The Nigeria Labour Congress said on Tuesday that a monthly salary of ₦1 million would still not mean much for workers if Nigeria did not have a stable currency and a stronger economy. Joe Ajaero made the point in Abuja during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, saying workers care more about the value of the naira than about a headline increase in pay.
“Even if Nigerian workers earn ₦1 million, it will not be meaningful if the naira has no value,” Ajaero said. He said inflation has already eroded what people can buy with their income, and that the currency workers need is one that can sustain them and their families through the month. In practical terms, he said, the strain is already showing in food, transport and housing.
Ajaero’s comments put the wage debate in a broader frame than the usual fight over numbers. The NLC is arguing that without a stronger currency and lower inflation, even a bigger minimum wage can quickly lose its edge, especially when fuel prices keep feeding into transport and food costs nationwide.
The labor leader said minimum wage negotiations have not yet begun and said the process is governed by law, with a fixed timeline. Organised labour, he said, will start discussions when the proper time comes ahead of the expiration of the current wage structure. That means the next round of bargaining is still ahead, not under way.
He also urged the government to move urgently against inflation and rising fuel prices, saying the increases have driven up transport and food costs across the country. Ajaero called for stronger economic and energy systems that are less exposed to shocks from outside Nigeria, adding: “It is not ideal that events in other parts of the world automatically translate into hardship in Nigeria.”
The tension in his remarks is that the demand is not simply for more money. It is for an economy that lets wages hold their value long enough to matter. That point will likely shape the labour union’s next talks, and it could also shape any Workers’ Day action, which Ajaero said would not be nationwide but limited to states that have not fully implemented the approved minimum wage.
For now, the NLC is making clear that the fight over Wage is really a fight over what money can still do, and whether workers can get through a month without watching pay vanish at the pump, in the market and on the road.
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