Nigerian workers have decried the high cost of living, saying their monthly salaries are no longer enough to meet basic needs, following the ripple effects of the removal of the fuel subsidy, which has aggravated financial burdens on citizens, with some dying suddenly of high blood pressure. ABDULLAHI OLESIN, Ilorin; ALO ABIOLA, Ado-Ekiti; JOSHUA DADA, Osogbo; NNAMDI MBAWIKE, Enugu; OKEM GREEN MBAH, Yenagoa; FELIX IGBEKOYI, Asaba; KALU EZIYI, Umuahia; INIOBONG EKPONTA, Uyo; and ACHOR ABIMAJE, Jos, report.
The widening gap between wages and the rising cost of living has continued to push many Nigerian workers into difficult economic conditions, with salary earners lamenting that their monthly income can no longer meet basic needs.
Since the federal government removed the fuel subsidy, prices of petroleum products, transportation, food items, rent, and other essential services have increased sharply across the country. While inflation continues to rise, many workers said that salaries have remained largely stagnant, leaving families struggling to survive.
Findings by our correspondents showed that workers in both the public and private sectors are increasingly struggling to cover daily expenses, as transportation alone now accounts for a significant share of monthly earnings.
In Kwara State, workers have decried the high cost of living and demanded palliatives to cushion their burdens.
Though those who spoke with LEADERSHIP Sunday said that the state government is not owing them salaries, they said the Naira devaluation and the high cost of rent and transportation have rendered their salaries useless.
“The high cost of living and the high transport fare have rendered our salaries useless. I’m a GL 15 officer, but my salary can hardly last me for three weeks. I have to resort to borrowing from friends and our cooperative society to enable me to meet the needs of my family,” a civil servant said.
When contacted, the chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress in Kwara State, Comrade Saheed Murtala, confirmed that workers are having difficulty providing for their families.
He identified the high cost of living and rising transportation costs as factors that have reduced workers’ purchasing power.
Murtala said the union had written letters to the governor requesting palliatives for workers to cushion the effects of the economic hardship they are facing.
“We have asked the governor to work out palliatives for the workers, as their salaries are no longer enough to feed them and their families. We mentioned some states that have implemented palliatives for their workers in our letter. We are optimistic that our governor will listen to us as he usually does,” Murtala said.
In Ekiti State, many residents, including salary earners, have been struggling with the ever-skyrocketing prices of food items, household materials, goods, and services, with little disposable income.
A civil servant in Ekiti State, who simply identified himself as Mr Ojo, said high-cost goods and services in the country are adversely affecting his living standard and that of his family.
Ojo, who traced the problem back to over three years ago when the fuel subsidy was removed by the Federal Government, said he has been struggling to provide the basic needs of life, especially food, clothing and shelter for his family in spite of the implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage.
He said, “My house rent has been increased twice, prices of food have gone up, my wife, children, and I now spend more than 500 per cent of what we used to spend about three years ago on transport to our different destinations on a daily basis. Aside from that, there is no extra income to continue the work on my personal house project like before.”
Ojo said that since there is no fresh increase in the salary, he has been following one of his friends to construction sites on weekends to work as a bricklayer assistant while his wife, who is a fashion designer, has also added the operation of a POS and other petty trading to her business to augment the family’s finances.
Also speaking at the LEADERSHIP Sunday in Ado-Ekiti, another salary earner, Mr Adekunle Ogunlade, who works for a private company, decried the high cost of living, saying that basic necessities, including food, are gradually becoming unaffordable for many Nigerians.
Ogunlad, who posited that the current, ever-increasing fuel price has worsened the country’s economic situation, said the amount he receives as a monthly salary can hardly cater for his own needs, let alone, who posited that the current ever-increasing fuel price has worsened the economic situation in the country, said the amount he is getting as a monthly salary can hardly cater for his own needs, not to mention his entire family of four.
He said, “My brother, I must confess to you, as a worker in a private organisation, I earn less than N70,000, which is the approved current national minimum wage. With a wife and two children, how do we manage that for a whole month? Prices of goods and services are soaring every now and then. I used to spend at least N1,500 on transport to and from work every day. Now, with fuel prices rising, it is more than N2,000. So, I now trek some distance to work or get assistance from neighbours and friends who are mobile to reduce what I spend on transport fare.”
Ogunlade added that he has been farming for over 2 years, planting yams, maize, cassava, and vegetables, primarily to support the family’s food sources.
