Ajaero Faults N70,000 Minimum Wage, Says No Prosperity

President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Joe Ajaero, has said President Bola Tinubu’s acclaimed age of prosperity has not reached ordinary Nigerian workers.

Ajaero said soaring inflation has eroded purchasing power and left the current N70,000 minimum wage largely inadequate.

He spoke on the Mic On Podcast hosted by Seun Okinbaloye, where he assessed the state of workers welfare under the present administration.

According to him, rising costs of fuel, food, transportation and accommodation have made it difficult for workers to cope, despite claims of improving economic indicators.

"Prosperity is not with the Nigerian worker," Ajaero stated. He said while macroeconomic figures may suggest a slowdown in inflation, citizens still bear the weight of cumulative price increases.

N70,000 wage tied to unfulfilled palliatives

Ajaero explained that organised labour agreed to the N70,000 minimum wage partly based on assurances from the Federal Government.

He said government promised palliative measures to cushion the removal of fuel subsidy, including compressed natural gas, CNG, infrastructure, vehicle conversion kits and direct cash transfers.

Those promises, he argued, remain largely unfulfilled or insufficient. He noted that the limited rollout of CNG buses and refuelling stations has done little to reduce transport costs for workers.

Ajaero said wage adjustments will have little impact without stable living costs and a stronger currency value.

"If I get N500,000 minimum wage, and I can’t pay my house rent, of what use?" he asked.

He suggested that petrol prices could drop to about N500 per litre if domestic crude is supplied to local refineries under a preferential pricing arrangement.

On politics, the NLC president said there is no clear ideological difference among the major contenders ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He argued that President Tinubu, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party figurehead Peter Obi share similar free-market economic philosophies.

Ajaero warned that continued government inaction on unresolved welfare issues and economic pressure on workers could trigger fresh industrial unrest across the country.