₦70,000 now a poverty wage, NLC tells Nigerian workers to prepare for fresh minimum wage battle

• NLC says the ₦70,000 minimum wage has become a "poverty wage" due to rising living costs.

• Joe Ajaero asked workers and labour unions to prepare for fresh negotiations for a living wage.

• The labour union also criticised the delay in passing reviewed Labour Bills and condemned workers' rights violations in Nigeria.

• Former NLC President Ayuba Wabba urged organised labour to strengthen political education and prepare ahead of the 2027 elections.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has declared that Nigeria's current ₦70,000 national minimum wage is no longer enough to survive on, describing it as a "poverty wage" as the cost of living continues to soar across the country.

The union is now asking workers and its affiliate unions nationwide to prepare for another major showdown with the government over a new minimum wage that reflects current economic realities.

Speaking on Monday during the opening of the 2026 NLC Rain School at the Workers' Solidarity Centre in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, NLC President Joe Ajaero said organised labour would soon begin negotiations for a new minimum wage and would not approach the talks from a position of weakness.

The annual event brought together labour leaders, politicians and gender advocates under the theme: "The Working Class and the Politics of 2027: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities."

According to Ajaero, the fight is no longer just about increasing salaries but ensuring Nigerian workers earn a wage that allows them to live with dignity.

"The battle for a living wage will soon begin in earnest. As we discuss the politics of the future, we must remain grounded in the immediate material realities confronting our class. We are preparing for the renegotiation of the national minimum wage. Let us be clear: the paltry sum that currently passes for a minimum wage is no longer sustainable. It is a poverty wage."

He urged labour unions across the country to get ready for the coming negotiations.

"We must not approach the negotiating table with a begging bowl. We must go as a class that understands its power. We must demand a wage that truly approximates a living wage, a wage that enables every worker to feed, shelter, educate, and care for their family with dignity."

Ajaero also said every affiliate and state council should remain alert because the struggle ahead would require unity.

"Every affiliate and every state council must remain alert. We must gird our loins for this struggle. We will not be silenced by the tired rhetoric of austerity and economic hardship advanced by those who continue to live in obscene opulence."

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The labour leader also lamented Nigeria's poor record on workers' rights, saying the country remains one of the worst places for workers.

"The weight of our oppression underscores the urgency of our task. Once again, our dear nation, Nigeria, has been listed among the ten worst countries in the world for workers' rights violations."

He accused authorities of frustrating workers' rights by attacking their freedom to organise, bargain collectively and embark on strikes.

Ajaero further criticised the Federal Government over the delay in transmitting the reviewed Labour Bills to the National Assembly, saying the delay had stretched for six years.

"We have laboured. We have negotiated. We have reached consensus. So why the delay? This six-year delay is a deliberate strategy to preserve the status quo of impunity and exploitation."

The NLC president also took a swipe at corruption and what he described as the political elite's control of the country's wealth.

"Nigeria is not broke. Our wealth is being warehoused in the bank accounts of the political class. The problem is not that the money is missing. What is missing is our collective outrage."

He urged workers to return to their states and workplaces ready to mobilise ahead of future struggles.

"Be brave. Be bold. Be committed. Be united. Return to your workplaces and your states not as a defeated class, but as the vanguard of a new Nigeria."

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Former NLC President Ayuba Wabba also addressed participants, urging organised labour to strengthen political education among workers and build a credible political structure ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He warned labour leaders against repeating past mistakes, saying:

"The party was not actually handed over to outsiders; it was handed over to trade union leaders, but immediately that was done, they changed gear and they changed their orientation."

Wabba also praised the NLC leadership for sustaining workers' education programmes such as the Rain School and Hamatun School.

"Workers that are educated, workers that are not illiterate will know their rights, and therefore will have strong unions to work and defend them."

The current ₦70,000 national minimum wage was signed into law in 2024 after months of negotiations between organised labour, the Federal Government and the private sector. However, with inflation, rising food prices, transport costs and the continued increase in the cost of living, labour leaders now argue that the wage has lost much of its value and no longer meets the basic needs of Nigerian workers.