270k for food: NLC Gives Breakdown for N615,000 Minimum Wage

The NLC arrived at the N615,000 minimum wage demand through extensive research across Nigeria, aiming to reflect the true cost of living for an average family.

They emphasize that any wage below this amount would perpetuate poverty, urging swift action from stakeholders for justice and national development.

In a detailed statement, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) sheds light on the meticulous process behind their demand for a new National Minimum Wage of N615,000.

VerseNews reports that in the statement which was signed by the NLC president, Comrade Joe Ajaero, the figure, derived from extensive research conducted across the country, aims to reflect the true cost of living for an average Nigerian family.

“The figure was a product of a painstaking effort through which we captured the cost of living of Nigerian workers and masses in all parts of the country.

“It was essentially an outcome of an independent research conducted by the NLC and TUC on the cost of meeting the primary needs of an average family around the country. Our research was based on a family with both parents alive and four children without the burden of having other dependents with them,” the statement reads.

Despite excluding certain expenses, NLC emphasizes that any wage below this amount would perpetuate poverty among workers and their families.

“It should be noted that we arrived at this figure before the increase in electricity tariff and the recent scarcity of Petrol across the nation leading to the appearance of long queues with attendant increased transport fares. Any figure below this amount becomes a starvation wage and condemns Nigerian workers and their families to perpetual poverty,” it added.

With negotiations delayed due to government’s non-compliance with existing laws, NLC calls for understanding, sacrifice, and swift action from social partners and stakeholders to ensure justice, equity, and national development.

“We have to remember that the old one having expired on the 18th day of April, 2024, a new one is expected to have come into effect on the 19th day of April, 2024.

“However, because of government’s inability to comply with the Law that demanded for negotiations for a new national minimum wage to have begun 6 (six) months before the expiration of the existing one, concluding the new one has become unfortunately delayed.”

Here is the breakdown of the N615,000 minimum wage by NLC.

• Housing/Accommodation 40,000
• Electricity/Power 20,000
• Utility Water 10,000
• Kerosene/Gas 35,000
• Food 9,000 Х 30 = 270,000
• Medical 50,000
• Clothing 20,000
• Education 50,000
• Sanitation 10,000
• Transportation 110,000
• TOTAL 615,000