In honor of May Day, the Nigerian government has announced a salary increase for certain types of workers in the country. The increase will be 25% to 35% and will include government workers in education, health, and security sectors. 

The increase was back-dated to January 2024 and will benefit even the lowest-paid government employee, who will earn 450,000 naira ($323.97) a year or 37,500 monthly.

Nigeria’s labour unions have been agitating for higher pay since last year when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu removed subsidies on petrol. As a result, inflation in Africa’s most populous nation has skyrocketed, reaching nearly 35 per cent in March, the highest in three decades. Additionally, the value of the Naira the country’s currency has plummetted against the dollar, losing 60 per cent, thereby worsening the cost of living crisis. 

Even though many workers are struggling to get by, there are mixed feelings about the recent news that civil servants’ salaries will be going up in May. Some people think that it’s more important to raise the minimum wage for everyone.

“These categories of workers are already in the privileged sector but we expect it to be extended also to other categories of civil servants who are in the lower cadre and are vulnerable,” the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) spokesman Comrade Benson Upah told local media.

Since 2019, the minimum wage in Nigeria has been fixed at 30,000 naira per month, which has lost significant value due to the devaluation of the naira. The ongoing discussions between the government and the primary labor unions revolve around negotiating an increase in the minimum wage.

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