Your salary went up.
It still can’t reach month end.
They increased the naira in your hand and let it lose its power in the market. Here is what that did to a worker’s month.
Think back to 2015. The minimum wage was ₦18,000. With it you could buy 207 litres of petrol. Or two bags of rice. Or ten bags of cement to keep building your house.
Today the minimum wage is ₦70,000. It buys 44 litres of petrol. One bag of rice and a little change. Less than six bags of cement.
Nobody took money from your hand. They took it from inside the naira.
In 2015 one month of minimum wage bought 207 litres of petrol. Today it buys 44.
What does your money buy?
| Item | ₦18,000 in 2015 | Your pay today |
|---|
Prices: petrol ₦87 (2015) and ₦1,596 (NBS, May 2026); rice ₦8,500 and ₦60,000 a bag (Lagos market, May 2026); cement ₦1,750 and ₦12,000; pure water ₦10 and ₦50. Dollar rates from the CBN.
They let it fall. Twice.
The naira has lost 85% of its value. First they let it slide to ₦305 in 2016. Then from 2023 it crashed as low as ₦1,690.
If you saved ₦100,000 in 2015, it was worth $509. The same ₦100,000 today is worth $75. Your savings did nothing wrong. The government did.
₦100,000 saved in 2015 was worth $509. Today it is worth $75. Nobody broke into your house. Your savings still disappeared.
From first in Africa to third
Nigeria was Africa’s biggest economy when they came in. Now it is third, behind South Africa and Egypt.
They promised the economy would grow by 10% every year. It grew by under 2% a year on average, slower than the number of people being born. There were two recessions.
Ghana, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire and Bangladesh were all poorer than Nigeria, person for person, in 2014. All four are richer than Nigeria today. They faced the same oil prices and the same world. They did not face this government.
Ghana, Kenya and Bangladesh were poorer than Nigeria in 2014. Today all of them are richer. Same world. Different government.
The factories left
In 2023 alone, the Manufacturers Association counted 767 factories shut down and 335 more in distress. Between 2020 and 2024, Shoprite, Kimberly-Clark, GSK, Procter & Gamble and others sold up or left. Every closed factory is a gate where people used to line up for work.
They promised three million new jobs every year. Unemployment rose from 10.4% in 2015 to 33.3% in 2020. Then they changed the way it is counted, so that one hour of paid work a week now counts as having a job.
They promised 3 million jobs a year. Unemployment went from 10% to 33%. Then they changed how they count it.
Dem increase salary. Market don run pass am. Naira don tire.
Forward one today
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