The debate on minimum wage in Nigeria is creating more marginalized and oppressed Nigerians than expected. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGN) claims that minimum wage is a political largesse and not a living wage. Governors like Obaseki and Makinde see minimum wage as a parameter to a living wage, not a living wage. In contrast, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea have higher GDP per capita and lower minimum wages. The SGF should release half of his drivers and allow them to work in a living wage business. The presumption that civil service work is not remunerated on efficiency or productive metrics is an indictment on the Civil Service Commission and the ruling elite. Civil servants should be seen as the conscience of the nation and employed based on raising the value systems of Nigeria. The debate on minimum wage paints Nigeria as a country of irremediable human and natural resource disaster, not capable of rising to the threshold of economic profitability.
Index to Nigerian Newspapers
