Business
Minimum wage: More hardship for workers one year after
On May 1, 2025, Nigerian workers joined millions of others across the globe to mark International Workers’ Day, a symbolic tradition born out of the historic struggle for fair wages, decent work, and human dignity.
Yet in Nigeria, the occasion was anything but festive. Instead of celebration, there was grief and anguish. Instead of victory songs, there were cries of despair, anger, and rising disillusionment. The reality on the ground told a more painful story – one of dashed hopes, economic asphyxiation, and a working class fighting desperately not to fall through the cracks of a failing system.
Across major cities – Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt – labour unions organized rallies and marches, not to commemorate gains, but to protest hardship and stagnation. Workers from the public and private sectors flooded the streets with placards that read: “We Demand a Living Wage!” and “Inflation is Killing Us!” Their chants echoed a resounding truth: the Nigerian worker, long hailed as the engine of national development, is now trapped in a relentless cycle of hardship.
Promises Amidst Poverty
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, through the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, acknowledged the worsening economic conditions in his Workers’ Day address in Abuja. “I am aware of the peculiarities of the economic hardship Nigerians face—rising living costs, hunger, insecurity, unemployment, and the loss of livelihoods,” he said. The administration, he assured, was implementing job-creating policies and economic reforms to reverse the tide.
But, for workers like Bisi Lawal, a hospital nurse in Oyo State, those words feel distant. “We have heard promises for years,” she said. “They come every May Day. But our conditions get worse.”
Many Nigerians now see such speeches as annual rituals of empty rhetoric, delivered from air-conditioned halls by elites detached from the realities of survival on the streets.
The Federal Government’s announcement in 2024 of a new national minimum wage of N70,000 monthly initially ignited hope. After years of campaigning by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), this looked like a long-overdue concession to the demands of workers battling stagnating wages in a high-inflation economy.
However, implementation of the new wage has been anything but uniform. Many states – particularly Katsina, Cross River, Zamfara, Imo, Edo, and Plateau – have failed to commence payments. Others have only partially implemented the increase, often limiting it to state-level civil servants and leaving out local government workers entirely.
“This selective implementation is unacceptable,” says Dr. Tomiwa Oladele, a labour rights analyst in Abuja. “Local government workers form a huge part of the public workforce. To exclude them is discriminatory and dangerous.”
The delay is not just an administrative hiccup—it’s an existential threat. For families relying solely on civil service wages, every month without full payment is a month of missed rent, skipped meals, and mounting debts.
Moreover, several state governments have failed to clear salary arrears, and some are allegedly misappropriating wage allocation funds. In some cases, wage adjustments have been promised without timelines, effectively rendering them indefinite.
Inflation Devours Wages
Even in states where the N70,000 wage has been implemented, the relief has been short-lived. Inflation continues to rise faster than wages. As of March 2025, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate stood at 24.23%, up from 23.18% the previous month. Food inflation, in particular, remains volatile, consistently above 23% for over a year.
The cost of living has risen to unbearable levels. In Lagos, a 50kg bag of rice sells for over N80,000, while a basket of tomatoes can cost as much as N15,000. Cooking gas, transportation fares, and basic household goods have doubled or tripled in price.
“Let’s put this into perspective,” said Amaka Nwachukwu, an economist at the Centre for Public Policy Innovation. “N70,000 today can barely feed a family of four for more than two weeks. Rent, transportation, school fees, and healthcare are out of reach for most minimum wage earners.”
Nwachukwu notes that Nigeria’s economic crisis is not merely cyclical—it is structural. “Unless inflation is tackled aggressively and productivity increases, no amount of wage increase will be enough.”
This reality plays out daily for workers like Nkechi Okocha, a civil servant in Benin City. “I earn N70,000, but by the 10th of the month, I’m broke,” she said. “I spend N20,000 on rent, N15,000 on transport, and the rest on food. If anyone falls sick, I have to borrow.”
Weight of Structural Injustice
Many workers feel that the challenges they face are not accidental but systemic—rooted in decades of poor governance, corruption, and anti-poor economic policies. Labour unions argue that reforms championed by the Tinubu administration – including fuel subsidy removal and currency devaluation – have disproportionately affected the poor.
“These neol-iberal policies are killing us,” said NLC President Joe Ajaero at a May Day rally. “You remove subsidies, devalue the naira, hike taxes—and then turn around to talk about patriotism? This is economic violence.”
The TUC’s Festus Osifo echoed this sentiment: “We are not opposed to reforms. But reforms must be humane. They must be people-centered. You cannot revive a dying man by taking away his oxygen.”
The unions have submitted a 20-point demand to the Federal Government, including:
*An inflation-adjusted living wage
*Job creation programs in the real sector
*A reversal of exploitative economic policies
*Reform of the electricity and telecoms sectors
*Protection of union rights and civic space
*Harmonisation of pension and retirement age policies etc.
A Nation in Peril
Beyond wages and inflation, Nigeria’s crisis has a deeper undercurrent—insecurity. Labour leaders painted a grim picture of a country at war with itself, where banditry, terrorism, and communal violence have become commonplace.
In states like Benue, Zamfara, Plateau, and parts of Ondo and Kebbi, killings and kidnappings are a daily reality. A new sect, the Mahmuda group in Kwara state, has sparked fresh fears of another insurgency.
“You cannot have a productive workforce in a country where people are fleeing their homes, where children are kidnapped from schools, and where women are raped in IDP camps,” said Joe Ajaero. “This is not just an economic crisis—it is a national emergency.”
For workers in conflict zones, life is not just about low pay—it’s about basic survival. Farmers have abandoned lands, teachers are fleeing rural schools, and hospitals are under constant threat.
Exit of MNCs: A Grim Signal
The withdrawal of multinational firms like GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever from Nigeria is another worrying sign. These exits, driven by foreign exchange scarcity, rising insecurity, and poor infrastructure, signal a loss of confidence in Nigeria’s business environment, and erase the jobs of many.
“When even multinational giants are fleeing, how do you expect local businesses to survive?” asked Professor Hassan Bello, an economist at the University of Lagos. “The economy is suffocating, and the implications for job losses and investor confidence are grave.”
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, youth unemployment remains above 40%, and more than 115 million Nigerians live in absolute poverty. “This economy is not working for the majority,” Bello concluded.
Atiku Speaks
In his Workers’ Day message, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar acknowledged the centrality of workers in nation-building. “The labour force is the soul of our nation. It is both the face and the force of the people,” he said.
Atiku urged the government to treat workers not as liabilities but as partners in development. He called for collaboration, transparency, and sincere dialogue in addressing labour issues.
However, many workers view such declarations from political elites with skepticism. “They remember us when it’s politically convenient,” said Sani Ibrahim, a primary school teacher in Kaduna. “When elections come, we are the ‘heroes of the nation.’ After that, they disappear.”
Human Face of Suffering
The statistics are sobering, but the real tragedy lies in the individual stories: teachers, who moonlight as bus drivers, nurses, who hawk sachet water after shifts, civil servants forced to pull their children out of school, and elderly pensioners begging for alms at bus stops.
In Osun State, a widowed cleaner named Deborah Akintola said she now skips dinner to feed her grandchildren. “My salary is N55,000,” she explained. “The state hasn’t started paying the new wage. I owe three months’ rent.”
In Kano, a factory worker, Musa Lawan, shared his reality: “I work 12 hours a day, six days a week, and I still can’t afford to buy meat for my children. Last week, my wife sold her necklace to pay for our baby’s medicine.”
These are not outliers – they are everyday Nigerians. Their stories are proof that the crisis is not abstract. It is lived, suffered, and endured in the flesh.
The Road Ahead
Experts argue that any lasting solution must go beyond ad-hoc wage adjustments. What is needed is a fundamental restructuring of Nigeria’s economic model.
“We need a shift away from extractive governance to productive governance,” said Dr. Amaka Nwachukwu. “The government must invest in infrastructure, education, domestic manufacturing, and agriculture – not just subsidize consumption.”
Reforming tax policies, increasing access to credit for SMEs, and decentralizing labour negotiations to reflect regional cost-of-living differences could also provide relief.
Political will, however, remains the biggest hurdle.
“We have the ideas. We have the plans. But we don’t have sincerity,” said Dr. Tomiwa Oladele. “Until public office holders are made to feel the pain of their citizens, nothing will change.”
As another Workers’ Day passes, the question remains: for how long will Nigerian workers continue to bear the brunt of poor policy decisions, political indifference, and economic mismanagement?
Labour unions have warned of mass strikes if their demands are not met. Civil society is becoming increasingly vocal. And the patience of the people is wearing thin.
If the government truly seeks national development, it must recognize that workers are not just tools – they are people, citizens, parents, dreamers. They are Nigeria.
