Borno LG Workers Protest Against Unpaid Minimum Wage

On Friday, local government workers across Borno State protested in Maiduguri against the non-implementation of the ₦70,000 minimum wage. The protest was organized by the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, with state NLC chairman Yusuf Inuwa addressing journalists about the dire economic conditions affecting workers.

Inuwa noted that while the state government had made efforts to pay primary school teachers and healthcare workers, local government staff were excluded from these negotiations. He emphasized that the local government workforce is facing severe hardships due to inflation, with salaries insufficient to sustain them for even a week.

The Borno State government has stalled the implementation of the minimum wage due to a bloated number of employees, with approximately 90,000 staff across 27 local government areas, significantly higher than in larger states like Kano. The monthly allocation from the federal government for the Maiduguri Metropolitan Council sometimes falls below ₦700 million, while the minimum wage implementation would require ₦778 million.