Di Federal Government don reopen di minimum-wage matter, and dis one na good tori, because no wage fit be fair if inflation and high cost of living dey always chop am.
Di N70,000 minimum wage wey dem agree for 2024 at di start of President Bola Tinubu economic reforms don become too small for many Nigerians. Dem ask us to swallow bitter pills for better future, but two years don pass and hope don dey spoil because di reform no don bring relief for common man.
Food, transport, rent, medicine, and school fees dey climb everyday, and di fixed-wage workers dey carry di burden of adjustment almost alone. Di hardship don be severe and visible. Fuel-subsidy removal push transport cost up, while exchange-rate wahala affect price of food, drugs, and imported tins.
Public servants, teachers, junior workers, and private-sector employees wey dey on fixed salary don see dia income lose value before payday even reach. For many homes, families don reduce food, withdraw pikin from better school, postpone medical care, and abandon savings just to survive.
Dis na di true context wey make minimum-wage review not just desirable but unavoidable. Di Tinubu administration don roll out palliatives like conditional cash transfers, CNG buses, grains and fertiliser interventions, food distribution, student loan promises, MSME support schemes, and business loans.
But for most citizens, di measures too small, too delayed, or too poorly coordinated to make meaningful difference. For practice, dem no fit dent mass suffering. Worse still, di distribution architecture often appear vulnerable to capture by insiders, political loyalists, and well-connected ruling-party figures, leaving di public unconvinced say relief dey reach those wey need am.
Dat na why di proposed review necessary. A national minimum wage no be ceremonial figure or political trophy; e must be living wage wey preserve dignity and reflect present realities. For negotiating new wage, government and labour must look beyond money alone.
Dem must examine cost of living for disciplined, data-driven way, so di wage dey tied to what workers actually need to survive. Dem must also consider fiscal sustainability, because figure wey states no fit pay go degenerate into arrears and fresh labour disputes.
Furthermore, dem must factor in productivity and value, because wages must be matched by improved public-service delivery, decent work standards, and economy wey reward effort with real purchasing power. A fitting national minimum wage must restore confidence, protect dignity, and deliver value wey ordinary Nigerians fit feel for dia daily lives.
