Trade Union Congress (TUC) President, Festus Osifo, says increasing the minimum wage to ₦1 million will not improve workers’ welfare unless the Federal Government fixes the value of the naira.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief_ on Friday to mark Workers’ Day, Osifo stressed that the naira is currently undervalued and must be addressed alongside wage discussions.
“It’s a double-edged approach. Even as we are fixing the value of the naira, we could also be having conversations around the minimum wage,” Osifo said. “You can come today and say that the Nigerian minimum wage is ₦1 million, but what is actually the value of that ₦1 million, can that ₦1 million purchase?”
He argued that raising the minimum wage without stabilising the currency would not boost purchasing power. “If you don’t fix the fundamentals and you are just talking about minimum wage alone, it may not necessarily have the right purchasing power that it ought to have. So, what we are saying is that fix everything holistically,” he added.
Osifo called on the government to tackle inflation, rising food prices, transportation costs, and fuel prices, which continue to erode workers’ income.
The TUC’s position echoes similar concerns raised by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Joe Ajaero, who earlier said that “even if Nigerian workers earn ₦1 million, it will not be meaningful if the naira has no value.”
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