*Governor To Bag Pacesetter Award
National leaders of organised labour in Nigeria will on Friday converge on Owerri, the Imo State capital, for a grand ceremony to honour Governor Hope Uzodimma with a Pacesetter Award for being the only governor in the country paying the highest minimum wage.
Whereas the national minimum wage is N70,000, Uzodimma approved and has been paying Imo workers N104,000.
Highly encouraged by this act of magnanimity, organised labour, led by the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), decided to appreciate the Imo State governor with a national honour.
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, and the National President of NULGE, Alhaji Comrade Haruna Aliyu Kankara, will lead other national labour leaders to hand over the Pacesetter Award to Uzodimma on Friday, March 6, 2026.
In a statement signed by the Chairman of NULGE in Imo State, Comrade Charles O. Okere, and the Secretary, Comrade Jennifer Besong, the union noted with great satisfaction the improvement in the welfare of Imo workers with the payment of the N104,000 minimum wage by the governor.
NULGE explained that the workers were delighted that Uzodimma chose to pay the minimum wage without persuasion or coercion from any quarters, thus confirming him as a worker-friendly governor.
They expressed deep appreciation to the governor for always coming through for workers and hoped that the national Pacesetter Award on him by national leaders of organised labour would encourage him to do more for the people of Imo State and Nigeria.
Reacting to the award, the Imo State Commissioner for Information, Public Orientation and Strategy, Hon. Declan Emelumba, described it as well-deserved.
“The letter to His Excellency by organised labour says it all. He approved the minimum wage of N104,000 as a means of supporting Imo workers and in appreciation of their hard work,” he disclosed.
Emelumba also said that apart from paying the highest minimum wage in Nigeria, the governor has been paying Imo workers 13th-month salaries since he assumed office in 2020, as well as discharging his obligations to pensioners.
