Index to Nigerian Newspapers

Nigerian labour unions including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have raised alarms about the dire conditions faced by workers as they demand a review of the current minimum wage of N70,000, which they argue has become inadequate due to rising inflation. On May Day 2025, Senate President Godswill Akpabio assured that both legislative and executive branches of government are committed to addressing workers' concerns. However, union leaders claim the situation has worsened since President Bola Tinubu's administration began, particularly following the removal of the petrol subsidy and the devaluation of the naira, leading to increased living costs and several protests.
Trade union representatives, such as Comrade Julius Laye from Bayelsa, criticized government policies, including new taxes and tariff hikes, contributing to hyperinflation and leaving workers struggling to afford basic needs, including healthcare. In Ebonyi State, leaders Prof. Oguguo Egwu and Comrade Igwe Chidi echoed these sentiments, highlighting the need for an adjustment to the National Minimum Wage Act, which stipulates reviews every three years. They underlined that the hardships endured by workers are unprecedented and emphasized the importance of this year’s Workers Day theme, ‘Reclaiming a civic space amid economic hardship,’ which reflects the ongoing struggles of the Nigerian workforce.

The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), and the Association Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) have given the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) a 14-day ultimatum to pay outstanding 45-month arrears of minimum wage consiquential adjustment which they said has remained unpaid since 2022. The unions in a letter to the Director-General of NiMet, dated January 29, 2024, and jointly signed by NUATE General Secretary, Ocheme Aba, AUPCTRE General Secretary, Sikiru Waheed, and ANAP General Secretary, Abdul Rasaq Saidu, stated that the arrears were consequesnce of Minimum Wage Act of April 2019, which is even now being reviewed, showing how stale the matter has become. They noted that having labored for years before the consiquential adjustment was obtained in 2022, and having labored in vein thus far for its implementation since 2022, they are left with no option than to express "our frustration" through withdrawal of the sevices of the workers of NiMet. Many of the workers want many of the appointments done in 2018 to be probed, noting that many of the people appointed are redundant and have not resumed duties till today while many of them earn salaries and allowances without reporting for work and asking for allowances which former DG, Prof. Mansur Matazu, refused to pay.