The Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, His Lordship Most Rev. Paulinus Ezeokafor, has described the N18,000 minimum wage for civil servants as an insufficient take-home pay for workers to take care of their social and economic needs.

He called on the government to think of creating a living wage and other basic amenities for Nigerian workers rather than pay cut or unpaid salaries and arrears.

In a statement signed by the bishop and made available to journalists in Awka on Tuesday, the bishop reiterated his commitment to clamouring for a better living condition for Nigerian workers.

He said: “I really feel for Nigerian workers. While other countries of the world are busy taking care of their workers, down here, we are finding it difficult to pay N18,000 minimum wage. Is this not wickedness?

“What the workers receive as basic salaries cannot cater for their needs. It is that bad. I have said it before and I will say it again that the successive administrations have failed to provide for Nigerian workers.

“Some of them cannot even feed well, let alone running a family. Sometimes, I ask myself, why are the leaders always turning blind eye to the workers’ plights? Why are they so insensitive?

“Why pay jumbo salaries and allowances to those who do little or nothing towards the development of this country? Why impoverish the workers?”

While congratulating workers on their day, the Catholic bishop blamed past and present corrupt leaders for the economic woes the country is passing through.

He added: “What we are suffering today is as a result of the mismanagement of the natural resources in the country by corrupt leaders both past and present.

“Some people, who ought to have maximised the nation’s resources, cornered the nation’s wealth to their pockets.”

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