Hope for NYSC Allowance to be increased to 77,000 naira as President Tinubu Approves 70,000-naira minimum wage

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In the aftermath of the meeting held between President Bola Tinubu and the Organized Labour Union, an agreement was reached that 70,000naira be made the new minimum wage in Nigeria. Following the protest by the members of the Organised Labour Union worldwide, a tripartite committee which consisted of the leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress was set up to oversee a new national minimum wage for review.

Previously, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), which are the main labour unions in Nigeria declared an indefinite strike action on the 3^rd of June, 2024; as a way of showing their grievances over the minimum wage which has not been increased even with the worsened economic situation in the country. The three-man committee proposed the sum of 495,000 naira, which was welcomed with a counter-offer of 60,000 naira from the federal government.

After several meetings and deliberations, the federal government implored the committee to call-off the strike action and made a promise to propose a national minimum wage above the initially proposed 60,000 naira. With this in mind, the strike action which crippled activities like vehicle movements, flights, school activities, office activities, and power supply all over the country, was halted. For the union, the call-off was to allow negotiations after which a resumption or non-resumption of the strike action would depend solely on the government’s cooperation to offer a more favourable national minimum wage. 

Following these events, the federal government on 18^th July, 2024 offered the sum of 70,000 as the new minimum age. During his speech, the president of the National Labour Union (NLC), Joe Ajareo; told reporters that the newly offered minimum wage, although below the initially proposed wage, was a way forward.

With this in view, one can not but hope that the National Youth Service Corps increases its allowee to the sum of 77,000 naira. Recall that NYSC is a post-tertiary education scheme set up by the Nigerian government under the regime of Yakubu Gowon, the military head of state, after the Nigerian Civil war – in a bid to foster unity among the youths in the country and to rebuild the country as well. 

Currently, NYCS pays the sum of 33,000-naira monthly allowance (allowee) to corps members. This sum was approved by the federal government in 2019, under the regime of president Muhammadu Buhari, following the review and increment of the national minimum wage from 18,000 to 30,000.

The foregoing increment in the national minimum wage therefore poses hope for an increment of the NYSC allowance as well to the sum of 77,000 naira.