Nigerian workers have again asked for at least 50 percent wage raise from the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu government to cushion the impact of the country’s skyrocketing inflation.

In an interview with the Daily Post on January 13, 2024, by a senior executive of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) stated: “We have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a wage review. There is a difference between wage review and minimum wage negotiation.

“We had a meeting with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation; about seven or eight ministers were in attendance.

“They agreed that due to the country’s inflation, that there is a need for a wage review. We will officially write to the government for a wage review.

“On the proposed wage review, the leadership of NLC will meet to determine the exact amount, as you are aware prices have doubled after the last minimum wage review.

“Similarly, the President and his media team should double down on their harsh economic policies.”

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the build-up to the N70,000 minimum wage rise, stated that he would accept a N250,000 wage rise if fuel prices were increased.

NLC's president, Joe Ajaero, confirmed the president's position on the reason the union accepted the N70,000 minimum wage increase.

Despite the eventual minimum wage increase approved by Tinubu in July last year, the rise in the price of Premium Motor Spirit and other macroeconomic challenges had depleted the impact of the N70,000 minimum wage increase.

This means that between when the minimum wage was approved and now, fuel prices, a major determinant of the prices of goods and services, rose by N339, or 30 percent.

The National Bureau of Statistics, in its November Consumer Price Index and Inflation data, said headline and food inflation rose to 34.60 percent and 39.93 percent, respectively.

It is hereby eroding the value of the N70,000 minimum wage that has made Nigerian workers demand a wage rise.