NLC President Ajaero Says Tinubu’s ‘Age of Prosperity’ Has Not Reached Nigerian Workers

President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has said President Bola Tinubu’s declaration that Nigeria has entered an “age of prosperity” has yet to translate into better living conditions for Nigerian workers.

Ajaero made the comment during an interview on the Mic On Podcast hosted by Seun Okinbaloye, where he discussed the impact of the government’s economic reforms, the minimum wage and the rising cost of living.

The NLC president said increases in the prices of petrol, food, transportation and accommodation had significantly reduced the purchasing power of workers earning the ₦70,000 national minimum wage.

“Prosperity is not with the Nigerian worker,” Ajaero said.

He, however, expressed hope that the government’s promise of prosperity could eventually become a reality.

Ajaero argued that a decline in the inflation rate should not be interpreted to mean that Nigerians were experiencing cheaper goods and services.

According to him, inflation measures the rate at which prices are increasing, meaning that a slower rate of inflation does not reverse previous increases that have already pushed up the cost of living.

He said organised labour accepted the ₦70,000 minimum wage partly because the Federal Government promised to cushion the impact of petrol subsidy removal through measures including Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) transportation, vehicle conversion kits, cash transfers and other interventions.

Ajaero, however, said many of the promised measures had either not been implemented at the required scale or had failed to provide meaningful relief for workers.

He also argued that increasing wages alone would not solve the problem if the cost of basic necessities continued to rise.

“If I get N500,000 minimum wage, and I can’t pay my house rent, of what use?” he asked.

Ajaero said the value of workers’ salaries must be assessed alongside the cost of living and the purchasing power of the naira.

On fuel prices, the labour leader argued that petrol could potentially sell for around ₦500 per litre if crude produced in Nigeria was supplied to domestic refineries under favourable conditions.

He maintained that expanding local refining and ensuring domestic refineries have access to locally produced crude could reduce the cost of petrol.

Ajaero also criticised the pace of the CNG programme, arguing that the limited availability of CNG buses and refuelling stations had prevented the initiative from significantly reducing transportation costs for Nigerians.

The NLC president further accused the Federal Government of failing to adequately engage organised labour on major economic policies affecting workers.

“The government, this government, doesn’t engage,” he said.

He warned that unresolved issues surrounding wages, the cost of living and outstanding agreements with government could eventually lead to industrial action.

Ajaero also criticised the economic positions of President Tinubu, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State governor Peter Obi, particularly their positions on fuel subsidy removal.

According to him, the three politicians have broadly similar market-oriented approaches to the economy.

“Peter Obi, Atiku and Asiwaju (Tinubu), they all have the same position and they have shown that they are market people from the far right,” Ajaero said.

He said he was more willing to consider the economic proposals of Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim of the Accord Party and Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party, describing their positions as sufficiently different to warrant attention.

Ajaero’s comments came days after Tinubu used his October 1 Independence Day broadcast to declare that Nigeria had moved beyond the period of emergency economic reforms and entered what he described as an “age of prosperity.”

The NLC president’s assessment reflects organised labour’s continuing concern over the gap between improvements cited by the government in macroeconomic indicators and the cost pressures facing workers and households.