For the average Nigerian worker, the monthly salary has transformed from a source of sustenance into a stark countdown to financial depletion. This phenomenon, exemplified by individuals like factory worker Joseph Orji, is not merely a symptom of inflation but a systemic collapse of purchasing power, where wages have become numbers that “vanish into thin air” against a tide of soaring costs for food and transport.
The current crisis, triggered by President Bola Tinubu’s reforms to scrap fuel subsidies and unify exchange rates, echoes the painful structural adjustments of the 1980s. However, the present squeeze is distinguished by its intensity and the exhaustion of traditional coping mechanisms. As 63-year-old Oloye Akande notes, the communal safety nets that absorbed economic shocks in past decades are now frayed, with rural kin facing their own financial pressures, leaving urban and rural families alike stranded.
The government’s response, a new minimum wage of N70,000, has been a patchwork solution. While a nominal increase, its rollout has been inconsistent across states, and labour unions like the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) argue it remains a “starvation wage” in the face of relentless inflation. The NLC’s push for a further review underscores a fundamental disconnect between policy and the lived reality of survival.
This economic battle has spilled over into a political one. The state’s repeated clampdowns on organised labour, including the detention of NLC President Joel Ajaero, signal a government increasingly intolerant of dissent amidst economic strain. These actions reflect a deeper struggle over the social contract itself—the balance between the state’s economic policies and the welfare of its workforce.
The human cost is quantified in a wave of job losses and business closures. Mustard Insights reports 44% of firms cut staff in 2024, while the Nigerian Economic Summit Group estimates 30% of MSMEs shuttered between 2023 and 2024, wiping out N94 trillion in value. This creates a vicious cycle: rising unemployment erodes consumption, leading to more closures and further layoffs.
The narrative that emerges is not just one of hardship, but of a systemic failure. The combination of automation, a hostile business climate, and a lack of robust retraining programs threatens to permanently exclude swathes of the population from the formal economy. The result is a nation where, for millions, the act of working is no longer a path to dignity, but a relentless race to stay afloat in an economy that rewards only endurance.
