Cool FM presenter, Mannie Essien, has weighed in on the ongoing protest against the popular Police unit, Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Nigeria.
The radio presenter said though the protest is a good move, it is also important to know that the country is faced with more difficulties beyond police brutality.
Mannie noted that Nigeria should be competing with other countries like Ghana and South Africa that have higher minimum wages.
He lamented the minimum wage in Nigeria saying it can’t purchase a bag of rice.
“It’s not about End SARS oh! There are lots of terrible things happening but End SARS is a good thing. All they are doing is just paying salaries, no investment, or structural buildings – nothing, and it is a painful thing. 95% of Nigerians don’t have houses, think about it”, said Mannie.
“Look at Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, look at their minimum wage, these are people we should be competing with. Just start from the minimum wage. I pray for a time where people can ask the government to change that useless minimum wage that does nothing for the individual, thirty thousand Naira an insult to a people who know the country is capable of paying even a hundred thousand Naira. We are oil-producing, we have gas and minerals of all kinds, why would you be paying people thirty thousand Naira a month.
“The police people who are messed up how much do they earn. They will serve a country in their lifetime and they earn rubbish. If a Nigerian can earn one hundred thousand minimum wage and can afford to pay accommodation of thirty or forty thousand a month people’s minds will calm down,” he stressed.
The Nation
