The United States has declared that President Bola Tinubu’s ₦70,000 minimum wage is worthless in real terms, thanks to naira devaluation and soaring inflation.
In its 2024 Human Rights Report, the US State Department noted that although the new law doubled wages, the figure is now below poverty level due to currency depreciation.
It added that millions are excluded, as many states have refused to implement the increase and employers with fewer than 25 staff are not obliged to pay.
Tinubu had announced the hike in July 2024, a year after subsidy removal and exchange rate unification.
The report bluntly stated: “Many Nigerians remain outside the wage structure, while those covered still live below the poverty line.”
