From 200 Dollars to 50 Dollars: The Political Economy of Nigerian Workers’ Retrogressive Living Wage in Four Decades
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Date
2020-04-24
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International Journal of Research in Business and Management
Abstract
Nigeria’s minimum wage, which had its advent in 1981, seeks to set a wage floor at an amount considered sufficient to satisfy the basic necessities - food, clothing, housing, education, and recreation - of the worker. Since then, every minimum wage change in Nigeria has been preceded by agitations and sometimes strikes by the labour establishment. This paper examines the struggle of the labour movement as a crucial element within the democratisation process in Nigeria and seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the root causes, effects, and consequences of the progressive living wage in the country. It contends that more than half of the Nigerian population still grapples with extreme poverty while a small group of elites enjoys ever-growing wealth, leaving a glaring sense of inequality in the polity. Relying on available public data, the paper interrogates the deteriorating living conditions of Nigerian workers amidst the opulent lifestyle of the nation’s political class and recommends policy options to the current narrative.
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Mike O and Aladegbola A. I. (2020). From 200 Dollars to 50 Dollars: The Political Economy of Nigerian Workers’ Retrogressive Living Wage in Four Decades. International Journal of Research in Business and Management. Vol. 2 No. 2