Osinbajo:
Buhari and I poorly paid
The President’s and the
Vice-President’s pay is low, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said yesterday.
He criticised the private
sector for not respecting the national minimum wage law, which puts the lowest
pay at N18,000.
Speaking at the end-of-year
seminar of the State House Press Corps at the old Banquet Hall of the
Presidential Villa in Abuja, Prof. Osinbajo said he earns about N1.5m as
Vice-President; President Buhari earns about N1.75 million.
To him, the pay is not commensurate
with the offices they occupy.
The vice president also
expressed misgivings about the remuneration of journalists and lawyers, saying
journalists’ case is unique because many media owners make big revenue but
simply refuse to pay good wages.
He recalled his brief
encounters working with media houses as legal adviser and how in all the months
he worked he was not paid despite the irregular hours he put in.
Osinbajo spoke of entry into
journalism as not rigorously regulated or enforced by professional bodies
because untrained persons are allowed in.
He added: ”I realised
first of all that this (journalism) is not a profession from which one could
make a decent living in the first place unless you find a really good way of
doing so.
”But more importantly for me
is that you are just on your own. Journalism as a profession is so wide open.
”There are a few reasons in my
view why remuneration is poor.
”The first is that it is just
simply cheating. There are owners of media that are just cheats. They just
want to get something from nothing and that is not uncommon, it is a general
malaise, it is not necessarily restricted to the media.
”It is also the same in the
legal profession. There many lawyers if they tell you what they earn, you will
certainly not want to be a lawyer.
”The private sector does not
respect the minimum wage. Even if a minimum wage is set nationally, it is not
necessarily respected by the private sector and this is something that should
be factored in to the status of a company and whether a company is even
complying with the requirements.”
The Vice-President urged
journalists to brighten their prospects and future by always seeking ways of
improving themselves and getting better job opportunities with attendant
improved income.
Nasarawa State Governor Tanko
Al-Makura, represented by the Commissioner for Information, Mohammed
Kwara, was the chairman of the ceremony.
He said: “It is important to
note that a good retirement plan starts the very day you are employed, knowing
that whatever has a beginning has an end; 35 or 60 mandatory years of service
are certainly not eternity.
”It must also be stressed here
that it is not too late to plan even where you have just few years to retire
from service.
”The most important thing is
that you have a plan either of money saved or of the job you intend to carry on
after retirement. Put every other factor in place such as your age, strength
and the mental capacity to carry on.” he advised.
He added “It is important to
state, therefore, that the uncertainty on payment of entitlements has continued
to worry Nigerian workers, making them fear retirement.
”This has led to prospective
retirees falsifying their age just to enable them stay put in the service.
”In this regard, a lot of
corruption induced activities have continued to infiltrate the MDAs and the
organised private sector responsible for managing pension,” he said.
Kwara listed 10 ways to
prepare for retirement, including saving, knowing your retirement needs and
contributing to an employer’s retirement savings plan.
Others, according to him, are
learning about employer’s pension plan, considering basic investment
principles, not touching your retirement savings, asking employer to start a
plan, think of creative ways to be self sustaining, find out about one’s social
security benefits, and asking questions.
The guest lecturer and
Chairman of Elumelu Foundation, Tony Elumelu, said retirement should not be
synonymous with being tired or giving up as it should be a stepping stone.
He advised working journalists
to pursue their purposes with passion, stressing the need to increase capacity
in readiness for the next phase
He said: “Entrepreneurship is
not a function of age. Set your milestones and work towards accomplishing
the milestone.
”Entrepreneurs are resilient;
they persevere to succeed. You don’t need to give up easily, it requires
sacrifice, discipline.”
Others who presented goodwill
messages were Minister of Information Lai Mohammed; Minister of Transportation
Rotimi Amaechi and Special Adviser (Media & Publicity) to the President
Femi Adesina.
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