As Nigeria marked the 2025 International Workers’ Day, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have decried the deteriorating condition of workers across the country.
The organized Union called for an urgent upward review of the N70,000 minimum wage to reflect the high cost goods and services in the country
Labour leaders from various states, painted a bleak picture of the average Nigerian worker’s situation under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The leaders attributed the rising hardship to the removal of petrol subsidy, devaluation of the naira, multiple tax regimes, and spiraling inflation — all of which they said have rendered workers’ wages grossly inadequate.
Bayelsa TUC Chairman, Comrade Julius Laye, criticized the government’s economic policies, noting that “the minimum wage is not enough to cover Medicare,” while leaders in Ebonyi State described the economic hardship as “unprecedented,” with NLC chairman Prof. Oguguo Egwu saying that “every face of a typical Nigerian worker tells the story of a multi-dimensional poverty.”
Similarly, in Niger State, TUC Chairman Ibrahim Gana said, “You collect your salary as if you didn’t even get it,” blaming the federal government for pushing up the cost of living.
On his part, Rivers NLC chairman Alex Agwanwor said the high inflation had made a “mincemeat” of the minimum wage.
Imo State’s NLC leader, Comrade Chigaemezu Nwigwe, and Oyo’s NLC Chairman, Comrade Kayode Martins, said workers were now poorer than ever, with their purchasing power drastically eroded.
Lagos NLC boss Funmi Sessi lamented the rising cost of living and deteriorating public services, saying, “Nothing is being done to ease the pain.”
