Why doesn't a higher salary buy as much as before?
Because the naira figure has grown, but its real value has shrunk. In 2019, ₦30,000 minimum wage was worth about $83. By May 2023, that same ₦30,000 was worth about $65. Now the minimum wage has risen to ₦70,000, but at around ₦1,320 to the dollar, it is worth only about $53. With N30,000 in 2019, you could buy over 200 litres of fuel, but today, with N70,000, you can barely buy 50 litres. So you can hold more naira in your hand and still afford less food, transport, electricity, medicine and housing than before.
Where this comes from
Article on X Article by @atiku on X · https://x.com/atiku/status/2097745799593841116 2026-09-09 ›
“Take the minimum wage as the simplest example. In 2019, ₦30,000 was worth roughly $83. By May 2023, that same ₦30,000 was worth about $65. Today, government boasts that the minimum wage has more than doubled to ₦70,000, yet at an exchange rate of around ₦1,320 to the dollar, that ₦70,000 is worth only about $53. Think about that: the number written on the worker’s payslip has risen from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000, but its dollar value has fallen from about $83 to about $53. “That is Tinubu’s money illusion in its simplest form. The figure in your hand is bigger, but the value in your pocket is smaller. A worker can earn more naira today and still afford less food, less transport, less electricity, less medicine and less housing than before.