Edo Street Sweepers Protest Low Pay, Demand Fair Wages

Street sweepers in Edo State on July 3, 2023, voiced their dissatisfaction with their low wages by staging a protest. They appealed to the state government for a pay raise to cope with the current economic difficulties.

Dressed in their work attire and holding placards that read, “We need an increment in our salary, we are tired of N17,820,” they expressed their frustration. They explained that their wages had been set at N18,000, the national minimum wage at the time, during the administration of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. However, they claimed that they had not received a pay raise since then, and the current administration reportedly does not recognize them as its employees.

The group’s spokesperson, Mrs. Glory Efosa, stated, “They pay us N18, 000 but when they remove their tax, we will be left with N17,820. We have complained and written several letters calling for an increment. We started receiving this amount of money during the time of Governor Adams Oshiomhole up till now. If we go to protest, the GM will say we don’t have an employment letter.”

She further added, “They said Governor Obaseki said he doesn’t know us as his workers but if they want to do anything in Benin, they want to make the city beautiful, they will come to call us. We will go and make it clean, on Saturday after finishing our own task, they asked us to go to New Benin and clean it up and we went. The GM was present during the cleaning and when we wanted to bring the matter up, we were asked to hold on and that was how we abandoned the matter.”

Mrs. Efosa pointed out the economic challenges they face, saying, “Now, we are having a president who has removed fuel subsidies and things are now very expensive, that money cannot afford anything.” She praised Governor Obaseki for being the first to raise the minimum wage to N40, 000 and requested that the same be extended to them to meet their needs.

Festus Alenkhe, the chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Edo State Council, received the protesters and suggested a round table discussion with the Waste Management Board to review their salary.