The Nigeria Governors Forum is stalling for time on agreeing to a new, livable minimum wage for Nigerian workers. In a recent statement, the Forum’s chairman Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq claims governors are still “reviewing their fiscal space” to determine what minimum wage level is sustainably payable by states.
This argument rings hollow. The current N30,000 ($65) monthly minimum wage has been in place since 2011 and is abysmally low, unable to provide a decent living given Nigeria’s high inflation and cost of living. Labour unions have proposed a new N615,000 ($1,350) minimum wage which, while a huge increase, begins to approach a livable wage when accounting for price increases over the past 12 years.
Rather than engage seriously on what the new minimum wage should be, the governors are regurgitating the same tired excuses about lacking fiscal capacity. This is disingenuous coming from state governments that frequently splurge funds on inflated contracts, salaries for unnecessary bureaucrats, government housing and travel, and other non-essential expenditures. As the NLC president rightly points out, it’s not a money issue but one of misplaced priorities.
The governors had ample time to analyze their finances and develop credible counterproposals, but Instead chose to kick the can down the road. Now Nigerians are being told the tripartite minimum wage committee’s work is still incomplete, missing the May 1st timeline workers had hoped for. A new May 31st deadline has been set, but who’s to say that won’t be missed as well?
It’s clear the governors are intentionally stalling and negotiating in bad faith. Why should workers have to wait even longer for a new minimum wage when the state governments have had a year already under the new Tinubu administration? This smacks of playing cruel games with the lives and livelihoods of millions struggling under the current poverty wages.
If the Nigeria Governors were truly committed to a fair minimum wage, they would have rolled up their sleeves and hashed out an agreement ahead of the missed May 1st deadline. Instead, they continue prioritizing their own comfort over the welfare of workers living in desperation. The Governors Forum needs to get serious about these negotiations and stop wasting time with empty rhetoric about fiscal space they don’t seem to lack for their own indulgences. Nigerian workers deserve far better treatment from their state leaders.
Reference
Minimum Wage: We Are Working On What We Can Pay Sustainably – Govs published in Channels