Ladesope Ladelokun 
With inflation eating up the substantial part of the earnings of a number of Nigerians, what Nigeria’s N70,000 minimum wage can buy has continued to elicit reactions. This is even as business owners lament shrinking profits and harsh business environment. LADESOPE LADELOKUN reports on the need for the government, civil society groups, labour unions to make Nigeria more livable
When Debo Ogunrinde, 39, met his estranged wife 12 years ago, he thought his search for a life partner had ended. Alas, it only took eight years for their marital vows to expire, leaving their three kids of ages eight, six and three without motherly care after the teacher’s wife was allegedly caught in a compromising position wth another man.
Shaking off the trauma of a broken home, he gave marriage another try. But that decision left him with a bittersweet story –Ogunrinde’s new wife bore him triplets in addition to his three children.
Speaking on the frustration occasioned by the financial challenge he is confronted with, owing to what he described as his paltry N80,000 monthly salary,which he said was far from enough to provide the needs of his three kids and his wife, let alone his triplets, he explained: “ I never planned to be married twice at any point in my life but man proposes, God disposes. I have three little kids that need motherly care; the youngest was just three and the oldest eight when the mother left. Life must continue for me. I’m still a young man. I had to remarry and it was not my design that I have triplets. I won’t run away. I must admit things have been very difficult. If you are asking what the N70,000 minimum wage can buy, for someone like me with a family, it won’t last more than two days. That is if my debts are not more than N70,000 at the end of the month. The saving grace I have is the tutorial I do here and there. Yet, it is still not enough. Now, imagine if I have to depend solely on my N80,000 salary. I’m also lucky that my triplets are with my mother-in-law. My wife is the only child she has. So, she is happy to have them around her. That took some burden off me but I send money for their upkeep. So, as things are in the country currently, I do not see how N70,000 can address the needs of a man with a family to take care of. Things are too expensive.”
More Nigerians speak
With Nigerians battling inflation partly occasioned by high energy costs, floating of the Naira, among others, which, according to experts, have precipitated a cost of living crisis, there are concerns about what Nigeria’s N70, 000 minimum wage can buy and how businesses are impacted.
Like Ogunrinde, more Nigerians spoke with Sunday Telegraph on how much their earnings can buy, especially the N70,000 minimum wage. A civil servant, Ayo Inioluwa , said despite earning above N70,000, inflation has rendered his monthly salary worthless.
He urged the government to reduce inflation and control the prices of goods.
“The minimum wage isn’t buying anything tangible at the moment. I earn more though but inflation has made everything not worth it. We are just working for the producers and retailers at this juncture. The best thing a man can do is to “double his hustle”, find other means legal to make ends meet. If not, all earnings would be expended on food. The government should look for a way to control price and reduce inflation; look also for a way to stabilise the exchange rate in terms of forex, to the extent of reducing the burden on the citizens.”
Reacting, Ade Kuyoro, a political scientist, described the N70,000 minimum wage as miserable when inflation is considered, noting that the prices of goods are very expensive.
He said: “No one can survive Nigeria’s economy if the person is not earning at least N150,000 monthly. Depression can kill the person as everything is expensive. Even fake life, nowadays is very expensive. The government needs to invest in agriculture (food security) from local to federal level of government.
“There is this new idea I got from some people I interact with nowadays. They suggest that those boys terrorising motorists at bus stops and Third-Mainland Bridge should be taken to a government farm for food production/farming, and they should be paid daily or monthly. This will curb crime as those who have worked since morning won’t have the strength to engage in some nefarious activities, and they would also contribute their quota to food security.
When there is enough food in the country, the cost of living will be reduced.”
While an entrepreneur,Gbade Akintayo, believes N70,000 cannot buy a bag of rice, he wants the government to roll out policies that would revive small businesses.
“I am aware of the N70,000 minimum wage which cannot buy a bag of rice in Nigerian markets under this President Bola Tinubu administration.
N70,000 is money but not enough to feed a family for the whole month. Minimum wage is not our problem. Let the government work on their policies that stranglate small scale businesses in Nigeria.”
Also, Kazeem Ojeleke, a mechanic around Adenyi Jones in the Ikeja area of Lagos,told Sunday Telegraph his story:
“I’ve not done anything since morning. Look at how clean my hands are and I’m about to close for the day. Those of you earning salary are even better. We depend on what we earn daily to feed our families. You can see how scanty this place is. The situation of the country is forcing more people to keep their cars. Is it not when people have eaten that they will think about their cars?”
Lamentations of “corpers”
With N33,000 monthly allowance, some National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) members, in separate interviews with Sunday Telegraph, expressed their frustrations over what they call troubling inflation.
Earlier, in a viral video shared on her TikTok account #talktoraye, Lagos-based corps member, Ushie Uguamaye, otherwise known as Raye, voiced her frustration over Nigeria’s worsening economic conditions, criticising President Bola Tinubu’s government over inflation and economic hardship.
According to her, she had received tons of messages from fellow corps members expressing their frustrations about inflation and economic hardship.
Specifically, she called President Tinubu a “terrible leader,” questioning his government’s efforts to alleviate citizens’ suffering.
Expressing her disappointment at what she described as attempts to silence her, Raye again took to Instagram #iamraye_, accusing the government of threatening her.
“Dear Nigerians, I am already getting threatened by the NYSC board to stop speaking on this issue. Less than 24 hours, I’m already getting threatened by the government starting with the NYSC board!” She alleged.
She further stated :“All I did was lament, all I did was complain. I’m getting tons of messages like this from my fellow corpers. What is wrong with just one person complaining? Why are they looking for me like I’m a criminal? I’m not dumb.”
In a chat with Sunday Telegraph, another corps member, who simply gave his name as Tunde, said life became difficult for him on getting to Lagos from his base in Oyo State. He described the allowance paid by the government as too paltry as a huge chunk of it goes into transportation.
“My own experience is that the NYSC program made me explore because this is my first time of being to Lagos. I have more experiences about life and associated myself with many people. Also, it also made me persevere and have patience because if you do not have all these before, NYSC will make you have them.
“My challenges are plenty but I will mention a few. No accommodation for corps members, which is very bad, though, the Lord sorted this out for me. Also, most PPAs are far from the place of residence. The money that NYSC is giving us is very small and we can’t spend all this on transport alone. We have a lot to spend on.”
Another corps member, who pleaded anonymity, told how camping in Ekiti despite originally posted to Lagos drained his entire allowance.
“I schooled in Gombe but I was to camp in Lagos. But because the Lagos camp was filled, we were transferred to Ekiti, Osun, Oyo states. In my case, I was transferred to Ekiti. I spent N70,000 from Gombe to Ekiti and back to Lagos. I don’t feel I got any allowance. We were told we would not be paid any allowance in February until March when both would be paid. Forget about the N77,000 allowance you talked about. It is not a new story from the government.We’ve been lied to before. I don’t expect anything from them,” he said.
Meanwhile, despite failure to fulfil previous promises, the Federal Government has again promised to comnence payment of N77,000 allowance to corps members at the end of March. Sunday Telegraph could not verify claims that the government has started paying Corps members their N77,000 this March ending.
Minimum Wage: Nigeria missing in top 10 spots in Africa
The minimum wage is believed to be the least amount that a worker can earn legally per hour or monthly.
According to a Wisevoter report, minimum wage rates in Africa are among the lowest globally, and this might not be shocking considering that many of its countries are still developing.
It added that, on the continent, there are variations, and workers in some countries have a better shot at earning higher wages compared to others.
While the report places Switzerland in the number one spot across the world with $4,200 minimum wage, making it the country that pays the best minimum wage in the world, Australia and New Zealand followed with $2,500 minimum wage apiece.
In Africa, according to the report, Seychelles boasts the highest estimated minimum gross monthly wage, standing at $465.4. Following closely are Libya and Morocco in the rankings with $321.83 and $314.7 respectively.
Gabon occupies the fourth spot with $270.5. Equitorial Guinea and Algeria take the fifth and sixth spots with $211.54 and $140.14 respectively.
For Cape Verde, Kenya, Mozambique and Lesotho, they are $139.46, $130.57, $113.8 and $109.62, representing the seventh, eight, ninth and tenth countries with the highest minimum wage in Africa.
Labour leaders betray workers, receive huge bribes – Obasanjo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described Nigerian workers as victims of those who should protect them.
In his newly released book, “Nigeria: Past and Future”, the former Nigerian leader accused labour leaders of betraying workers by placing their personal interests above the collective welfare of workers.
He, however, described the N70,000 new minimum wage approved for workers by President Bola Tinubu as grossly inadequate to cover workers’ basic needs.
“Workers need more attention than they are getting. It is their right, and they have been denied it for too long. They have become victims of those meant to protect their interests.
“How did it happen that a trade union leader, while in office, was negotiating with a political party to be adopted as a gubernatorial candidate?” he asked.
He added: “The workers thereby become victims of selfish leaders, who use their positions to achieve political heights.
“Rather than negotiate in the interest of the workers, they do sabre-rattling and they are called into the room and money in large amounts is stuffed into their hands and they keep quiet.”
Nigerians, civil society must wake up -Achike Chude
In an interview with Sunday Telegraph, publlic affairs analyst and Deputy Chairman, Joint Action Front, Achike Chude, said it was not the responsibility of labour unions to protect Nigerians from unfavourable policies of the government and economic hardship.
According to him, Nigerians are only looking to labour because they have abdicated their responsibility to hold their political leaders accountable, noting that the civil society iss not what it used to be.
“If you go through all their publications, it is just that some people might be a bit angry, believing that labour is not doing what it is supposed to do. If they accuse labour of not living to expectations, have they lived up to expectations? Have the people lived up to expectations? Labour is not a political party that is supposed to make the lives of people better. Labour is a trade union and their primary responsibility is to their members, not even the Nigerian people. The responsibility they have to the Nigerian people is ancillary. It’s just an addendum, kind of. The reason is because their members are also part of society. So, they are compelled to speak about what is happening in society because of the rub off effects on their members. If the economy improves, then the lives of their people get better. So, from time to time, they make social pronouncements about the economy and what the government should do. They talk about that because they know it will affect their members. Labour is not their to save the Nigerian people. It is not their duty. The reason people say “labour is disappointing us” is because Nigerians have abdicated their responsibility to hold their political leaders accountable. They are now shifting that responsibility to labour. From that perspective, you have to understand that labour is not to mobilise the people. It is the people that should mobilise labour. We have history to show.
“During the period of military dictatorship, it was not labour that ran the show. Labour only joined to support the people. It was the Campaign for Democracy, Civil Liberties Organisation, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights. You talk about Femi Falana, Gani Fawehinmi, Beko Ransome-Kuti, Chima Ubani, Bamidele Aturu, Obayuwana, Abiodun Aremu.
“It was only when they mobilised the people that labour knew they had to be part of the people. But people are now holding labour responsible because the civil society is not what it used to be. So, it is that failure that is making people concentrate more to say labour is not fulfilling its responsibilities. Responsibilities to who? To the Nigerian people or their members? We are the ones that should hold our political leaders accountable. Labour is just there to lend a helping hand.”
Meanwhile, Dr Tommy Okon, first Deputy President of the Trade Union Congress, berated Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo for what he called his insincere criticism of labour leaders.
“He brought us to where we are today. Was he not in the country when we were agitating for N250,000 minimum wage? What did he say to support Nigerian workers? Nothing! He never supported us while the agitation was on. Now that it has become law, he’s talking. Excuse me, please,” he told Sunday Telegraph.
‘We all stand indicted; our country failing in every aspect’
Chude further added that labour unions cannot be singled out for blame, stating that the country is failing in every aspect.
“When the president announced that subsidy was gone, did labour not do something ? Labour immediately issued a disclaimer that they were going protest. What happened? The politicians used ethnicity to blackmail labour leadership that it was because they were supporting a particular political party based on ethnic reasons and they want to fight against the government. It is unfortunate because there is no labour leader in the history of this country that didn’t react negatively to any increase in the pump price of fuel. So, how did they allow the government to successfully blame labour and they bought the narrative that it was a political issue?
“Meanwhile, the party they were supporting is Labour Party that was set up by Labour that is supposed to belong to Labour. If Labour is not what it used to be,all of us stand indicted. The politicians are not what they used to be. These politicians are far worse than we have ever had in the history of the country. If you look at politics today, this National Assembly is not as active and vibrant as what we used to have. Even the courts that we have today, a lot of Nigerians believe are far worse than what we had before. The civil society is the same thing. What it translates to is that our country is failing in every aspect. The blame against labour is a blame that goes to every single person.”
Minimum wage used to bamboozle Nigerians. We’re now worse off – Economist
Commenting, economist and lecturer, Dr Babatope Ogunniyi, accused the Federal Government of tactically deceiving Nigerians by raising the minimum wage to N70,000, even while the cost of electricity, fuel, and foodstuffs keep rising. According to him, there are reports of people commiting suicide recently because of the frustration of hardship in the country.
“From time to time, even from the age of Adams Smith, we have always been seeing issues relating to people’s welfare. The government of the day is bestowed with everything to determine the way to go. In some countries, they talk about palliatives. You know when you build on a foundation that is not good, you don’t get a good result. So, everybody seems not to understand the government is anti-people’s welfare. I ask myself often, with all these policies in place, what is the rationale behind it? For any government, the first thing should be people’s welfare. How people will live well, live in harmony. When they talk about danger of consumption today and creating a problem tomorrow , suppose life does not go beyond now?
“These are critical questions that an ordinary person may not be able to answer. But, be that as it may, I think there is no country that is not thinking of reforms to keep the country going. But you don’t take everything at a time.The government carefully used the minimum wage to bamboozle the people. Like I said, people are worse off. Somebody taking N100,000, and they said they have increased to N120,000, you are jubilating, jumping up and down. Unknown to you that you are even worse off. A tuber of yam that was going for N500 is now going for N5,000. And talk of rice, talk of electricity, talk of water, everything is going up. See the way people are taking their lives when they can’t cope with life. As of last week, count the number of people that jumped into the lagoon. Why? They had reached the level they could not go further.”
The reforms embarked upon by the government, he said, are not yielding positive results, noting that they are anti-people and punitive.
“So many things are wrong with our system. Wrong in the sense that some people are getting fatter and some are emaciating on a daily basis. The rich are getting richer and the poor getting poorer. In a situation where basic amenities are provided, people can appreciate the fact that the reforms are okay. But where basic needs are lost, what is the essence of living when the poor cannot eat, when more than 70 per cent are in harrowing poverty. A good number of people have been thrown into poverty in the last two years, and we say we are on reforms. The reforms are anti-people . And that is the problem we are facing presently. All economic indices are not working. See what happened at the Stock Exchange last week. See the way the various shares collapsed overnight, billions of naira went down the drain.”
He added: “You are saying there are measures in place. The measures are not yielding fruits to the best of my knowledge. I’m not against all these reforms. But it is punitive. But you cannot bring out everything at a go. It is as if there is an offence Nigerians have committed that they are now being punished for. That is just it. What you are seeing is a time bomb waiting to explode.”
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu had on several occasions told Nigerians he understood their pains and frustrations, assuring his critics that his reforms would yield positive results in the long run.
