• Cry out over ravages of inflation on new minimum wage
Civil servants across the country have lamented the ineffectiveness of the new minimum wage in the face of rising food inflation.
A new minimum wage of N70,000 was signed into law by President Bola Tinubu on July 29, 2024.
Confronted by the rising inflation, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in October, warned that it may demand a new minimum wage review from the Federal Government. Its President Joe Ajaero who spoke at the eighth Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses And Midwives (NANNM), lamented the rising cost of living in the country and the burden the average Nigerian has had to bear in carrying on with their daily lives.
He said: “As it is today, our choices are very limited. It is either we find a way to collectively overcome the forces that are bent on keeping us down as a people or we completely surrender to them while wringing our hands in hopelessness.
“The forces of neoliberalism must be challenged and the trade union movement remains the only viable force in Nigeria and in the world that can creatively engage it and mitigate its stranglehold on our nation.
“We must offer strong counterpoise to their prebendal logic and must proffer newer arguments to triumph over their quest for profit at the detriment of the social will. It is only by remaining strong and united that we can hope to achieve that.”
Between October last year and now, the situation has worsened. In fact, many feared that recent actions by the government including the 50 per cent tariff hike granted telecoms may further worsen inflation which is currently hovering at over 34 percent. Many analysts have described the promise by President Bola Tinubu to crash it to15 percent by the end of the year as mere wishful thinking.
Speaking yesterday, a medical professional at a government hospital in Lagos, Dr. Dorka Ikechukwu, said the inflation has ripped-off the benefits the new minimum wage was intended for.
“Despite the recent implementation of the minimum wage by the Federal Government, most civil servants are still bearing the brunt of inflation.
“The cost of food items is still very expensive. Even with the minimum wage, you cannot even still have what you want, because everything is still expensive.
“Also, coupled with the rising cost of transportation, the minimum wage does not cover enough. The commercial drivers and taxis still increase their price despite the drop in fuel price.
“The transportation costs also affect the price of food items in the market.
“So, even the new minimum wage is not even effective because the money is still not enough.
“The government should do something about the inflation rate because it just swallows the whole income at the end of the day,” he lamented.
Another respondent, Mr. Frank Egwim, a financial analyst, called for a revival of the economy for the effects of the minimum wage to be felt by the average Nigerian worker.
“The new minimum wage has really not been effective for workers because the inflation has actually taken deep in the minimum wage. It is as good as nothing.
“The inflation is crippling the purchasing power of the common worker making the new minimum wage ineffective.
“For example, if you take a critical look at it, the minimum wage stands at an average of N70,000 but a bag of rice goes for between N91,000 and N95,000 as against when it was sold at N30,000 or N40,000 before the minimum wage.
“We know that the elective price level is actually stable before the minimum wage even though we were complaining.
“However, we have observed that even some state governments have not even effected or implemented the minimum wage.
“So now what will be the impact on workers in states that have not been implemented? We really hope for a drop in the inflation rates,” Egwim said.
Ms Obehi Iyama, a schoolteacher at a government school in Benin, called for a full breakdown of the minimum wage for workers to understand what they are really earning.
“We are grateful for the minimum wage but the expenses still outweigh the income. The thing is that we do not even understand how this minimum wage is calculated. The government should pay the full 70 per cent increment promised. The cost of food items in the market is changing everyday, we do not know the impact of the minimum wage anymore. We are just leaning on God’s grace to survive.”
Addressing newsmen after a meeting with labour leaders in Umuahia, Abia State last week, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, has said the new minimum wage will be reviewed in less than two years from now.
She said that President Bola Tinubu was committed to his promise to Nigerian workers by ensuring minimum wage was reviewed after three years.
She said the president was deeply concerned about the welfare of workers and would keep to every promise he made to them.
“We are not going to allow minimum wage review to be forever. It used to be about five years, but now, in three year’s time, which is less than two years, we will also review the minimum wage,” Onyejeocha said.
According to her, it has been said and it has been documented.