State chapters of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress have decried the condition of the Nigerian worker and called for the urgent review of the N70,000 minimum wage as the country celebrates the 2025 May Day today.
This comes just as Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said the legislative and executive arms of government would not “shirk our responsibility to work together” to address workers’ concerns and create opportunities for growth and prosperity. However, organised labour leaders across the country said workers were worse off since the emergence of President Bola Tinubu, despite his assurances that he would not only pay the workers a minimum wage but “a living wage.”
Following Tinubu’s removal of the petrol subsidy on May 29, 2023, in his inaugural speech to the nation and the devaluation of the naira, the cost of living has been astronomic, forcing labour unions and the populace to embark on several protests.
The labour leaders, in separate interviews with The PUNCH, said the Nigerian worker had been crippled by the high cost of prices and soaring inflation, which they added, made the N70,000 minimum wage inconsequential.
The Bayelsa State Chairman of the Trade Union Congress, Comrade Julius Laye, said the Nigerian worker was worse off under the President Bola Tinubu administration than ever before.
Laye, who spoke to The PUNCH on Wednesday in Yenagoa, listed several factors that had negatively impacted workers, which he said, made the new minimum wage grossly inadequate.
Laye said, “You know that the government introduced several taxes, and the hike in tariffs has impacted the workers negatively. The economic policies and the removal of subsidies have led to hyperinflation, so the minimum wage has become inadequate.
“Even the minimum wage is not enough to cover Medicare. Incidentally, they have money to fly out to seek better medical attention, but the Nigerian workers do not have the means to do so.
“We are worse off in this administration than we had ever been at any other time.”
In Ebonyi, the state Chairman of the NLC, Prof. Oguguo Egwu, and his TUC counterpart, Comrade Igwe Chidi, expressed displeasure over the continuous economic hardship faced by workers in the state.
They said Nigerian workers were looking forward to an adjustment of the National Minimum Wage Act, which provided a review every three years since the current N70,000 implemented by Governor Francis Nwifuru was no longer enough to meet their needs.
Egwu, who disclosed the theme of this year’s Workers Day celebration as ‘Reclaiming a civic space amid economic hardship’, said the suffering in the country was unprecedented.
“It’s a day to celebrate our workers, it’s a day we honour our past heroes, those who have struggled for the workers in the world to emancipate them from the shackles of the leaders. The good thing about this year’s celebration is that we will give awards to deserving Ebonyi workers who posted outstanding performances in service, while also maintaining the code of the civil service.
“We have the opportunity to bring veterans to educate them on the theme of this year’s celebration. The hardship in Nigeria, not just in Ebonyi State, is unprecedented. If you look into the face of a typical Nigerian worker, it is filled with wrinkles, darkened, deep and of course every face of a typical Nigerian worker tells the story of a multi-dimensional poverty.”
Chidi added, “Workers are facing different challenges. The economy is very harsh, not only on the workers but on Nigerians. The new minimum wage was just implemented in the state but it is no longer significant to the workers. If you go to the market, that N70, 000 cannot buy you anything.”
The Niger State Chairman, TUC, Ibrahim Gana, blamed the Federal Government for the pathetic state of workers, adding that the soaring inflation had destroyed the gains the little increase in the minimum wage brought to the workers.
“The situation of workers is pathetic. The electricity tariff, the pump price of petrol, the transportation and every other thing has taken all the minimum wage again. The multiplying effects of these are weighing on the workers. It’s just as if we are not even working. You collect your salary as if you didn’t even get it and then coupled with all the hardship, all the inflation,” Gana said.
“We never knew the Federal Government could push up the cost of living like this. You can’t afford three meals a day, you can’t take a bag of rice home, and you can’t do anything with the money. So, that is where we are as workers. That is the sorry situation we find ourselves in,” Gana said.
On who to blame, he added, “Who else is the head of the ruling government, which is responsible for these problems? Who do you want us to blame? It is the Tunubu government. If they had the workers’ interest at heart, they would have done something about the devaluation of the naira.”
In a similar vein, the Rivers State NLC boss, Alex Agwanwor, decried the inflationary trend in the country, insisting that the high cost of goods and services were the major challenges facing the Nigerian worker.
Agwanwor said the skyrocketing prices under Tinubu had made a mincemeat of the minimum wage and called for an immediate review of workers’ pay.
“It’s inflation and the high cost of goods and services in the country, these are the major challenges because despite the salary increase workers are still struggling to survive,” he said.
Asked if workers had fared better under President Tinubu, Agwanwor answered in the negative, saying, “Not at all. We haven’t fared better at all. Inflation is very high and has impacted heavily on workers’ pay.”
On the way forward, he added, “All employers of labour should improve on what they have done. I think there is a need to immediately review the minimum wage again, considering the economic situation.”
Imo NLC chairman, Comrade Chigaemezu Nwigwe, also bemoaned the fate of the Nigerian worker, whom he said was grappling with mounting bills with small resources.
Nwigwe said, “The economy is biting hard on Nigerians, including Imo workers. You can attest that the promises and assurances of improved packages are not reflected, as the minimum wage is a major issue every worker is facing.
“The present government assured us that they were going to give us a living wage during the negotiations and that made us negotiate and agree on what we did. But it is becoming very difficult in the face of the removal of fuel subsidy, Imo is not an exception. That’s the plight of every worker but we believe that every government will come and go.”