by 
What employees in Nigeria should know about minimum wage in Nigeria.
A minimum wage is a marker for the lowest possible amount that employers’ can pay workers’.
The 62 million employed Nigerians (according to an NBS unemployment report) earn at the range of the federal minimum wage or above.
However, not everyone in the labour market in Nigeria receives the minimum wage of N30, 000 at least not casual or menial workers.
What jobs pay minimum wage in Nigeria
Anyone from the age of 23 should be entitled to a living wage – either as an employee in a company or as a worker anywhere else.
There are several jobs and many different ways to get income. Being employed by a company or working under someone is one criterion for receiving minimum wage.
Otherwise, those who have other sources of income may or may not be entitled to the minimum wage under federal law in Nigeria. Some of these include;
- Self-employed – this means they make their income from a specific business set up. These could also include sole farmers, sole tailors and similar businesses run personally.
- Interns or apprenticeship
- Work experience arrangments
- Below age 16 or working under a guardian or family.
- Volunteers
- Prisoners
The national minimum wage rate for graduates at least age 23 in Nigeria and above is N30, 000($72). Age-wise, minimum-wage workers tend to be younger Nigerians or around 16 years.
However, under 16 workers could also be paid higher in some work set up.
Bars, restaurants, parlours and schools employ at least 50% of all minimum-wage workers – waiters, waitresses, porters, bartenders.
A percentage of minimum wage workers are also salespersons for breweries, stores and industries. Transport and construction companies also employ minimum-wage workers.
Minimum-wage workers are sometimes full-time workers who have families.
- SPW Nigeria: Unskilled Workers To Earn N20, 000 Monthly From The Special Public Works
- Nigeria Can Make Sustainability and Climate Action Work
- CBN – $35 billion foreign reserves will cover seven months of import
What minimum wage workers should know
Workers who get paid less than the minimum wage should talk to the authorities about their working arrangements.
If a worker is fired or their wage is adjusted lower, they should ask the employer to explain the changes.
