As workers in Nigeria celebrated May 1, Nigeria Labour Congress president has harped on the need to increase the national minimum wage to reflect current economic realities.
According to NLC president Joe Ajero, the organised labour has agreed on N615,000 as minimum living wage and has urged the Federal government to work towards implementation to save Nigerians from hardships. But speaking in his May Day address President Bola Tinubu said the committee set up to review the national minimum wage is yet to reach a concessus.
Ajero listed how the labour unions arrived at N615,000: “Let me give you a breakdown of how we arrived at that figure. We have housing and accommodation of N40,000. We asked for electricity of N20,000 — of course, that was before the current tariff increase. Nobody can spend this amount currently. We have a utility that is about N10,000. We looked at kerosene and gas which is about N25,000 to N35,000.
“We looked at food for a family of six, that is about N9,000 in a day. For 30 days, that is about N270,000. Look at medical, N50,000 provided there will be no surgery or whatever.
“For clothing, we looked at N20,000. For education, N50,000. I don’t know those who tried to put their children in private school if they will not be able to cope with this amount. We also have sanitation of N10,000.
“I think where we have another bulk of the money is transportation. This is because the workers stay on the fringes and because of the cost of PMS, which amounted to N110,000.
In his May Day address President Tinubu urged workers to be patient, stressing that minimum wage issues would soon be resolved.
“You would recall that on January 30th, 2024, the Federal Government convened a 37-member Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage,” Tinubu said in his speech.
“The committee’s mandate was to provide counsel and suggest a national minimum wage that aligns with our current economic conditions. Since then, the committee, in collaboration with labour leaders, has been diligently working towards proposing a new National Minimum Wage.
“Unfortunately, despite concerted efforts, the committee was unable to reach a consensus at its last meeting. This shall be resolved soon and I assure you that your days of worrying are over.
“Indeed, this government is open to the committee’s suggestion of not just a minimum wage but a living wage.”
