaps.
But politics is often a game of timing, and Nigerians have every right to ask questions when an attractive financial package suddenly appears so close to an election.
Is this genuinely a welfare intervention designed to cushion the economic hardship facing workers and pensioners, or is it another sophisticated form of vote buying, packaged in government language?
The timing certainly raises eyebrows.
For workers and pensioners who have endured economic hardship, salary challenges and pension arrears, any legitimate financial relief is welcome. Nobody should begrudge them money that is lawfully due to them or legitimately approved as welfare.
But workers should also remember that their votes are not commodities to be exchanged for temporary financial relief.
Six months of wage awards cannot erase years of hardship. It cannot substitute for sustainable salary policies, prompt payment of pensions, improved working conditions and responsible governance.
Politicians will come with promises. They will come with money.
They will come with beautiful speeches. Some may even suddenly remember the suffering of workers and pensioners when the ballot box is approaching.
But theWage Award or Vote Buying?
Nigerian politicians have apparently discovered another old political trick, only this time dressed in the language of workers’ welfare: wage awards!
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has announced a six-month wage award for workers and pensioners, coming just six months before the next elections.
Coincidence? Perhaps.
But politics is often a game of timing, and Nigerians have every right to ask questions when an attractive financial package suddenly appears so close to an election.
Is this genuinely a welfare intervention designed to cushion the economic hardship facing workers and pensioners, or is it another sophisticated form of vote buying, packaged in government language?
The timing certainly raises eyebrows.
For workers and pensioners who have endured economic hardship, salary challenges and pension arrears, any legitimate financial relief is welcome. Nobody should begrudge them money that is lawfully due to them or legitimately approved as welfare.
But workers should also remember that their votes are not commodities to be exchanged for temporary financial relief.
Six months of wage awards cannot erase years of hardship.
It cannot substitute for sustainable salary policies, prompt payment of pensions, improved working conditions and responsible governance.
Politicians will come with promises. They will come with money. They will come with beautiful speeches. Some may even suddenly remember the suffering of workers and pensioners when the ballot box is approaching.
But the electorate must remember too.
Do not judge a government only by what it gives you six months before an election. Judge it by what it did throughout its tenure.
If the wage award is genuine and sustainable, let it be welcomed.
If it is merely an election-season strategy, Nigerians should be wise enough to recognise it.
After all, vote buying does not stop being vote buying simply because it is announced at a government press conference.
Interesting days ahead. electorate must remember too.
Do not judge a government only by what it gives you six months before an election. Judge it by what it did throughout its tenure.
If the wage award is genuine and sustainable, let it be welcomed.
If it is merely an election-season strategy, Nigerians should be wise enough to recognise it.
After all, vote buying does not stop being vote buying simply because it is announced at a government press conference.
Interesting days ahead.
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