The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has said the N70,000 national minimum wage is no longer enough to cushion Nigerian workers against the rising cost of living.
Keyamo spoke at the 2026 National Pre-Retirement Summit organised by XEM Consultants Limited, where he said soaring living costs had significantly eroded workers’ purchasing power and made a further wage review necessary.
The minister urged the Federal Government to meet organised labour halfway in the ongoing wage negotiations, noting that unions were demanding as much as N500,000 as the new minimum wage.
He recalled the negotiations that culminated in the increase of the national minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000 in 2024, but said the current figure had become inadequate amid mounting economic pressures.
Keyamo also took aim at the treatment of workers by some government agencies, particularly the alleged denial of basic allowances to employees while senior officials approve substantial sums for international trips.
“I will have none of it. Without these workers, we will not have a country,” the minister said.
READ ALSO: Nigerians Are Enjoying, N1,400 Fuel Is Cheap — Okpebholo Compares Nigeria, UK Petrol Prices
He stressed that workers’ welfare must remain a priority, noting that human resources are critical to productivity, an effective public service and national development.
Also speaking at the summit, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, called for urgent government intervention to ease the burden of rising fuel, transportation and food costs on workers and other Nigerians.
Ajaero said wage negotiations should go beyond nominal salary figures and instead take into account workers’ actual purchasing power and the cost of meeting basic needs.
