May Day: Beyond the celebration

As the world celebrates International Workers Day, Nigeria’s workers are drowning in a sea of poverty, insecurity, and neglect.

The labour rights flame that once burned bright has fizzled out, leaving workers to suffocate under the weight of abandonment.

The harsh reality is stark: teachers beg for chalk, doctors skip meals, and local government clerks trek to work while oil wealth flows into private pockets.

The statistics are damning.

Nigeria’s minimum wage is a paltry ₦70,000, barely enough to feed a family of five for a month.

The cost of living skyrockets as fuel prices soar, and inflation devours whatever little they earn.

The roads are treacherous, and insecurity grips the nation, making every commute a gamble with life.

Unions that once roared for justice now whisper platitudes, their fire dampened by compromise and convenience.

Leaders, it’s time to walk a mile in workers’ shoes: try feeding a family of five on ₦70,000 a month, commuting without convoys, and sending your kids to underfunded public schools where teachers haven’t been paid in months.

The solution is clear: fix the wage structure, make food affordable, secure the roads, and dignify the unions.

It’s time to treat workers with the respect and dignity they deserve.

Until then, spare us the Happy Workers’ Day rhetoric. Just fix the country. No fixes, no celebration.

Diaspora Digital Media insists that the Nigerian worker deserves better. It’s time to deliver.

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