Date: 2015-11-24

You know you have a do nothing national assembly when no single motion has been moved to stop Nigeria's governors from reducing the minimum wage from N18, 000. Before now, I had wanted to make the socio economic case why the monthly minimum wage in Nigeria for those who work full time should be around N52, 500. This is an equivalent of $267 a month. And even this rate should be adjusted for inflation every five years.

Now, at my proposed N52, 500, the minimum wage earner would only have N10, 000 for transportation, N10, 000 for feeding, N10, 000 for utilities, N12, 500 a month for rent (based on an average annual rent of N150, 000 for a decent one bedroom apartment across the country with the exception of Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Warri that are higher) and possibly save N10, 000 in a savings account for emergencies.

At N52, 500, the minimum wage earner may not be able to afford medical insurance for himself and his family if he has one. Though the Nigerian National Health Insurance Scheme is actually one of those well thought out and properly executed social program in Nigeria, I discovered that many of our compatriots cannot afford the N15, 000 yearly premium for an individual. At the proposed monthly minimum wage of N52, 500, an average Nigerian worker may not be able to pay the N15, 000 yearly health insurance premium at once. If it is spread out over a 12 month period, he probably would be able to pay. I can also imagine that some of them may bypass the health insurance altogether while praying not to get sick.

At my proposed N52, 500 monthly minimum wage, the minimum wage earner would not be able to afford any kind of luxury. Now, I have also embedded in my projection that such an individual would only be able to send his or her kids to public schools and take out high interest loans in order to be able to afford a used automobile to move around. Owning an automobile becomes a necessity for such a worker in order for him or her to avoid the tyranny of the commercial transporters. The used automobile is no luxury and would take him/her about 4 years to pay off a loan of N300, 000 in order to purchase an above junk automobile that will take him from home to work. If he were to do this, he wouldn't even have any savings at all - as his projected monthly savings of N10, 000 will go into paying for his car loan.

This is the reality of the Nigerian worker. And they are not mere statistics, some of them are family, I know them, I know their struggles, and I am amazed at how they have been able to survive on their ridiculously small wages. They are the unsung heroes of Nigeria whose silent labour and enormous sacrifice has kept Nigeria one. If the Nigerian governors’ forum were to carry its idiocy very far and reduce the ridiculous N18, 000, these silent heroes and heroines may be woken up from their slumber and hell will pay. Nigerian workers do not deserve a reduction in their wages, they deserve a raise. My advice to Nigeria's 36 governors and the federal government is to close corruption loopholes, cut unnecessary expenditure, reduce taxes for small business owners to spur growth, and transfer some of the savings to the least paid workers in the form of a wage increase to somewhere around N52, 500 in order for the minimum wage earner to be able to barely survive.

Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia is of the Department of Global Leadership, College of Business, Indiana Institute of Technology, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA