Labour leaders have called for a fresh review of the national minimum wage, saying the current N70,000 wage has been overtaken by economic realities and can no longer adequately meet the needs of the workers.\n<\/p>\n
The labour leaders made the call on Friday at the Nigeria Rights of Workers Summit 2026, held in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, to commemorate 88 years of workers\u2019 organisation and trade unionism in the country.\n<\/p>\n
The summit, themed \u201cThe Rights of Workers: Decent Work and a Just Economy in Nigeria,\u201d brought together labour leaders, government officials, workers, employers, civil society organisations and representatives of the National Industrial Court to examine the state of workers\u2019 rights and welfare in Nigeria.\n<\/p>\n
Discussions at the event focused on workers\u2019 remuneration across the 36 states, local governments and the private sector, as participants raised concerns over inflation, rising living costs, workplace safety, discrimination, job insecurity and the protection of casual and other non-traditional workers.<\/p>\n
Speaking on behalf of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, his deputy, Audu Amba, identified the national minimum wage as one of the major challenges facing Nigerian workers.\n<\/p>\n
He said the current N70,000 minimum wage had been overtaken by economic realities, making it increasingly difficult for workers to meet their basic needs.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe current N70,000 minimum wage can no longer adequately respond to the realities confronting Nigerian workers, particularly with the rising cost of living.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amba said the expiration of the existing wage arrangement had made fresh negotiations with the federal and state governments imperative, urging authorities to consider an upward review that would reflect prevailing economic conditions.\n<\/p>\n
The Convener of the summit and Executive Director of Call a Lawyer, Ekpa Stanley, said the event was designed not only to commemorate the history of trade unionism in Nigeria but also to critically examine the progress made and challenges that remained. <\/p>\n
He said, \u201cThis summit is not only about celebrating 88 years of trade unionism; it is also an opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved, the challenges that remain, and what must be done to guarantee decent work for Nigerian workers.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Speaking at the event, a former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, said the concept of decent work should not be reduced to salary increases, stressing that workers\u2019 rights, social protection and effective dialogue were equally important.\n<\/p>\n
According to him, \u201cDecent work is not only about wages. It is also about workers\u2019 rights, social protection and meaningful social dialogue between workers, employers and government.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Wabba urged stakeholders to adopt policies that would guarantee workers dignity, job security and adequate social protection, particularly amid the economic pressures facing households across the country.\n<\/p>\n
Also speaking, Kebbi State Governor, Nasir Idris, assured workers in the state that his administration would implement any new national minimum wage agreed upon by the Federal Government.<\/p>\n
The governor further promised to advocate for improved remuneration for workers during discussions at the Nigeria Governors\u2019 Forum.\n<\/p>\n
Commending civil servants for their contributions to governance and the development of the state, Idris said, \u201cWhatever is agreed upon at the national level on the minimum wage, Kebbi State will implement it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The governor\u2019s assurance came against the backdrop of renewed calls by labour leaders for a wage structure that would better reflect current economic realities and the increasing cost of basic goods and services.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Labour leaders have called for a fresh review of the national minimum wage, saying the current N70,000 wage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[45],"tags":[17016,176484,38314,176485,2306,122,24324,175954,27750,109179],"class_list":["post-369156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nigeria","tag-cost-of-living","tag-economic-realities","tag-kebbi-state","tag-labour-leaders","tag-minimum-wage","tag-nigeria","tag-nlc","tag-trade-unionism","tag-workers-rights","tag-workers-welfare"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/117060498120100770","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}