US report says Nigeria’s new minimum wage is overshadowed by inflation and currency collapse.
Workers still struggle as states delay implementation, leaving families trapped in worsening poverty.
The United States government has said that the recent minimum wage increase under President Bola Tinubu has lost its impact due to the sharp devaluation of the naira, leaving millions of Nigerians struggling with worsening poverty and soaring inflation.
This was disclosed in the 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released on August 12 by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
According to the report, the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2024 raised the monthly wage from N30,000 to N70,000 (about $47.90). However, the value of the local currency plunged so steeply that the new wage no longer stood above the poverty threshold.
The U.S. further observed that the increment has not benefited a majority of Nigerian workers, as several states have yet to implement the law. It added that many employers fall outside the scope of the wage law because they hire fewer than 25 staff. Some state governments, citing financial strain, have also resisted enforcing the new rate.
The Tinubu administration approved the new wage in July 2024 barely a year after fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification triggered an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis. The president had promised that the N70,000 wage would be reviewed every three years instead of the previous five-year cycle.
