• Group urges employers to expand worker incentives
• ‘Rising hardship pushing youths into dangerous livelihoods’

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has said the N70,000 national minimum wage is inadequate to withstand the economic pressures confronting Nigerian workers.

This was as Working People United (WoPU) urged employers across the country to introduce additional wage packages and welfare incentives for workers, as rising economic pressures continue to erode household purchasing power.

Similarly, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said worsening economic hardship is pushing young Nigerians into dangerous and poorly-regulated livelihoods, as he donated N20 million to families of suspected artisanal miners who died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), in Minna, Niger State.

Keyamo, at the 2026 national pre-retirement summit organised by XEM Consultants Limited, called for measures to improve workers’ welfare amid the rising cost of living.

He said the purchasing power of the N70,000 minimum wage had been eroded by increasing living costs, making an upward review of workers’ wages necessary.

The minister urged the Federal Government to meet labour unions halfway in ongoing discussions over workers’ welfare, noting that organised labour had demanded as much as N500,000 as the new minimum wage.

He recalled that the national minimum wage was increased from N30,000 to N70,000 in 2024, but said the economic realities facing workers had continued to change.

The minister also criticised the treatment of workers by some government agencies, alleging that some employees were denied allowances while senior officials approved substantial funds for international trips.

Speaking at the event, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, called for increased oil revenues to cushion the impact of rising fuel prices and other economic pressures on workers.

Ajaero said discussions on a new minimum wage should focus on workers’ real purchasing power, taking into consideration inflation, fuel prices and the rising cost of food and other essential commodities.

He also advocated indexing wages and pensions to inflation or the cost of living to better protect workers and retirees from economic shocks.

WoPU, a coalition of workers, professionals and artisans, tasked the employers while commending the Delta State Government for approving a new salary structure for workers in tertiary institutions.

In a statement by its Coordinator-General, Williams Akporeha, the coalition said employers should not wait for the Federal Government’s pronouncements on wage increases before improving workers’ welfare within their establishments.

WoPU argued that stronger compensation packages and workplace incentives were necessary to cushion the impact of the global economic strain on Nigerian workers, while also improving productivity and reducing social pressures.

The coalition also called on state governments and sectors benefiting from the Federal Government’s socio-economic reforms to allocate part of their increased revenues to worker welfare and palliatives.

It commended Governor Sheriff Oborevwori for approving a new salary structure for academic staff of Delta State’s four universities, effective August 2026, with non-academic staff and workers in other tertiary institutions covered from September.

ATIKU, while donating N20 million to families and survivors of the incident, said the tragedy should prompt a deeper examination of the poverty, unemployment, and cost-of-living pressures that are forcing young people to take greater risks simply to survive.

In a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate said the experience of one of the survivors brought home the severity of the conditions surrounding the deaths.

“It was a gory tale listening to one of the survivors. He told us that more than 68 of them were crammed into one small detention facility and that conditions became so desperate that they had to drink one another’s urine just to stay hydrated.

“No Nigerian should ever be subjected to such indignity in the custody of his own government. These were human beings in the state’s care. Whatever accusations may have been made against them, they were entitled to their lives, their dignity and the protection of the law,” he added.