Minimum wage, maximum rage

It is important to note that the term “minimum wage” does not mean minuteness or paltriness. The goal of the minimum wage is to ensure a basic standard of living for workers. However, the extant #30,000.00 (thirty thousand Naira) minimum wage in Nigeria cannot guarantee a basic standard of living. With this wage, it will take a worker three months to earn enough to buy a mere bag of rice.

In January 2024, the Federal government had inaugurated a 37-member tripartite committee to review the National Minimum Wage. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had insisted on a minimum wage of #250,000.00 (two hundred and fifty thousand Naira) given the uncontrollable inflation in the country and the value of the ever-depreciating naira against the dollar in an economy that is fast being dollarised.

History

Let us recall that the late Premier of Western Region, the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had successfully implemented the first minimum wage policy in Nigeria. From October 1954, the minimum wage paid by Awolowo to Westerners actually doubled that paid to workers of the same level in other parts of Nigeria. Western Region government paid five shillings and six pence minimum wage to workers at a time that workers in the North were paid only two shillings and eight pence. He had wanted to implement a national minimum wage. He had indeed made it one of the cardinal agenda of his administration if elected as   Prime Minister of Nigeria, an ambition that never came to pass. Chief Awolowo had lost in the 1959 elections to Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, KBE, PC, Nigeria’s first and only Prime Minister. The Prime Minister however failed to do anything about a national minimum wage law to help Nigerian workers.

The late President Shehu Shagari it was who eventually signed the first national minimum wage legislation into law in September, 1981. The Nigerian Labour Congress, under the leadership of the late Hassan Sunmonu, had trenchantly advocated for this bill. All full-time employees were protected by this new rule, with the exception of seasonal workers and those employed by businesses with less than 50 employees. The monthly salary was 125 naira. This wage at that time approximated to US$204 at the 1981 exchange rate of US$1 = 0.61 naira. Based on the current currency rate of approximately US$1 = #1,530 naira, the amount paid to Nigerians as minimum wage in 1981 would be equivalent to nearly USD312, 120 naira at the 2024 rate. The new enhanced minimum wage in the country is still a mere #70, 000.00 (about US$ 46) per month, less than 15% of the salary earned by the average Nigerian 43 years ago! This means that the quality of lives of Nigerians has actually depreciated, rather than being enhanced.  This is the grouse of not just the organized labour, but of average Nigerian worker.

Legal aspects

Fixing the national minimum wage is a constitutional issue given the provisions of Part 1, item 34 of the (Exclusive Legislative List) Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). By virtue of the provisions of item 34 cited above, the National Assembly can, via legislation, prescribe a minimum wage for the federation or any part thereof. What it prescribes is binding on everyone, including the federal, states and local governments in Nigeria.

Living wage

This is an estimate of the amount of money needed for a worker to meet their basic needs, which include food, housing, water, education and other essential expenses, while also allowing for some discretionary income. It is an income that allows an individual or family to also afford adequate shelter, clothing, childcare, healthcare, transportation and other basic needs such as personal care items, savings for unexpected events etc.  It is that wage that is higher than the minimum wage. Unlike the minimum wage, the living wage is not legally mandated but is often used as a benchmark for fair wages. It aims to provide a standard of living above the poverty line and it is calculated based on cost of living and basic needs. Given that the cost of living is already killing the living in Nigeria, the government and the organized labour should look at a living wage.

• Ozekhome is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), renowned pro-democracy and rights activist.

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