Opinion
Beyond Rhetoric: When Populism Masquerades as Advocacy in Nigeria’s Minimum Wage Debate
In times like these, it is easy to be swept away by emotional appeals and sensational narratives, especially when they come wrapped in the language of public concern. But not every loud opinion is rooted in truth, and not every passionate argument is built on facts.
This piece is not written in defense of any government or political camp—it is written in defense of reason. A recent open letter circulating on social media painted Nigeria’s new minimum wage as a symbol of poverty. While the tone may stir emotions, the logic behind such claims deserves a closer, more honest examination.
This is a sincere attempt to challenge a misleading narrative—not to silence dissent, but to ensure our national conversations are grounded in facts, not fiction; clarity, not confusion; and truth, not tactics.
This open letter below, is not just intellectual lazy but it is devoid of relatable facts and misleading
OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU
Re: Nigeria’s Minimum Wage – A Badge of Poverty, Not Progress
My Dearest President,
I see that one of your administration’s success projections as you mark two years in office under the Renewed Hope Agenda is the approval and payment of a ₦70,000 minimum wage. While it is commendable to prioritize wage adjustments amidst economic hardship, let it be clearly and emphatically stated: ₦70,000 is not an achievement to boast of. It is a loud alarm that Nigerian workers are being officially trapped in institutionalized poverty.
***1. The Math of Misery: What ₦70,000 Means in Real Terms
At the current exchange rate of ₦1,588.76 to $1, Nigeria’s national minimum wage stands at $44.06 per month. According to the World Bank’s global poverty line of $2.15/day, this wage is significantly below the $64.50 monthly benchmark for extreme poverty.
Indicator Value
Monthly Minimum Wage (₦) ₦70,000
Equivalent in USD $44.06
Global Poverty Line (Monthly) $64.50
Poverty Gap -$20.44
By this standard, any Nigerian earning ₦70,000/month is not just poor—they are extremely poor. The question becomes: how can the largest economy in Africa consciously legislate poverty as a baseline income and frame it as progress?
***2. ECOWAS Comparison: A Leadership Failure in Regional Context
Even within West Africa, Nigeria is far behind its neighbors. Below is a comparative table:
Country Minimum Wage (USD/month)
Côte d’Ivoire $127.44
Ghana $94.62
Senegal $100.00
Nigeria $44.06
Gambia $23.00
Sir, how can the economic giant of Africa, blessed with crude oil, gas, solid minerals, and human capital, rank this low on the dignity scale?
***3. Minimum Wage Earners = Socially Vulnerable Nigerians
Let it be made plain: Nigerians on minimum wage are not middle-class—they are poor. Many are single parents, security guards, drivers, teachers, cleaners, clerks, and caregivers—people who form the real spine of our economy. They cannot:
Afford decent accommodation
Feed themselves adequately
Pay transport fares, let alone healthcare and school fees
These are the very people who should be top beneficiaries of the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP). Instead, they are often left out, with the National Social Register (NSR) excluding them based solely on formal employment status.
***4. A Case for Immediate Inclusion in NSIP and NSR
Your Excellency, it is imperative that:
I). All minimum wage earners be officially classified as “economically vulnerable” and immediately included in the NSR
II). They should automatically qualify for conditional/unconditional cash transfers, subsidized transport, food aid, and health support under the NSIP
III). Wage reviews should occur every 18 months, not once in 5 years
IV). Wage levels should be indexed against inflation, cost of living, and exchange rates
This is not just economics. It is a matter of justice and policy credibility.
***5. Can Your Cabinet Survive on ₦70,000?
Mr. President, respectfully:
If ₦70,000 is truly sufficient, let your ministers, special advisers, and DGs live on it for three months. Let them pay rent, feed their children, take public transport, and manage healthcare—without security vote, estacode, or allowances.
Only then can this administration understand why ₦70,000 is not a living wage—it is a starvation wage.
***6. This Is Not a Trophy. It’s a Trigger for Reform
Rather than wear ₦70,000 as a badge of honor, wear it as a burden to be corrected. Let it become:
I). A launchpad for economic equity
II). A trigger for inclusive reforms
III). A commitment to ending wage slavery
Your Renewed Hope should be measured not in speeches or ceremonies, but in how much food is on the table of the man who earns ₦70,000 a month.
My Dearest President, history will not remember how many roads were commissioned or how many foreign trips were taken. It will remember whether Nigerians could live, eat, and sleep with dignity under your leadership.
₦70,000 is not a living wage. It is a poverty line.
Let us raise the line, not celebrate it.
God Bless.
With patriotic concern and sincerity,
Professor Christopher Chinedumuije (PhD, FBU)
Professor of Disaster Management and Humanitarian Studies.
Here is my take: The Truth They Won’t Tell You About Nigeria’s Minimum Wage
People must beware of intellectually bankrupt open letters masquerading as public concern.
Let’s be clear—this is no time for emotional theatrics or sensational spin.
Issues should be addressed with logic, facts, and context—not manipulated for applause or political gain.
Silence in the face of misinformation is complicity. We must speak up—and speak truth.
This open letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, titled “Nigeria’s Minimum Wage – A Badge of Poverty, Not Progress”, while emotionally stirring and seemingly pro-labour, is intellectually careless, economically misleading, and steeped in populist rhetoric rather than policy logic. It deserves a factual rebuttal not out of malice, but to defend reason against sensationalism.
Walahi! this kind of narrative has gone far too long and must be stopped. Here is my take;
1. The Dollarization of Domestic Wages Is Economically Dishonest
The author’s central thesis—that ₦70,000 minimum wage equals $44.06 and thus institutionalizes extreme poverty—is fundamentally flawed. The World Bank’s $2.15/day poverty line is based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), not the fluctuating FX market rate. Nigeria is not a dollarized economy. A security guard in Lokoja, a cleaner in Gombe, or a clerk in Makurdi earns and spends in naira, not dollars.
Using black-market or official FX rates to assess local wages against global poverty lines is misleading at best, and academically dishonest at worst. According to the World Bank’s 2023 Global Database of PPP-adjusted income, Nigeria’s PPP conversion factor means ₦70,000 translates to roughly $100– $120 in real purchasing power terms—well above the extreme poverty benchmark.
2. Regional Comparisons Lack Economic Context
The table comparing Nigeria’s minimum wage to countries like Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal completely ignores context.
More importantly, many of those countries have fewer formal workers on the government payroll and higher unemployment rates. What may be sustainable in Senegal (GDP ~$28 billion) cannot be directly replicated in Nigeria (GDP ~$472 billion). Comparing raw wage figures without examining tax burdens, social welfare systems, cost-of-living indices, and subsidy structures is intellectually shallow.
3.Mischaracterization of Minimum Wage Earners
Painting all minimum wage earners as “extremely poor” disregards the real structure of compensation. A Grade Level 01 worker at the federal level with a ₦70,000 base salary typically takes home between ₦100,000 and ₦120,000 monthly when allowances (housing, transport, meal subsidy, etc.) are added. State civil servants also receive location-based incentives in states like Lagos, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom.
Furthermore, minimum wage earners often enjoy job security, health benefits, pension contributions, and annual leave bonuses—benefits rarely accessible to the informal sector. Equating them with the most vulnerable in society is an overreach.
4. Social Investment Misrepresentation
The claim that NSIP and the National Social Register exclude wage earners is both misleading and contradictory. These programs target unemployed, disabled, rural poor, and informal sector participants without access to structured income or government benefits.
Insisting that civil servants, who are already beneficiaries of structured pay and pension schemes, be lumped into the same social protection nets as the destitute not only defeats the purpose of targeted social policy, it also betrays a poor understanding of fiscal prioritization.
5. Unrealistic Populism as Policy
The suggestion that ministers and DGs should live on ₦70,000 for three months is not only juvenile but intellectually unserious. Governance is not theatre. Ministers handle national security, economic planning, international diplomacy, and infrastructure policy. Their remuneration reflects responsibility, not parity with entry-level staff.
It is precisely this kind of thinking—rooted in emotional blackmail rather than structural reform—that leads to hollow slogans instead of real progress. If there is concern about government waste, then the correct proposal is reduction of administrative overhead, transparency in perks, and fiscal discipline, not symbolic salary suicide.
6. Wage Reform Must Balance Justice and Fiscal Reality
Yes, ₦70,000 may not provide comfort in Lagos or Port Harcourt, but it represents a 133% increase from the previous ₦30,000 baseline. That is not poverty legislation, it is a transitional milestone. Nigeria’s economy is still recovering from fuel subsidy removal, inflationary pressures, and revenue leakages.
Calls for 18-monthly wage reviews, indexing salaries to inflation and FX, and universal inclusion in cash transfers all sound noble—but they are impractical without strong revenue generation, productivity-based growth, and formalization of the informal sector. Even advanced economies with deeper fiscal buffers do not promise wage indexing as a routine right.
7. Empathy Must Not Replace Sound Economics
This counter-commentary is not a defense of the status quo, nor a dismissal of the hardship faced by low-income Nigerians. It is a rejection of intellectual dishonesty masquerading as patriotism. We can demand better wages, stronger purchasing power, and more equitable policies—but we must do so with facts, not fiction.
Real reform lies in:
* Fixing Nigeria’s productivity base
* Blocking leakages in revenue
* Investing in critical infrastructure
* Expanding the tax net—not burdening it further with unsustainable populism.
History does not reward emotional speeches. It rewards thoughtful solutions.
Let us not build a narrative of outrage upon a foundation of economic illiteracy. ₦70,000 is not the final answer—but it is not a badge of poverty. It is a step forward.
Written by Adeniran Taiwo Olugbenga
A Citizen Who Refuse to Be Silent or Manipulated
