Source: AFP
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu agreed on Thursday to more than double the monthly minimum wage to 70,000 naira ($43) as the country grapples with a severe cost of living crisis.
The new salary level applies to federal workers, from civil servants to airport staff and public teachers — but the 30,000 naira increase was far less than what labor unions had previously demanded.
“President Bola Tinubu approved the N70,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers with a promise to review the national minimum wage law every three years,” media adviser to the president Bayo Onanuga wrote in X on Thursday.
Onanuga said the president had announced the decision at a meeting with union leaders in Abuja.
Since taking office a year ago, Tinubu has ended a costly fuel subsidy and complex exchange controls, resulting in a tripling of petrol prices and a rise in the cost of living as the naira weakened against the dollar.
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Africa’s most populous nation has seen a series of worker strikes in recent months as unions push for higher wages.
During the protests, unionized workers shut down the national grid, grounded domestic flights and closed federal offices, ports, gas stations and courthouses.
At the time of the nationwide strike last month, the unions were demanding a minimum monthly wage of 494,000 naira.
Record inflation
Joe Ajaero, the leader of Nigeria’s main labor union, the NLC, told reporters on Thursday that he had mixed feelings over the economy.
“We have to move forward despite the situation and the negotiation cannot be delayed… from 62,000 naira to 70,000,” he added, welcoming the opportunity to revise the salary.
Workers in the capital Abuja told AFP the increase was not enough.
“It’s not realistic — they should look at the cost of things,” said Charles, a 53-year-old state employee.
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“I’m worried I won’t be able to feed my family,” he said. “A bag of rice won’t last more than four weeks and costs me 86,000 naira. It’s horrible.”
Tinubu has repeatedly asked for patience to allow the reforms to be implemented, saying they will help attract foreign investment and improve the economy.
But the measures have hit Nigerians hard and the country is battling its worst cost of living crisis in a generation.
Inflation hit a record high of 34.19% in June, with food inflation topping 40.87%, according to the National Statistics Office.
Many poor Nigerians have been forced to skip meals and give up products such as meat, eggs and milk, while in the north the economic crisis has forced people to eat poor-quality rice usually used as fish feed.
Source: AFP
