Nigeria’s Minimum Wage Illusion: Why ₦70,000 Today Buys Less Than ₦18,000 Did in 2011 (Comparing Real Wage Value in Dollar Terms)

03 Aug 2026

When former President Goodluck Jonathan signed the national minimum wage into law in 2011, it was set at ₦18,000. At the exchange rate of the time, around ₦160 to $1, that amounted to roughly $112.5 a month. Today, under President Bola Tinubu, the national minimum wage stands at ₦70,000. But with the naira now trading […]

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Minimum Wage Math Shows Why Many Nigerians Still Feel Poorer Despite Naira Figures Doubling

02 Aug 2026

A comparison circulating online argues that a Nigerian minimum wage earner sending a child to university was better off in dollar terms under former President Goodluck Jonathan than under President Bola Tinubu, even after accounting for Tinubu’s minimum wage increase and the new NELFUND (Nigerian Education Loan Fund, the federal government’s student loan scheme) support. […]

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