The Gani Fawehinmi Memorial Organisation (GAFAMORG) has called for a fundamental shift in how workers’ welfare is measured, saying a salary increase should not be mistaken for a living wage.

In a statement signed by its Chairman, Comrade Babatunde Agunbiade, and Public Relations Officer, Comrade Ade Adeoye Adewumi, the organisation said the real test of any wage increase is not the percentage announced but what the income can actually buy.

“A bigger salary is not automatically a living wage. A bigger pay envelope is not living dignity,” GAFAMORG said.

It noted that workers could receive substantial pay increases and remain unable to afford food, housing, healthcare, education and other essentials if the cost of living rises faster than their income.

GAFAMORG acknowledged the sacrifices of Nigerian soldiers, including exposure to danger, separation from their families and difficult working conditions.

It said soldiers deserved decent pay as well as adequate accommodation, healthcare, family welfare and dignified retirement.

However, it stressed that their welfare should not be assessed solely by the size of a salary increase.

“If food, rent, transport, school fees and healthcare rise faster than a soldier’s income, he is not better off. His family does not eat percentages,” the organisation said.

GAFAMORG urged the government to adopt a national framework for living dignity covering soldiers, police officers, teachers, health workers, civil servants, industrial and casual workers, pensioners, self-employed people, and workers in the informal and gig economies.

It also called for stronger social protection, including healthcare, social pensions, disability support, unemployment assistance and childcare.

According to the organisation, social protection should complement a living wage rather than substitute for it.

It further advocated indexation mechanisms that would link wages and pensions to significant changes in the cost of living, warning that wage increases can quickly lose their value when prices rise.

GAFAMORG cautioned against turning workers against one another in debates over pay.

“The question should not be whether soldiers should earn more than teachers. The question is: What framework guarantees living dignity for every worker and family?” it said.

The organisation also called for greater protection for informal workers, noting that millions of traders, farmers, drivers, artisans and other workers contribute to the economy without adequate access to pensions, healthcare or unemployment protection.

It proposed a national economic dignity framework built around four principles: living wage, social wage, wages and pensions that respond to inflation, and protection of purchasing power.

GAFAMORG said the legacy of Chief Gani Fawehinmi demanded that economic justice be judged by how ordinary Nigerians actually live.

Can families afford food and housing? Can they access healthcare and educate their children? Can workers and pensioners look forward to retirement with dignity?

“These are the questions that should define economic justice,” the organisation said.

GAFAMORG urged the government to move beyond asking, “What percentage increases?” and instead ask: What does this income actually buy? Has purchasing power improved? Can the family live with dignity?

The organisation has also invited Nigerians to participate in its anonymous People’s Living Dignity Test 2026, designed to capture citizens’ experiences of household living conditions and contribute evidence to the national debate on a living wage.