By Bukola Olasanmi
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have said before the national minimum wage can be reviewed, the continuous rise in inflation and the devaluation of the Naira must be checked.
NLC said the cost of virtually all consumables in Nigeria had been on the rise, stressing that if this should continue; any amount of money that would be added to the minimum wage might not meet the expectations of workers.
The NLC and TUC spoke against the backdrop of the disclosure by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, that the Federal Government would soon announce salary increments for civil servants and public officials due to the steady increase in prices of consumer goods.
It was reported that Nigeria’s headline inflation has continued to rise this year, hitting a new high of 21.47 per cent in November 2022 from 21.09 per cent in October 2022, according to the Consumer Price Index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) this year.
According to the NBS, the reason for the increase year-on-year was the increase in the cost of importation due to the persistent currency depreciation and a general increase in the cost of production, including an increase in energy cost.
The food inflation rate also increased to 24.13 per cent on a year-on-year basis, 6.92 per cent higher compared to 17.21 per cent recorded in November 2021.