New minimum wage: NLC asks affiliates, workers to prepare for battle ahead

…says N70,000 now poverty pay
By Victor Ahiuma-Young
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has asked its affiliates and workers across the country to prepare for serious battle for a new national minimum wage, declaring that the current N70,000 wage has become a “poverty wage” that can no longer meet the needs of Nigerian workers amid soaring living costs.

NLC President, Joe Ajaero, gave the charge Monday at the opening ceremony of the 2026 NLC Rain School held at the Workers’ Solidarity Centre in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, where he said organised labour would soon begin negotiations for a living wage and would not approach the talks from a position of weakness.

The annual programme brought together labour leaders, political office holders and gender activists for ideological training and strategy sessions with the theme, “The Working Class and the Politics of 2027: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities.”

Addressing participants, Ajaero said organised labour was preparing for another round of minimum wage negotiations and warned that workers would not approach the talks from a position of weakness.

He said : The battle for a living wage will soon begin in earnest. As we discuss the politics of the future, we must remain grounded in the immediate material realities confronting our class. We are preparing for the renegotiation of the national minimum wage. Let us be clear: the paltry sum that currently passes for a minimum wage is no longer sustainable. It is a poverty wage.

“We must not approach the negotiating table with a begging bowl. We must go as a class that understands its power. We must demand a wage that truly approximates a living wage—a wage that enables every worker to feed, shelter, educate, and care for their family with dignity. Every affiliate and every state council must remain alert. We must gird our loins for this struggle. We will not be silenced by the tired rhetoric of austerity and economic hardship advanced by those who continue to live in obscene opulence.

“The weight of our oppression underscores the urgency of our task. Once again, our dear nation, Nigeria, has been listed among the ten worst countries in the world for workers’ rights violations. This is a stain on our collective conscience. It is evidence of a system that seeks to super-exploit working people. They attack our right to organise, to bargain collectively, and to strike. They criminalise our struggles and deploy the machinery of the state to suppress dissent.

“One immediate action before us is to sustain relentless pressure on the Federal Government. It must be compelled to transmit the tripartite-reviewed Labour Bills to the National Assembly for passage into law.

“We have laboured. We have negotiated. We have reached consensus. So why the delay? This six-year delay is a deliberate strategy to preserve the status quo of impunity and exploitation. Modern, progressive labour legislation is not a luxury—it is a necessity. It is an indispensable instrument for protecting the rights of Nigerian workers and aligning our nation with international labour standards. We call on our comrades in the National Assembly, civil society organisations, and the media to join us in this campaign. These Labour Bills must see the light of day.

The 2027 elections and the political struggles leading to them are crucial battlegrounds, but our struggle extends far beyond elections. It is a struggle to preserve the soul of our nation. We must build a democratic, welfarist-inspired alternative that places the needs of the people above the profits of the few.

“Listen carefully: no matter how much revenue this nation generates, as long as illicit financial flows and kleptocrats continue to feed on our scarce resources, workers will continue to bleed.

“We said it on May Day, and we repeat it today: our nation bleeds because of kleptocracy. Just this year, a questionable agency with a billion-naira budget suddenly emerged. Questions have been asked, yet no satisfactory answers have been provided.

“Those resources should have been invested in our hospitals, roads, schools, markets, and transport systems. This Rain School must therefore be more than a seminar—it must become a launchpad for action.

“Nigeria is not broke. Our wealth is being warehoused in the bank accounts of the political class. The problem is not that the money is missing. What is missing is our collective outrage. It is our duty to supply it, because therein lies our power.

“Let me reiterate our message: Be brave. Be bold. Be committed. Be united. Return to your workplaces and your states not as a defeated class, but as the vanguard of a new Nigeria. Return as the critical force for change. Organise, mobilise, and prepare for the struggles ahead.”

Representing Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Manpower Planning, Ms Rita Essien, said the annual Rain School had become an important platform for labour leaders to deepen their knowledge and contribute meaningfully to national development.

Also speaking, former NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, urged organised labour to intensify political education among workers and build a credible political structure ahead of the 2027 elections, warning against repeating past mistakes.

“The party was not actually handed over to outsiders; it was handed over to trade union leaders, but immediately that was done, they changed gear and they changed their orientation.”

He also praised the NLC leadership for sustaining workers’ education programmes such as the Rain School and Hamatun School, saying they were essential for strengthening the labour movement.
“Workers that are educated, workers that are not illiterate will know their rights, and therefore will have strong unions to work and defend them.”