NLC Declares Nationwide May Day Protests Over Minimum Wage

NLC Declares Nationwide May Day Protests Over Minimum Wage

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has announced plans to stage nationwide protests on May Day 2026 in states that have failed to fully implement the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act. The union also directed that all indoor or official May Day celebrations in affected states be suspended, prioritising public demonstrations to demand workers’ rights.

According to a statement signed by NLC General Secretary Emmanuel Ugboaja, several state governments have continued to violate the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act by refusing to implement key provisions. These include consequential salary adjustments for senior staff, timely payment of the new wage, and expanded coverage for local government staff, primary school teachers, and health workers. The NLC described these violations as “a breach of the law and an assault on the dignity of Nigerian workers.”

The 2024 National Minimum Wage Act, signed by President Bola Tinubu on July 29, 2024, raised Nigeria’s minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000 per month. The law was enacted after extended negotiations between the federal government, labour unions, and private-sector representatives. It also included updated provisions for senior staff adjustments, prompt salary payments, and expanded coverage to previously excluded groups such as local government workers, teachers, and healthcare personnel.

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Despite the law, implementation has remained inconsistent across states, prompting the NLC to mobilise workers for peaceful street protests on May Day. The union stressed that compliance with its directive is mandatory, warning that “any chairperson who fails to comply or substitutes the directive with indoor celebrations in a defaulting state shall face immediate disciplinary action.”

Under the directive, workers in defaulting states are to assemble at labour houses, union offices, or designated public spaces by 7:00 a.m., before proceeding on peaceful marches through major streets. Protest routes are expected to culminate at key government locations, including State Government Houses, State Houses of Assembly, and offices of the Head of Service, where formal memoranda of demands will be presented.

The NLC emphasised that May Day — International Workers’ Day — should be a day of action and reflection, not indoor ceremonies, declaring:

“The 2024 Minimum Wage Act did not come through supplication. It came through struggle. To celebrate May Day indoors while our rights are trampled upon is to betray that legacy. Let us therefore return to the streets!”

Rising dissatisfaction over the ₦70,000 minimum wage has intensified calls for action, with labour groups arguing that the wage fails to address Nigeria’s high inflation and escalating cost of living. Analysts expect the protests to be the largest labour mobilisation since the enactment of the 2024 wage law.

 

NLC Declares Nationwide May Day Protests Over Minimum Wage