The minimum wage in my country is currently at 70,000 naira only, and that is very low compared to the situation of the country. Converting it to dollars makes it about $50 per month, isn’t that super low? Trust me when I say the state of the country is very crazy for a $50 monthly income. Most of the people who earn that salary are family people; they have kids to feed and send to school. People are living in abject poverty, and it is just so sad to see.
In the last few years, the rate of people who have started begging has really skyrocketed so much. Everywhere you go, people are harassing you to ask you for money. It has become a very concerning pandemic, and for real, I do not blame them so much. It's very hard for the average Nigerian, and the government and the whole system are to blame. You cannot even begin to imagine how crazy it is, you can’t go out in one day without a person or a child asking you to give them money. Sometimes, I help when I can afford to. A few times, I would wonder if I would be an enabler if I keep giving out free money. However, you never can tell what people are going through even though some people are actual users.
Comparing the cost of things to how low people earn, it constantly makes me wonder how people do survive. You might want to get basic things needed for yourself, and you are already close to spending 100,000 naira or even more. So how exactly are people supposed to survive on a 70,000 naira salary? That is so unrealistic. If I was earning that and living based on that only, I can't even imagine. How am I supposed to even survive? Remove transport fare and little expenses here and there, how much then remains? How does a family survive with their kids' feeding and general needs? Let's not even start with school fees.
If this amount was even doubled, it still wouldn't do so much. Rent has skyrocketed in many parts of the country, transport fare as well due to the increase in fuel price, foodstuffs are expensive, and basic human needs are expensive too. How does one even navigate all of that with just 140,000 naira earned for 30 days of work? Even if it was tripled, it is still not a lot, but maybe for an average Nigerian, it might be fair enough for a minimum wage. With that, there might be a better standard of living.
For the last part of the question, I can’t give a realistic amount of what the minimum wage will be for me to actually consider myself "rich". Rich? Minimum wage? I don't think so. I just hope things get better over here, although we have been hoping for a very long time now. People are tired, people wake up every day lamenting, and it's so discouraging to even keep trying. It just feels like a never-ending loop. Honestly, sometimes it even feels like no matter how hard people work, the system keeps pushing them back, and that alone can break anyone’s spirit.
