A review done by Newsmen has revealed that Nigerian workers may now be spending up to 10% of the newly approved N70,000 minimum wage on data subscriptions following a recent tariff hike under the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government.
The Tinubu-led government had approved a 50% increase in data tariffs after telecommunications companies cited rising operational costs as the reason for their demand for higher prices.
According to the review, MTN users now pay N7,500 for 20GB of data, which amounts to 10.7% of the national minimum wage.
Meanwhile, both Globacom and Airtel charge N5,000 for 24GB, meaning their subscribers spend 7.1% of their earnings on data.
On average, Nigerian workers spend around 8% of their minimum wage on data subscriptions across the three major networks — MTN, Glo, and Airtel.
This increase has sparked outrage, particularly as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened nationwide protests.
The NLC has vowed to begin a nationwide strike on March 1, 2025, if telecom operators do not revert to the previous tariff structure.
As an immediate response, the NLC has also called on Nigerians to boycott major telecom operators, including MTN, Glo, and Airtel, starting February 13, 2025.
The union also demands the recovery of funds allegedly siphoned abroad by these companies.
“If telecom operators fail to reverse the tariff hike by the end of February, we will embark on a total shutdown of their operations nationwide from March 1, 2025,” the NLC warned.
