Abstract:

The minimum wage structure is put in place by the government of a country to enhance the welfare status of its workforce for better productivity in the public sector. The minimum wage in any nation is to ensure that workers live comfortably, and their cost of living is commensurate to their pay. However, in the Nigerian public sector, the welfare of the public workers is not adequately catered for as the minimum wage earned is not sufficient to meet up with the suitable standard of living such as health, housing, and other basic needs which continues to birth the continuous strike in the public sector.

In Nigerian, there is a contrasting view of wages over time. It has led to strikes whereby the Labour Union march against the government in protest for wage earned lower to their cost of living. This paper tends to shed light on minimum wage disputes in Nigeria, the contrast in cost of living, the wage debate over time, wage and workers welfare, their productivity with wage earned, and conceptual clarification of minimum wage, workers' welfare, and the public sector.