Nigerian workers and our occult economy

He is correct to a T. The life of Nigerian workers today has become a bottomless apology because they are contending with problems, serious problems, on every front: transportation, food, healthcare, housing, you name it. They are a river of grievances and are therefore not able to breathe properly, feed properly, travel properly and even to smile properly. Any one of them who finds any reason to smile at all must be producing a smile of very low wattage. In summary, the Nigerian worker is at the precipice of despair today. As at May, about 20 states have failed to pay the approved N70, 000 minimum wage which they owe to local government workers and primary school teachers. I will save them from shame by withholding the names of the defaulting states.

In some of these states, there have already been protests on the issue. Some of the states have offered to pay their workers something higher than N70, 000 per month. Good. Others have stuck to N70, 000. Not good because in today’s economy N70, 000 cannot go very far when you consider the skyrocketing cost of transportation, housing, feeding and healthcare.

Some years ago, the labour leaders used to say while fighting for improved wages, that the prevailing salaries then could not take the workers home, if it took them to the office. In my days as an indigent student, I used to be on 0-1-0. That is no breakfast, no dinner, only lunch. Some workers are probably on this formula today. And the slogan of salary not being able to take a worker home is close to true today.

When workers complete their tenure, they are paid pensions and gratuity. While the federal government has met its obligations in this area largely faithfully, it is estimated that about 28 states out of 36 are owing pensions that have accumulated over the years. The figure for that indebtedness is about N626.8 billion. And the amazing thing is that the money going to the states from FAAC since fuel subsidy was removed in 2023 is gargantuan. If these pension funds remain unpaid, it means that the decision makers in these debtor states do not consider clearing these debts a priority. It is quite a tragic scene watching old men and women who have put in several decades of their youthful life labouring for their states being treated as beggars. What they are asking for is the sweat of their labour and not manna from heaven or some treasure island. Some of them stay on long queues waiting for their money and collapse. Others have died chasing their legitimate entitlement.

In a saner society than ours, that would not be allowed to happen. But the amazing thing, too, is that while the aged retirees wait hungrily for their entitlements, virtually all the governors and deputy governors who served in those states get their humongous benefits readily as they fall due. Some of them have become either senators or ministers, positions in which they also earn fabulous salaries. Even though the world is not a fair place we don’t have to make it much less than fair.

In today’s Nigeria, insecurity has been a major hindrance to peaceful, harmonious living. People are being killed or kidnapped in their houses, in the streets and anywhere else that people can be found. For the Nigerian worker, that is adding salt to injury. Many workers have been killed or kidnapped, so have their relations and loved ones. So for the worker that is a double whammy, poor wages and an insecure life.

The World Bank says that Nigeria’s labour force is 113.35 million, formal and informal, out of an estimated population of 237 million people. About 90% of this figure operates in the informal sector. And since the informal sector is unregulated it means that there are many more workers that are suffering in Nigeria. That is also why we have hundreds of young people hawking in major towns today, children who in normal circumstances should be in school studying. They are in the streets because their parents, whether working or not, are in no position to pay the family’s bills without the resort to child labour.

However, Nigeria is getting some kind of soft landing. Our 2026 budget was based on a daily oil production of 1.8 million barrels per day at a benchmark price of $64.85 per barrel and an exchange rate of N1,400 to the dollar. But the US-Iran war which started on February 28, is performing magic for us and transforming our economy into what anthropologists call “occult economy.” Occult economy is when money magically appears without anyone working for it. We now have truckloads of money we did not expect to have. We now have enough money to buy the grand jury. Now, this sunny scenario is making our chest to swell. But we do not have to spend this windfall like a drunken sailor.

So far, the federal government has earned not less than N5 trillion since the war started. This money should help us to breathe properly and get a soft landing. With the hanky-panky game going on between the United States and Iran, the war may go on for some more weeks. If that happens, our bullion vans will keep bulging and the Central Bank will need more space to pile the dollars that will be choking its vaults soon. It is a pity that our wallets are bulging from the death and misery of fellow human beings but we did not ask for it. It is simply manna from heaven.

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But while it lasts, we must spend the money wisely, very wisely because there is a rainy day ahead. The world’s economy will face headwinds arising from the global turbulence and climate problems. We must be ready for both. Already we are told that at least 33 states in Nigeria will be victims of extreme flooding. How will they cope with it? Are we ready for it and other problems that we are currently contending with?

With these truckloads of money coming our way we must do something massive for the vulnerable among us: children, orphans, widows, handicapped, retirees and the elderly. Some states are giving financial support to their workers. Lagos has just approved N50, 000 for its workers. Some are giving subsidies on transportation at festive periods while some states are donating buses to labour unions.

On housing, Lagos has allocated 10 hectares of land in Idera, Ibeju-Lekki and Badagry for workers’ housing scheme. Akwa Ibom has provided houses for some junior workers and is also building a housing estate for 100 of its aviation workers. Cross River State has allocated 50 hectares of land for civil servants’ housing scheme per senatorial district and has already constructed 1,000 housing units. Some other states are also doing what they think fit to alleviate the sufferings of their workers specifically and citizens generally.

As more money rolls in we expect all the states to formulate a series of programmes for giving their people a decent living standard. The campaigns and elections will be here soon. That will take a lot of our decision makers away from governance. That will become the lame duck period so now is the time for them to pay attention to the needs of their people. The advantage of exerting more energy now for their people is that when they mount the soap box in a few months’ time to campaign, the people will believe them because there is evidence of performance on the ground. This oil windfall is their saving grace. They must use it compassionately. If they bless the people now, the people will bless them later. That is reciprocity.