The debate on minimum wage has been a long standing one, when I first saw the topics for this week I quickly had to make my own entry because it is the current situation of my country. I'm from Nigeria and the current minimum wage stands at 40,000 naira. Recently, the body of workers came together in a union called Labor after the celebration of workers day on 1st may, the president promised to increase their salary and that promise was not taken to action.
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Last week there was a nationwide strike by all workers protesting for the increase in minimum wage from 40,000 to 62,000 naira. This action by the workers is something that will cause a lot of negative impacts on the economy considering the fact that there is high level of inflation already in the country.
Is the Current Minimum Wage Enough?
Struggles of the Common Person
Of course not, before now many people were still struggling to survive with the minimum wage, the recent government came into power and thought that the best thing to do was to remove fuel subsidy and just turn everything went up, inflation in the land, the minimum wage can not meet the basic needs of many people. The price of transportation became high, people could no longer move from one place to another without paying high prices, the movement of goods and services tripped and everything went just like that. The cost of living has risen dramatically, with essential goods and services becoming increasingly expensive. Workers struggle to pay for housing, food, transportation, healthcare, and education for their children. The push for a higher minimum wage is as a result of the inflation and people desire to survive and keep u with their standard of living
Currently the government are yet to decide on what the workers are saying, for me I feel the workers took the wrong move, in a country where there is much inflation increase in the minimum wage is not the solution, I totally understand that the demand for an increase is necessary but not at this current situation, there is time for everything and when we do the right thing at the wrong time it make it wrong. Now the removal of fuel subsidies has caused a lot of demands to the economy that need to be repaired. Increasing the minimum wage could exacerbate this situation. Higher wages directly in the cost of producing goods and rendering of services. They should understand that when the government approves their proposal, there will be a lot of money but inflation will be much higher and that doesn't change anything, it will just be a repetition of the same circle.
Instead of focusing solely on increasing salaries, they should consider alternative measures that address the root causes of economic hardship. In my opinion I will suggest the workers send a proposal to the government to bring back fuel subsidy, when the price of fuel is down and affordable, people can pay for housing, food, transportation, healthcare, and education for their children comfortable with the low minimum wage, goods can move from the point of production to a place where the consumers can buy with low transport fare. I believe that when the workers and government focus on these areas, we can create a more stable and sustainable economic environment that benefits all citizens.