The United States has said Nigeria’s recently approved minimum wage of N70,000 for federal workers has been undermined by the continued depreciation of the naira.
In its Country Reports on the US department of state website dated August 12 on Human Rights Practices for 2024, released by the US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour, the report noted that the new wage, pegged at about $47.90 per month, had lost its value due to the naira trading at over N1,500 to the dollar.
It added that firms with fewer than 25 workers did not benefit from the wage increase.
“The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2024 doubled the minimum wage to 70,000 naira ($47.90) per month.
“Despite the increase, currency devaluation meant the minimum wage was no longer higher than the poverty income level.
“Many employers had fewer than 25 employees, so most workers were not covered,” the report said.
The law provides a national minimum wage for employers with 25 or more full-time staff, with exceptions for seasonal agricultural workers, part-time employees, and commission-based roles.
The US report further observed that some states had declined to implement the law, citing financial constraints. It also pointed out gaps in enforcement.
It stated,”The law did not define premium pay or overtime and prohibited excessive compulsory overtime for civilian government employees, stressing that the government rarely effectively enforced minimum wage and overtime, while penalties were low and not commensurate with other crimes such as fraud.”
According to the report, between 70 and 80 per cent of Nigeria’s working population operates in the informal economy, where authorities fail to enforce wage, hour, and Occupational Safety and Health laws.
On child rights, the US flagged concerns over early marriage despite federal laws stipulating 18 years as the minimum age.
“Federal law sets a minimum age of 18 for marriage for both boys and girls.
“While 35 states, all except Zamfara State, adopted the law, many states, especially northern states, did not uphold the federal minimum age.
“In some states, children as young as 11 could be legally married under customary or religious law.
“The government worked with local and international partners to engage religious leaders, emirs, and sultans on the issue, emphasising the health hazards of early marriage,” the report emphasised.
The report also raised concerns over security and justice delivery, citing cases of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions.
It quoted Amnesty International as saying the whereabouts of “dozens of young men detained at SARS Awkuzu,” a former police station in Anambra State, remain unknown since the disbandment of SARS in 2020.
“Police and other security services had the authority to arrest individuals without a warrant if officials reasonably suspected a person committed a crime. Security forces sometimes abused this authority.
“The law required subjects be brought before a magistrate within 48 hours and have access to lawyers and family members.
“According to the law, initial pretrial detention orders were not to exceed 14 days. In some instances, government and security employees did not adhere to this regulation,” it said.
It further noted that bail provisions were often arbitrary, with suspects kept incommunicado and sometimes incarcerated indefinitely in investigative detention.
“In their prosecution of corruption cases, law enforcement and intelligence agencies did not always follow due process, arresting suspects without appropriate arrest and search warrants,” the report stated.
On the judiciary, the US identified lengthy pretrial detention and delays as major challenges.
“Some detainees were held in pretrial detention for periods equal or exceeding the maximum sentence for the accused crime.
“The shortage of trial judges, trial backlogs, endemic corruption, bureaucratic inertia, and undue political influence seriously hampered the judicial system.
“Some detainees had their cases delayed because the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Correctional Service did not have vehicles to transport them to court.
“Some individuals remained in detention because authorities lost their case files,” the report said. (Punch)
