Governor Mohammed Bago of Niger State has announced a major plan to increase the minimum wage for civil servants to ₦1 million. This ambitious proposal marks a substantial leap from the recently approved minimum wage of ₦80,000.
The announcement was made during a meeting with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) at the Government House in Minna, following extensive discussions with NLC leadership.
The current minimum wage of ₦80,000 is set to be implemented starting November 2024 and will ap
ply to all civil servants at both state and local government levels. Governor Bago emphasized that this decision was reached after careful consideration and dialogue with the NLC, aiming to address the economic challenges faced by public sector workers.
Governor Bago stated, “This ₦80,000 is sustainable. We are sure that with our stride in agriculture, we can pay. We are creating a civil service farm so that civil servants can be productive. With that, we are sure that we can do ₦1 million as minimum wage.” This reflects the administration's strategy to leverage agricultural advancements to support the proposed wage increase.
While the plan to raise the minimum wage to ₦1 million is ambitious, it remains a target rather than an immediate implementation. The state NLC Chairman, Idrees Lafene, expressed excitement about the development but acknowledged that even the ₦80,000 wage does not fully meet the high cost of living in Nigeria, noting, “It is not commensurate with a bag of rice but at least, it is a step forward.”
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