Minimum Wage: ‘What N18,000 could buy in 2011, you need almost N200,000 to buy it today’ – Osifo

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has rejected the revised minimum wage of N54,000 proposed by the Federal Government, citing the significant devaluation of the naira since 2011. In an interview with Arise News, TUC President Festus Osifo argued that the proposed wage is far from the N615,000 offered by the organized workforce.

Osifo explained that in 2011, the N18,000 minimum wage was equivalent to approximately $125 using an exchange rate of 140-145. However, with the current exchange rate, the equivalent value would be around N200,000, indicating a substantial loss of purchasing power.

The TUC is seeking a wage that reflects the current economic reality, and negotiations have been rescheduled to continue discussions.

In his words;

“In 2011, When N18,000 was passed, what was the value of USD because you use USD as the common benchmark across various countries to know what the real worth of what money should be. If you look at that time in 2011, N18,000 using an exchange rate of round 140, 145, will give you about 125 dollars, what is the value of naira to Dollar today? By the time you do that calculation, you’re going to get something close to N200,000. What that means is that what N18,000 could buy in 2011, you need almost N200,000 to buy it today”

WATCH VIDEO HERE START FROM 5:18