The Nigeria Labour Congress on Monday called on employers across the country to ensure full compliance with the National Minimum Wage Act, warning that many Nigerian workers are still being paid below the legal minimum despite the rising cost of living.

In July 2024, President Bola Tinubu signed into law a national minimum wage of N70,000 per month, more than doubling the previous N30,000 benchmark. The law shortens future wage review periods from five to three years, aiming to keep pace with economic realities.

While the public sector has recorded some progress, many workers in the private sector and government parastatals are still receiving starvation wages, the president of the NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said at the 21st Rain School of the NLC in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

“The struggle for the national minimum wage is not yet over,” Ajaero said. “Millions of workers in the private sector and parastatals are still enslaved by starvation wages. Public sector workers are also not fully enjoying the benefits of the National Minimum Wage Act.”

According to him, no worker in Nigeria should earn less than what is required to live a dignified life. He insisted that the NLC will continue to demand full compliance across all sectors.

Despite the passage of the National Minimum Wage Act, Ajaero said that exploitation of workers remains widespread. He accused many employers, particularly in the private sector, of deliberately sidestepping the law.

“It is unacceptable that in a country where the cost of living keeps rising, millions of workers are still receiving starvation wages,” he said. “This is economic enslavement, and it must stop.”

The comrade, who leads the country’s largest labour union, urged workers to organise and push back against wage injustice, warning that failure to act would worsen their conditions.

The country’s statistics agency said inflation for June 2025 moderated to 22.22 per cent relative to the May 2025 headline inflation rate of 22.97 per cent. While the food inflation rate stood at 21.97 per cent year-on-year in June, a sharp drop from 40.87 per cent recorded in June 2024.

“The National Minimum Wage was introduced to ensure that no worker lives in poverty, yet many are being denied this right,” he said.

He criticised employers who use economic hardship as an excuse to underpay workers while still recording profits and expanding their operations.

The NLC has called on the government to step in and enforce the law immediately. Ajaero demanded sanctions for employers who continue to violate the minimum wage law, stressing that labour will not hesitate to mobilise workers for action if the violations persist.

“Compliance with the minimum wage is not optional; it is a legal obligation. We demand full compliance across all sectors, private and public alike,” he warned.

Ajaero also condemned state governors and government agencies that are yet to fully implement the new wage structure.

“The idea that some public sector workers are still being underpaid in violation of the National Minimum Wage Act is unacceptable. We will fight this with every tool at our disposal,” he said.

The NLC president linked the minimum wage issue to the broader struggle for workers’ rights and democratic freedoms, noting that when civil liberties shrink, workers are the first to suffer.

“You cannot separate workers’ rights from democratic rights. When the democratic space shrinks, workers suffer. When protests are criminalised, when unions are attacked, it is the poor and the workers who pay the price,” he said.

Ajaero charged participants at the Rain School to return to their unions and workplaces with renewed energy to push for wage justice and better working conditions, stressing the need for grassroots mobilisation to ensure the minimum wage law is not just a document but a reality for every Nigerian worker.

“Organise, mobilise, and fight for decent work and decent pay,” Ajaero told the delegates. “A dignified wage is not a privilege; it is a right.”

The NLC says it will continue to monitor employer compliance and plans to escalate its campaign until the minimum wage is fully enforced across the country.