In a recent statement, Igwe Gerald Obunadike Mbamalu, Eze Oranyelu 1, Eze Ojoto 111 in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State, has stated that the demand for a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is necessary, during an interview with The Sun.
He noted that the current wages of Nigerian workers were inadequate given the state of the economy.
However, he pointed out that the organized private sector would find it hard to pay the N250,000 minimum wage being demanded by labour.
On the issue of the imbalance in the state structure in the country, Igwe Mbamalu said that traditional rulers can only make inputs because they do not have the power to approve state creation.
He explained that such power is vested in the National Assembly and that the balance of state structure in Nigeria is long overdue.
He believes that the bill for the creation of Orlu State is the answer if signed into law.
He noted that it is not only the bill for the creation of Orlu State that is before the review of the 1999 Constitution committee.
Igwe Mbamalu highlighted that the 36 states in the country are distributed unevenly among the six geopolitical zones.
"Traditional rulers can only make inputs because we don’t have the power to approve state creation, hence such power is not vested on us. It depends on the National Assembly, if they are sincere or just making a political statement, which is best known to them. But the balance of state structure in Nigeria is long overdue and the bill for the creation of Orlu State is the answer if signed into law. Unfortunately, it is not only the bill for the creation of Orlu State that is before the review of the 1999 Constitution committee."
"The 36 states in the country were distributed unevenly among the six geo-political zones. The South-South, South-West, North Central as well as North East have six states each. North-West has seven states while South-East has five states. And if additional states are created in the other zones, South-East must have more than one state to equate the state structure in Nigeria, otherwise the imbalance will still be there," he said.