President of the United States, Joe Biden, has raised the
minimum wage of those working on federal contracts to $15 per hour which is
equivalent to N6,750 at the parallel market exchange rate of N450 per dollar.
However, the minimum wage per month for workers in Nigeria
is N30,000 which is equivalent to $66, a paltry sum hardly enough for a
Nigerian to survive a month, not with the rising food prices in the West
African country.
Biden on Tuesday, took to his verified Twitter handle to
inform all workers on American soil of the development.
He enthused, “I believe no one should work full time and
still live in poverty. That’s why today, I raised the minimum wage to $15 an
hour for people working on federal contracts.”
After prolonged and heated negotiations between the workers,
employers and the government, the Nigerian President, Muhammadu
Buhari in 2019 forwarded an executive bill to the National Assembly
for amendment of the National Minimum Wage Act.
Buhari signed the passed bill into law in April 2019,
raising the minimum wage from N18,000 to N30,000.
Some states have, however, been unable to pay the new wage.
A bill seeking to allow states to individually determine the
minimum wage suitable for them is currently being debated at the National
Assembly.
Presently, the Federal Government maintains the exclusive
powers to negotiate and determine the national minimum wage for workers across
the three tiers of government in Nigeria.
The bill seeks an amendment to the 1999 Constitution by
removing matters relating to wages from the Exclusive Legislative List to the
Concurrent Legislative List narrowly passed second reading due to the division
among the lawmakers on the proposal.
When the bill becomes law, respective state and local
governments will be able to determine different wages for their workers.
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