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The harsh economic realities bedeviling Nigeria have prompted many families living on minimum wage to devise uncomfortable coping mechanisms to keep themselves alive.
To live through the challenges, Sunday Tudonu, a security officer at a state-owned university, juggles what he called a plan B with the security job that earns him ₦40,000 a month.
Although the Federal Government recently approved ₦70,000 as the new minimum wage with a promise to review it every three years, it may still not be enough for workers like Tudonu whose income is meant to care for five children and two other dependants.
In a chat with Pulse Nigeria, Tudonu disclosed how he and his family adjusted to the harsh economic condition.
Share your experience of living on minimum wage amidst the current economic challenges
My salary no reach anywhere. We need the government to hear us and assist workers because there’s nothing for us without their assistance. I know how much I used to pay for my children’s school fees, but now, I am unable to pay as I used to. I had to change their school, and even with that, my income no reach.
The income now is like a token. Eating is a problem. As a civil servant, I live on loan. That’s what we use to sustain ourselves but after paying the loan, salary is not much again. Civil servants cannot survive without loans. If you want to build a house and pay school fees, which money do you want to use for that? But we manage our income like that. Now, things are totally expensive and unless you have a plan B (other income streams), your civil servant salary cannot do anything. No matter the amount you collect as salary, you need a plan B.
Do you have a plan B?
Well, I have a plan B because, without it, I cannot survive with my children. I pay their school fees. What I use to support myself which I call plan B is farming. But what type of farming because farming gets grades? In my farm, I plant corn, cassava, and beans.
My farm is in Badagry. So, for a civil servant to survive this economy you need to have a plan B. Except you don’t have family. If you have a wife, children, friends, and parents, there’s no way you can survive on minimum wage.
Give me a breakdown of how you spend your ₦40k salary every month
My current salary can only buy food because that is the first thing. For over a year, I have not been paying tithe because we spend the salary only on food. Before, we used to spend ₦30k a month to support our farm produce because my farm was for the family. I was not selling the produce because it was just an acre. So, I removed ₦30,000 from my salary to buy things like fish, seasoning, and things I can’t get from the farm.
But last year, my farm did not yield profit. I spent ₦150,000 to work there but there was no produce and that was because I did not have money to buy fertilizer. That was why the farm did not yield any produce because fertilizer is very costly now. It is over ₦50,000 now. I can’t afford it again. Before, we used to buy it for ₦25,000.
How have food inflation and other economic crises affected your daily life and ability to provide for your family?
It’s affecting us seriously. Before, I used to give them money and they would still take food to school. But now when they return from school, there’s no food for them to eat, but at night, they will eat before they go to bed. That's how we are doing it now, morning and evening. Even what they eat at night is not meant to be full.
This is why I said the government should assist us because the money we used to spend on food is not enough to buy food again. If you spend ₦20,000 on pepper now, it won’t last you a month. How do we survive? And we are many in my house. I have five children, two sons, three daughters. And then, I have two of my wife’s brothers living with me including myself, we are nine in the family.
Do you get financial support from family and friends?
I have no support structure. I am the one helping people because I use the farm to assist people. Any time I harvest, I give to people around me. I have three acres of farmland.
What do you think should be done to improve your living conditions?
I want to call on the government to assist but I don't have any link to the government but if I see people to help with the farm, I can continue the business fully, and expand the farmland to 10 acres. But without support from anywhere, farming is not easy. Currently, I spend ₦67,000 to plough two acres. I will also have to pay people to plant crops on the farm. Sometimes, my children and I join them, but children of today don't want to farm.
How do you maintain hope and resilience in the face of ongoing economic adversity?
My hope now is my children. I am doing all of this because of them, I want them to be in a better place. Everything I am doing now is for them. My hope is my children.
What do you think should be the benchmark for national minimum wage?
It’s not bad if they pay us ₦250,000.