Is a N1m Minimum Wage Realistic in Today’s Nigeria?

Is a N1m Minimum Wage Realistic?

The demand for a review of Nigeria’s minimum wage has been on the table for months now, especially after fuel prices jumped and the cost of living moved sharply upward across the country.

At a meeting during the Sallah homage to President Bola Tinubu in Lagos, state governors arrived at a proposed figure of N100,000 as a new minimum wage, up from the current N70,000.

On paper, it looks like an improvement. A step forward. But when you step outside that paper reality and look at transport fares, the price of rice, beans, cooking gas, and even basic utilities, the picture changes quickly. In many urban areas, average rent for a small apartment now sits between N700,000 and N800,000 annually.

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For a worker earning even the proposed N100,000 monthly, that alone already consumes a large portion of income before food, school fees, or transport even enter the picture.

This is the context labour is pushing back from.

The Nigeria Labour Congress has consistently argued that the current wage structure no longer reflects economic reality for the average Nigerian worker. Reacting to the governors’ proposal, NLC spokesperson Benson Upah acknowledged the idea of a review but dismissed the figure as inadequate.

“Reacting to the proposal, Upah said that although the governors’ consideration of a wage review was commendable, N100,000 was significantly below what workers required to cope with current economic realities.

‘Given the realities around the exchange rate, inflation, raised tariffs, surge in the pump price of petrol and associated costs, decline in the purchasing power of the average worker, effects of the new regime of taxes on our cost of living, the realistic figure, subject to status quo maintenance, would be N1m,’ he stated.”

That is where the debate now sits. Between N100,000 and N1m. Between what is being considered politically realistic and what labour insists is economically necessary.

But once we step away from the emotion of the figures, the harder question comes in.

How realistic is a one million naira minimum wage in Nigeria’s current structure?

Let’s be direct. State governments are already under pressure with the N70,000 wage. In places like Kogi State, workers have repeatedly raised concerns over irregular salary payments in recent years, especially during periods of revenue strain. In Imo State, there have also been reported instances where workers waited extended periods before full salary disbursement was stabilised, following wage adjustments and administrative disputes.

These are not isolated complaints, many states depend heavily on monthly federal allocations just to meet basic obligations, salaries included.

So when the wage floor rises, the pressure does not distribute evenly. It lands hardest on states with weaker internally generated revenue.

And that is where feasibility becomes a real question, not just a political argument.

We can also look outward for perspective.

South Africa, one of Africa’s most industrialised economies, operates a minimum wage of about 27.58 rand per hour. For a full-time worker, that typically translates to roughly 4,500 to 5,000 rand monthly, which is around 240 to 270 US dollars depending on exchange rates. That is about N400,000 to N450,000 equivalent at current parallel market estimates, still far below N1m.

Kenya operates differently, using sector based wage structures. For many formal jobs, monthly minimum pay ranges between 15,000 and 20,000 Kenyan shillings, roughly 100 to 150 US dollars. That is about N150,000 to N230,000 equivalent.

Both countries operate with tighter wage structures tied closely to productivity, taxation, and industrial output.

Governors Push For ₦100,000 Minimum Wage In Nigeria

Now compare that with Nigeria, where the informal sector is massive, tax compliance remains low, and government revenue still leans heavily on oil.

In my own opinion, the present Nigeria is far from ready to adopt such a minimum wage. Not in the current structure, not with the current revenue base, and not with the level of productivity the economy is operating on.

Before anything close to that figure can even be considered, Nigeria would first have to expand its economic capacity in a very real way.

That means growing non oil revenue, strengthening tax collection without overburdening citizens, and increasing productivity across both public and private sectors. Right now, too much of government income still depends on oil, while expenditure obligations keep rising.