On International Workers’ Day 2025, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) praised Nigerian workers for their resilience.
Simultaneously, the organization urged governments to adopt a living wage to improve workers’ livelihoods.
In a statement by Robert Egbe, CAPPA’s Media Officer, the group emphasized workers’ role as Nigeria’s economic backbone.
However, they face exploitation, low wages, unsafe conditions, and shrinking civic rights, worsened by economic hardships.
Citing National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data, CAPPA noted that poor government policies from 2024 to 2025 triggered inflation, slashed incomes, and made essentials unaffordable. Consequently, workers struggle to meet basic needs.
The World Bank predicts 13 million more Nigerians will fall into poverty by 2025, pushing the total to 142 million. CAPPA blamed this crisis on World Bank and IMF’s neoliberal policies, enforced through restrictive loans and grants.
Although Nigeria raised the minimum wage to N70,000 in 2024, CAPPA argued it remains inadequate. Furthermore, many states have failed to implement it, leaving local government workers and teachers unpaid.
CAPPA highlighted a stark contradiction: workers drive national wealth yet live in poverty. An Oxfam report showed Nigeria’s four richest employers grew wealth while workers’ purchasing power plummeted. Shockingly, today’s N70,000 wage equals the 1980s’ N125 in dollar terms.
Additionally, CAPPA condemned Nigeria’s unemployment crisis, where 90% of expatriates hold Nigerian jobs illegally. Interior Minister Olubunmi Ojo confirmed this trend, which sidelines qualified locals and floods the market with unskilled foreign labor.
CAPPA demanded stricter enforcement against illegal expatriate employment. The group also called for workers’ rights to organize, protest, and work safely without discrimination.
Moreover, CAPPA pushed for fair wages, benefits, and protections, especially for marginalized groups like women, youth, and informal workers. These groups often endure extra barriers in the workforce.
Finally, CAPPA urged unions to use Workers’ Day to demand better conditions and laws easing workers’ burdens. The organization stressed that without urgent reforms, Nigeria’s labor force will remain trapped in hardship.
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