The cost of surviving in Nigeria is rising far faster than workers’ incomes, leaving millions of households increasingly dependent on borrowing, cutting essential expenses, and making difficult choices between necessities that should never compete with one another.
Development Diaries reports that the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, recently disclosed that state governors were considering a new national minimum wage of N100,000.
The proposal was swiftly rejected by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), whose spokesperson, Benson Upah, argued that the figure was far below what workers need to survive under current economic conditions and suggested that wages should be closer to N1,000,000 monthly.
The disagreement has renewed public scrutiny of the growing gap between workers’ incomes and the rising cost of living, as many Nigerians struggle to afford food, transportation, cooking gas, rent, and other basic necessities.
A teacher, for example, who paid N900 per kilogram for cooking gas a few months ago now faces prices as high as N1,500 per kilogram, and filling a standard 12.5-kilogram cylinder that previously cost N11,250 now requires almost N19,000.
Her husband’s income as a commercial motorcycle rider has not suddenly improved; still, every item in the family budget seems to have received a salary increase except the people earning the money.
That story is increasingly becoming the Nigerian experience, as the country’s current minimum wage of N70,000, approved in July 2024 after prolonged negotiations, has already been overtaken by inflation.
Although official figures show food inflation moderating from 25.22 percent to 14.31 percent between March 2025 and March 2026, ordinary Nigerians do not buy inflation percentages in the market.
A food basket that cost N25,225 in 2020 reportedly cost over N147,000 by January 2026.
Now, let’s consider families struggling to put food on the table; statistical moderation feels a bit like being told that the fire destroying your house is no longer spreading as quickly.
Data behind desperation
According to the latest Economic Report of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), personal loans reached N1.96 trillion in January 2026, accounting for more than half of total consumer credit, with overall consumer credit rising to N3.81 trillion.
The growth in personal lending suggests that many households are using credit to bridge the widening gap between income and daily expenses.
Meanwhile, Nigerian banks are reporting rising levels of non-performing loans following the withdrawal of regulatory forbearance measures by the CBN. In simple terms, many people borrowing to survive are struggling to repay, as the same salary that cannot comfortably buy food, transport, electricity, rent, school fees, and cooking gas is also expected to service loans.
The rise in cooking gas prices tells a similar story. Nigeria’s domestic production of Liquefied Petroleum Gas has increased; still, prices continue to climb.
Common sense suggests that when production goes up, prices should at least show some willingness to come down. Instead, many Nigerians are watching cooking gas behave like a luxury item that did not get the memo about increased supply.
The problem, therefore, lies within the systems responsible for storage, transportation, distribution, retail competition, and market regulation, and those systems are governance responsibilities.
What system is failing
The first is the wage-setting system itself. Minimum wage reviews occur so slowly that new wages are often outdated before workers begin to receive them. In an economy where prices can change dramatically within months, a review cycle stretching over years guarantees that workers will constantly play catch-up.
The second failure lies in energy market governance, as higher domestic gas production has not translated into lower household costs, with petrol prices remaining high despite marginal reductions, while transportation continues to consume a significant portion of household income.
For many Nigerians, the generator remains a more reliable member of the family than the national grid, even though keeping it alive requires feeding it almost as regularly as a growing child.
The third challenge involves consumer credit. While access to loans has expanded through banks and fintech platforms, consumer protection has not kept pace. Many low-income earners now find themselves trapped between rising living costs and expensive credit products marketed as emergency solutions.
These failures are connected because each one increases the financial pressure on households already struggling with stagnant incomes.
Citizens’ rights
Nigeria has both constitutional and international obligations regarding citizens’ welfare. Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognises the right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food, housing, and clothing.
Also, Nigeria’s constitution, through its Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, commits the government to ensuring that national resources are managed for the benefit of all citizens.
When a full-time worker cannot comfortably afford food, transportation, cooking fuel, housing, and other basic necessities despite earning the legally approved minimum wage, questions about whether those commitments are being fulfilled become unavoidable.
The same applies to cooking gas prices. A country that produces more gas while citizens struggle to afford it raises legitimate questions about whether regulatory institutions are effectively protecting public interests.
Gender and equity lens
Women often absorb the harshest effects of economic hardship long before statistics capture them. In many households, mothers reduce their own food intake before reducing portions for their children, as rising cooking gas prices push families back towards firewood, charcoal, and kerosene, exposing women and children to indoor air pollution and associated health risks.
The challenge is even greater for women working in informal sectors where minimum wage protections rarely exist. Domestic workers, market traders, food vendors, and many other low-income women often earn far below any officially approved wage benchmark.
For residents of urban informal settlements and low-income communities, the burden is heavier still as they often lack the income stability, storage facilities, and purchasing power needed to reduce costs through bulk buying or long-term planning.
What citizens should demand
The debate over N100,000 versus N1,000,000 should not be reduced to a political bargaining contest between labour leaders and government officials.
Citizens should demand that the NGF publish the data and methodology used to arrive at its proposed figure. Workers deserve to know whether the calculation reflects the realities of food prices, transportation costs, housing expenses, electricity bills, school fees, and cooking fuel.
As for the Tripartite Minimum Wage Negotiation Committee, it should commission and publish an independent living wage assessment that reflects the actual cost of survival across different states and communities.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority should also publish regular reports explaining why cooking gas prices continue rising despite increased domestic production, while the CBN should strengthen protections for low-income borrowers, increasingly dependent on consumer credit to survive.
Until government policies begin to reflect the prices Nigerians encounter in markets rather than the figures officials debate in conference rooms, every minimum wage conversation will sound less like a discussion about prosperity and more like an argument about the cheapest way to manage hardship.
