August 19, 2025
By Peter Omopo
The United States has said that Nigeria’s newly approved minimum wage of ₦70,000 has already lost significant value due to the persistent fall of the naira against the dollar.
In its 2024 Country Report on Human Rights Practices published on August 12 by the US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour, Washington noted that the wage increase—equivalent to about $47.90 per month—had been eroded by the exchange rate, which currently stands at over ₦1,500 to the dollar.
The report also highlighted that the wage law only applies to firms with 25 or more full-time employees, leaving a large portion of the workforce excluded, especially in the informal sector where about 70 to 80 percent of Nigerians are employed.
“Despite the increase, currency devaluation meant the minimum wage was no longer higher than the poverty income level,” the report stated. It further observed that some state governments had failed to implement the law, citing financial difficulties.
The report criticised weak enforcement, noting that penalties for violations were low and not commensurate with other crimes, while the law failed to clearly define overtime or premium pay.
Beyond labour concerns, the US raised fresh alarms on human rights in Nigeria. It flagged early marriage practices despite federal law setting 18 years as the minimum age. Although 35 states adopted the legislation, many northern states continue to permit child marriages under customary or religious laws, with some girls married as young as 11.
The report also drew attention to security and justice sector failings, including arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and prolonged pretrial detentions. Amnesty International was cited as saying that dozens of men arrested by the now-disbanded SARS unit in Awkuzu, Anambra State, have remained missing since 2020.
It noted that suspects are often detained without warrants, denied timely access to lawyers and family members, and in some cases held longer than the maximum sentence for their alleged offences.
Judicial inefficiency was equally flagged, with case delays, corruption, shortage of judges, and lack of logistics—such as vehicles to transport detainees to court—undermining justice delivery. In some instances, detainees remained behind bars because authorities misplaced their case files.
The US report concluded that Nigeria’s wage and labour reforms, human rights protection, and justice system remain hampered by weak enforcement, corruption, and systemic institutional challenges.
