By Mercy Omoike
Some government workers have lamented the ineffectiveness of the new minimum wage in the face of rising food inflation in the country.
The workers disclosed this in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos.
President Bola Tinubu signed the most recent minimum wage increase into law on July 29, 2024.
The new minimum wage is N70,000 per month.
A medical professional at a government hospital, Dr Dorka Ikechukwu, said inflation has eroded the benefits the new minimum wage was intended for.
“Despite the federal government’s recent implementation of the minimum wage, most civil servants still bear the brunt of inflation.
“The cost of food items is still prohibitive. Even with the minimum wage, you cannot still have what you want because everything is expensive.
“Also, coupled with the rising cost of transportation, the minimum wage does not cover enough. Commercial drivers and taxis still increase their prices despite the drop in fuel prices.
“The transportation costs also affect the price of food items in the market. So, even the new minimum wage is ineffective because the money is still insufficient.
“The government should do something about the inflation rate because it just swallows the whole income at the end of the day,” Ikechukwu said.
For his part, Mr Frank Egwim, a financial analyst, called for a revival of the economy so that the average Nigerian worker would feel the effects of the minimum wage.
“The new minimum wage has been ineffective for workers because inflation has taken deep into the minimum wage. It is as good as nothing.
“The inflation is crippling the purchasing power of the typical worker making the new minimum wage ineffective.
“For example, if you look critically at it, the minimum wage stands at an average of N70,000, but a bag of rice goes for between N91,000 and N95,000 as against when it was sold at N30,000 or N40,000 before the minimum wage.
“We know that the elective price level is stable before the minimum wage even though we complained.
“However, we have observed that some state governments have not even effected or implemented the minimum wage.
“So now, what will be the impact on workers in states where it has not been implemented? We hope for a drop in the inflation rates,” Egwim said.
Also speaking, Ms Itoro Ekpenyong, a government schoolteacher, called for a full breakdown of the minimum wage so workers could understand what they are earning.
“We are grateful for the minimum wage, but the expenses still outweigh the income.
“The thing is that we do not even understand how this minimum wage is calculated. The government should pay the full 70 per cent increment promised.
“The cost of food items in the market is changing daily; we do not know the impact of the minimum wage anymore. We are just leaning on God’s grace to survive,” Ekpenyong said.
