News

Biden raises minimum wage to $15/N6,750 per hour

Published

4 years ago

April 27, 2021

President of the United States, Joe Biden, has raised the minimum wage of those working on federal contracts to $15 per hour which is equivalent to N6,750 at the parallel market exchange rate of N450 per dollar..

However, the minimum wage per month for workers in Nigeria is N30,000 which is equivalent to $66, a paltry sum hardly enough for a Nigerian to survive a month, not with the rising food prices in the West African country.

Biden on Tuesday, took to his verified Twitter handle to inform all workers on American soil of the development.

He enthused, “I believe no one should work full time and still live in poverty. That’s why today, I raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour for people working on federal contracts.”

Edujandon.com had earlier reported that after prolonged and heated negotiations between the workers, employers and the government, the Nigerian President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in 2019 forwarded an executive bill to the National Assembly for amendment of the National Minimum Wage Act.

Buhari signed the passed bill into law in April 2019, raising the minimum wage from N18,000 to N30,000.

Some states have, however, been unable to pay the new wage.

A bill seeking to allow states to individually determine the minimum wage suitable for them is currently being debated at the National Assembly.

Presently, the Federal Government maintains the exclusive powers to negotiate and determine the national minimum wage for workers across the three tiers of government in Nigeria.

The bill seeks an amendment to the 1999 Constitution by removing matters relating to wages from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List narrowly passed second reading due to the division among the lawmakers on the proposal.

When the bill becomes law, respective state and local governments will be able to determine different wages for their workers