N70,000 Transport Allowance Won’t End Workers’ Hardship, Says Kaduna NLC

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Kaduna State Council, has said the federal government’s N70,000 monthly transport allowance will provide only temporary relief to workers.

The state chairman of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Magaji Suleiman, said workers were still struggling to meet basic household needs amid rising food prices, transportation costs and other essential expenses.

Suleiman, who spoke in an interview with LEADERSHIP, described the transport allowance as a welcome intervention but said the rising cost of goods and services had continued to erode the benefits of salary increases.

He explained that the N170,000 represents the combined value of three payments: the N70,000 national minimum wage, the N30,000 monthly wage award and the proposed N70,000 transport allowance.

The NLC chief, however, said the combined amount would still not be enough to cushion workers against the rising cost of living, particularly the increasing costs of food, rent, school fees, healthcare, electricity and cooking gas.

Suleiman said N500,000 would be a good starting point for negotiations, explaining that workers needed a wage that reflected the rising cost of living.

He, however, said even improved pay must be considered against the rising costs of food, rent, school fees, healthcare, electricity and cooking gas.

The labour leader said workers needed a living wage that would enable them to meet their families’ basic needs and save for the future, rather than merely survive from one paycheque to the next.

He called on governments to complement salary adjustments with subsidised public transportation and other measures to reduce the cost of living.

On the implementation of the N70,000 transport allowance in Kaduna State, Suleiman said the state council had written to Governor Uba Sani, with copies sent to relevant stakeholders, seeking the adoption of the arrangement for state and local government workers.

He acknowledged that implementation could pose challenges for state and local governments but expressed hope that workers at those levels would also benefit from the intervention.