… Ajaero Demands Urgent Wage Review
…. Says Patience of Nigerian Workers Is Wearing Thin
Daud Olatunji
The Nigeria Labour Congress has demanded an urgent review of workers’ wages, warning that 2026 must become a defining year for social justice and improved living standards for Nigerian workers and citizens.
The labour movement said patience was wearing thin amid rising inflation, worsening hardship and what it described as repeated failures of government at all levels to fulfil key socioeconomic promises.
In a New Year message titled ‘As 2026 Beckons; Our Resolve Remains Strong’, the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said organised labour would enter the new year “not with naïve hope,
but with a fortified resolve,” insisting that workers would settle for nothing less than concrete, pro-people actions.
“As we stand on the threshold of 2026, we extend strong solidarity to every toiling hand and every citizen burdened by the weight of our current socioeconomic system,” Ajaero said.
He noted that although 2025 laid bare Nigeria’s economic and social vulnerabilities, it failed to break the resolve of organised labour to continue its struggle for social justice and equitable redistribution of wealth.
The NLC leader acknowledged what he described as renewed commitments by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to meaningful engagement with labour, stressing that such assurances were secured through sustained pressure by workers.
“These commitments were extracted through relentless pressure and our collective voice. We acknowledge this platform and will engage deeply, consciously and patriotically,” he said.
However, Ajaero cautioned that engagement would not translate into complacency, urging workers and citizens to remain vigilant in the year ahead.
“Our primary message as we step into 2026 is to be vigilant and patriotic,” he warned.
The NLC President also sent a strong message to political leaders, declaring that organised labour would only align with governments and political actors who demonstrate genuine commitment to lifting Nigerians out of poverty.
“We will work with and support only those governments who show, through clear pro-people plans and actionable commitments, a real desire to uplift the masses,” he said.
He added, “We reject outright mercantilistic politicians whose stock-in-trade are empty promises, divisive rhetoric and policies that decimate living standards for the benefit of a parasitic few.”
Ajaero said a central pillar of labour’s agenda in 2026 would be an urgent wage review to cushion the effects of inflation on workers.
“Given the escalating inflation and suffering, we demand an urgent wage review. A worker’s income must guarantee life, not mere survival, in line with Mr President’s promise to pay living wages.
“We shall pursue this demand with every legitimate means at our disposal,” he stated.
Beyond wages, the NLC described security as a non-negotiable responsibility of the state, insisting that the safety of lives and property remains a fundamental right of citizens.
While acknowledging recent improvements in security, Ajaero urged the Federal Government to sustain and expand its efforts across the country.
“The people are deserving of peace and security wherever they live. The government should not look back,” he said.
He also called on Nigerians to resist attempts by political elites to divide the country along social, ethnic or political lines.
“Our power remains in our numbers and our victory in our solidarity. We are the same people — workers and the masses — united by oppression and fear, but also by hope and collective action,” Ajaero said.
Urging Nigerians to brace for challenges in the coming year, the NLC President called for unity and collective action, describing the working class as a critical force for national transformation.
“Let us make 2026 a year where the power of the working class and the oppressed becomes the strongest glue that holds us together. We hold the key to national transformation and reconciliation,” he said.
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