The minimum wage in a country is an indicator of its citizens’ standard of living and you can easily determine the main issues in a country’s economic model by simply observing its value. In this article, you will learn about Nigeria’s minimum wage salary scale, as well as some major facts about it.
Definition of minimum wage
Minimum wage is the minimum amount an employee can be payed for the performance of any work, including unskilled labor and idle time if it is the fault of the employer. Minimum wage is the basis for a large number of tax and financial calculations. It is usually approved along with the state's annual budget. The minimum wage is based on the calculation of the minimum cost of the consumer basket, which each should always exceed, however, this is not always the case in Nigeria.
The subsistence minimum in a country, serves as a criterion for determines the minimum wage, the minimum age pension, scholarships funds, the amount to be given out to assist the unemployed, families with children and other social payments. The subsistence minimum generally determines payment values.
Sadly, Nigeria which has one of the strongest economies in Africa, also has the smallest minimum wage. Let us take a closer look at this depressing case.
READ ALSO: Average cost of living in Nigeria
Nigeria minimum wage scale
The minimum wage in Nigeria is counted by monthly income with working periods of 8 hours daily and 5 days weekly. The current minimum wage in Nigeria is N18,000 or $50, and this is not the worst thing about the minimum wage. Do you know that this amount has not been reviewed by the government since 2011? This sad fact makes it impossible to determine a real scale of the minimum wage in the country.
It is also important to note that a lot of other factors in the market, like prices, have not stayed stable for all these years. You can also say the same about exchange rates and price of oil. These values are growing regardless of the minimum wage, and this situation has left many unhappy.
Think about it, what can you buy for $50 in 2017? This value is certainly lesser than the actual subsistence minimum and does not match the consumer basket of the country. There have been a lot of talks about increasing this amount in the government corridors, and different amounts have like N56,000 and N90,000 have been mentioned. In fact, these proposals were even made last year, but they still have to be discussed by state officials. The main issue, they say, is the possibility of stirring inflation in the country if the minimum wage is increased.
In our honest opinion, these apprehensions are just unnecessary excuses. We can certainly fight inflation, especially considering that it is already affecting the Nigerian economic markets. But how can we beat hunger and poverty caused by the gap between minimum wages and the real cost of living in the country? We really hope that the issue of minimum wage would be resolved very soon.
READ ALSO: Economic problems in Nigeria today and solution
Source: Naija.ng