The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has escalated its campaign for a substantial raise in the national minimum wage, with a fervent demand of N794,000 for workers in the Southwest geopolitical zone.
This resolute call was made by Funmi Sessi, the chairperson of the Lagos State chapter of the NLC, as part of the union’s unwavering dedication to improving the livelihoods of Nigerian workers.
“The national minimum wage is an issue that directly affects the livelihood of Nigerian workers. The minimum wage is the baseline level of income that workers are expected to earn and has far-reaching implications for economic growth, inequality, and social welfare,” she said.
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Sessi was speaking at a public hearing of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage in Ikeja, Lagos, where she accentuated the unanimous consensus among South West union members regarding the demand. She asserted that the current minimum wage inadequately supports a decent standard of living, labeling it a “starvation wage.”
Sessi stressed the need for a wage level that corresponds with economic realities and secures the well-being of workers.
She noted that the proposed minimum wage encompasses various essential expenses, encompassing food, housing, and other basic needs, providing a detailed breakdown, illustrating how escalating food prices necessitate a significant wage increase.
“On the issue of food, with the recent increase in the cost of food items, each person will have to spend about N1,000 on breakfast, lunch, and dinner because a scoop of cooked rice is now N400. So if we have to eat two scoops of rice with a small piece of meat, which is now N200, that’s about N1,000.
“For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, if we had a total of these for each member of a family of six, that is about N3,000 per day. This is N3,000 multiplied by six and by 30 days, making about N540,000 for feeding. This is what we are asking the Federal Government.
“On housing and rent, we are asking for N200,000 per month, which amounts to about N2.4m less N100,000 for N2.5m when you want to rent decent housing within Lagos metropolis and likewise other states in the southwest region. After the removal of the subsidy, it’s like the landlord association held a meeting to increase house rent across the region. We are asking for N200,000 per month for housing,” she said.
Nevertheless, the proposal encounters resistance from certain quarters, including from Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, who stressed the importance of realistic and sustainable minimum wage negotiations at the state level. Adeleke highlighted the diverse financial capacities of states and urged for flexibility in setting wages based on each state’s resources.
Meanwhile, during the Southeast zonal hearing organized by the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage on Thursday in Enugu, the Southeast chapter of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) advanced their proposals, with NLC proposing N540,000 and TUC advocating for N447,000 as the new minimum wage for workers in the region. Fabian Nwigbo, the chairman of the NLC in Enugu, noted the erosion of the 2019 minimum wage value due to inflation, emphasizing the need for a wage increase reflective of current economic realities.
Nwigbo provided a comprehensive breakdown of the proposed wage, considering various expenses such as food, healthcare, education, and clothing.
“For us, we want to propose based on the prices of commodities in Nigeria. In 2019 when we had N30,000 minimum wage, a paint bucket of garri was N280, rice and beans were about N450 each while fuel was N145. This has continued to subsist till today where a liter of fuel is now N750 to N800 depending on the location.
“In the current state, a paint bucket of rice costs over N4000, and garri N2,500. Two two-bedroom flats in Enugu that used to be N250,000-N300,000 are now over N650,000 in the suburbs, and in the city, they stand at N1.2 million yearly.
“Everything is moving up except the salary paid to civil servants. We are praying the leadership of this country to consider the pains and sufferings of the Nigeria workers and citizens and give us something that is close to what we can use to survive,” he appealed.
Nwigbo stated that compared to the minimum wages in West African countries, Nigerian workers are the least paid, harping on the need for periodic wage reviews, and urged swift implementation across all states to alleviate workers’ hardships.
Echoing similar sentiments, Ben Asogwa, chairman of the TUC in Enugu, aligned with the NLC’s proposal, stressing the urgency of wage increments and the repercussions for non-compliant governors.
Expressing disappointment over the absence of representatives from civil societies and the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Tommy Etim, chairman of the event and deputy national president of TUC, highlighted the significance of broader stakeholder involvement in wage deliberations.
The demand for wage increments extends beyond the South West and South East regions, with proposals from other geopolitical zones reaching similar heights. For instance, the South-South region seeks N850,000, North West proposes N485,000, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) suggests N709,000 as the new minimum wage.
As Nigeria’s economic realities bite harder, the well-being of Nigerian workers depends so much on these negotiations. Their outcome will significantly impact the lives of millions of workers across the country, shaping the economic future of the Nigerian labor market.