The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has warned that raising Nigeria’s minimum wage to ₦500,000 could trigger severe economic consequences, arguing that the government should increase workers’ salaries gradually.
Ayodele made the remarks in a statement issued by his media aide, Osho Oluwatosin, in which he urged organised labour to consider the country’s economic realities when making wage demands.
The cleric acknowledged that the current minimum wage was inadequate to meet the basic needs of many Nigerian households, insisting that workers deserved an increase in their earnings.
However, he argued that a ₦500,000 minimum wage would be too high for the government to sustain under the country’s current economic conditions.
“The Nigerian government cannot pay a ₦500,000 minimum wage to civil servants. It’s a thing that will never come to pass; it can only be improved gradually so that it won’t cause economic hardship,” he said.
Ayodele also appealed to labour leaders to moderate their demands, while acknowledging the need for the government to improve workers’ welfare.
“Labour leaders should be considerate in their demands. The government definitely has to increase the minimum wage because the current one doesn’t align with the state of the Nigerian economy; it can barely help households feed. It needs to be increased, but ₦500,000 is too much,” he added.
His comments have brought renewed attention to the debate over workers’ wages, the rising cost of living and the government’s ability to meet salary obligations amid Nigeria’s economic challenges.
