The Nigerian government is set to open minimum wage negotiations with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), according to The Guardian Nigeria News. Alongside that announcement, the government approved a monthly transport allowance of N70,000 for workers, a figure reported by TheCable, Premium Times Nigeria and Punch Newspapers.
The transport support is to run for six months, according to TheCable and Punch Newspapers. Vanguard News reports that the government and the NLC also reached an agreement on the allowance and on 19 months of outstanding arrears owed to health workers.
The reporting does not specify when the wage talks will begin or how the allowance will be paid out. The Guardian Nigeria News' headline frames the two developments together, presenting the allowance as a measure announced as negotiations with organised labour approach.
The N70,000 figure is the amount of the monthly transport allowance, not a proposed new national minimum wage. No wage figure under discussion has been reported in the material available.
The next point to watch is the start of formal talks between the government and the NLC, and whether the six-month allowance is extended or replaced once negotiations get under way.