₦airaland Forum

I need to get something off my chest, because I think a lot of us have normalized something that genuinely shouldn't be normal.

A friend of mine — university graduate, skilled, works in a demanding role — recently told me her monthly salary. I won't put the exact figure here, but let's just say it was embarrassingly low for the amount of work, hours, and stress involved. When I asked why she hasn't pushed back or looked elsewhere, her answer was simple: "at least I have a job."

That sentence alone tells you everything about the power employers hold in this country right now.

"At least you have a job" has become an excuse for exploitation

Because unemployment is so high, employers know they don't have to pay fairly — there's always somebody desperate enough to accept whatever is offered. So salaries stay stagnant, workloads increase, and the moment you complain, you're quietly reminded that ten other people would gladly take your position at half the stress tolerance.

Salary secrecy protects the employer, not the employee

Most Nigerian workplaces treat salary information like classified government intelligence. You're often not even allowed to know what your colleague doing the same job earns. This secrecy benefits nobody but the company — because if people knew how unevenly (and sometimes unfairly) pay is distributed internally, there would be real pushback.

"Experience" is used as payment

Especially for young graduates — companies dangle "exposure" and "experience" as if it should replace an actual living wage. Meanwhile rent, transport, and food don't accept "experience" as payment.

Job hopping gets frowned upon, but staying loyal rarely gets rewarded either

Stay too long without much salary movement, and you're seen as complacent. Leave for better pay elsewhere, and you're labeled "not loyal" or "job-hopper." Employees can't win either way, while employers benefit from both the guilt-tripping and the underpayment.

Skilled workers are undervalued until they leave the country

Funny enough, the same skills that earn "we can't afford to pay you well" here suddenly become worth 5-10x more the moment someone relocates abroad. That alone tells you the issue was never really about the value of the skill — it's about what employers can get away with paying, locally.

This isn't about entitlement, it's about fairness

Working hard should reasonably translate to being paid what your labor is actually worth, not just enough to survive while a company profits comfortably off your underpayment.

I think a big part of shifting this starts with us actually talking about pay more openly instead of treating it as a taboo topic, and being willing to walk away from roles that don't value us — as difficult as that is in this economy.

What's the most underpaid you've ever been for the amount of work you were doing? And do you think Nigerians will ever get more comfortable discussing salaries openly with each other? 👇

They will even owe you join

Na Wetin make me buy small car for my hustle and I make more than someone earning, 500k monthly

This post best describes a fast food located around Douglas Road,Owerri.
Poor wages, dirty back office environment, very strenuous job roles.

I will create a thread for them soon.

Some of these employers too are struggling sha o

They are using high rate of unemployment in our country to deal with our youth and our NLC turns blind eyes to the pains of worker's

Sadly enough, most Nigerian commercial banks management are sitting on this table, particularly when it bothers on the so called outsourced/contract staff, those staff do the majority of the work, sweat it out and earn little some banks don't even consider some of them worthy of the bank yearly profit sharing. A reason I don't blame those staff if they are not loyal.

Telecommunications, Supermarkets, FCMGs, Healthcare too are no where better too.

Nothing is as terrible as employees who set their own pay.

Is it not far better to just resign and find that job that you truly deserve?

You are right though is not easy to manage a company in Nigeria.

Dmthreads:
I need to get something off my chest, because I think a lot of us have normalized something that genuinely shouldn't be normal.

A friend of mine — university graduate, skilled, works in a demanding role — recently told me her monthly salary. I won't put the exact figure here, but let's just say it was embarrassingly low for the amount of work, hours, and stress involved. When I asked why she hasn't pushed back or looked elsewhere, her answer was simple: "at least I have a job."

That sentence alone tells you everything about the power employers hold in this country right now.

"At least you have a job" has become an excuse for exploitation

Because unemployment is so high, employers know they don't have to pay fairly — there's always somebody desperate enough to accept whatever is offered. So salaries stay stagnant, workloads increase, and the moment you complain, you're quietly reminded that ten other people would gladly take your position at half the stress tolerance.

Salary secrecy protects the employer, not the employee

Most Nigerian workplaces treat salary information like classified government intelligence. You're often not even allowed to know what your colleague doing the same job earns. This secrecy benefits nobody but the company — because if people knew how unevenly (and sometimes unfairly) pay is distributed internally, there would be real pushback.

"Experience" is used as payment

Especially for young graduates — companies dangle "exposure" and "experience" as if it should replace an actual living wage. Meanwhile rent, transport, and food don't accept "experience" as payment.

Job hopping gets frowned upon, but staying loyal rarely gets rewarded either

Stay too long without much salary movement, and you're seen as complacent. Leave for better pay elsewhere, and you're labeled "not loyal" or "job-hopper." Employees can't win either way, while employers benefit from both the guilt-tripping and the underpayment.

Skilled workers are undervalued until they leave the country

Funny enough, the same skills that earn "we can't afford to pay you well" here suddenly become worth 5-10x more the moment someone relocates abroad. That alone tells you the issue was never really about the value of the skill — it's about what employers can get away with paying, locally.

This isn't about entitlement, it's about fairness

Working hard should reasonably translate to being paid what your labor is actually worth, not just enough to survive while a company profits comfortably off your underpayment.

I think a big part of shifting this starts with us actually talking about pay more openly instead of treating it as a taboo topic, and being willing to walk away from roles that don't value us — as difficult as that is in this economy.

What's the most underpaid you've ever been for the amount of work you were doing? And do you think Nigerians will ever get more comfortable discussing salaries openly with each other? 👇

If the pay is low and it cant sustain you, you should leave

Ain't sugar coating rubbish

the issue is employers always confident of finding another person wen go even do am cheaper..
9ja matter bad for everywhere...
there's employment
the problem Na underpayment...
private sector especially nor really de help at all
imagine private school of over 1000 students with average school fees of 70k per term can't pay a teacher 100k monthly

Must you work for




People.?







Create your job and stop complaining if is easy

Because of weak labour laws.

There are some businesses that can afford to pay more but pay less than they are capable of. Demands exceed supply for them so it drives down the cost (wage). It's free market principle.
Solution is to set oneself up to become more competitive by acquiring a competitive edge that forces business to pay more for the value you bring to the table.

Then there are small businesses that cannot pay much, not because they do not want to, but because of their bottom line. You either use them as a stepping stone to develop your competitive edge or you settle and be contented with what they offer.

Every case has to be considered in its own context.

Government forcing private business to pay a minimum however comes with it own unintended consequences and needs to be done strategically.

Banner Energy Limited in Lekki that doesn't remit Pension and Tax but deduct these from salaries.

Plus the MD is very terrible at leadership.

He insults his staff, owe salaries and surcharges his employees anyhow and any amount as high as 50% of his employees salary in a month.

Avoid this company at all cost.

Employee/Employer relationship is business, and when it is business, then it is not personal. If there is no growth financially and in terms of skills or knowledge, move ahead. Remember, it is business and it is impersonal.

Sunic, an eatery located in Owerri has a knack for hiring staff without proper documentation. No offer letter or any official means of ID is given to you when you join them. Your job description can be anything and everything.
Any little mistake you make, and your pitiable salary gets the hit. Talk of practically walking on eggshells.
You come to work a minute late and you get debited N500 per day multiplied by the number of times in a month. But when you work overtime, you get N50 per hour as compensation. You heard me right. N50 as overtime pay for 1 hour. In this Tinubu era where the price of fuel is 1300/liter. Then, you come to work an hour late and 5k is taken per number of days you clocked in late and the money is deducted from source when salary is paid. You will be mistaken if you think your daily pay is 5k, that makes them take 5k for an hour’s lateness. You earn less that 2,500 per day (N250 per hour) but you get N5k as penalty for an hour’s lateness. Yes, it’s 10 hours per day, not 8.
It’s not an issue if overtime pay is at least half of the surcharge for lateness, but as greedy as they are, they always take more than they give. You can work 2 hours overtime at least to make up for the lateness but it doesn’t work that way in Sunic.

From the first day you start working there, just know that the odds are stacked against you.

Providing a guarantor is not enough, they will still take what they call security which is the equivalent of a month’s salary (spread in 4 months) until you decide to leave, and you will be extremely lucky to go with it intact (after inflation has taken its own cut). Imagine the HR setting aside your one month salary of say, N50K as security deposit for God knows when and no interest accrues on that amount, even if you work there for donkey years.
Money that will be generating monthly interest in your OPay account is what the HR is keeping and it will be losing value. In 3 years time when you finally get your senses back and decide to try something or somewhere else, your N50K will now be worth N32k, if not less.

Should I talk about the additional job descriptions that they gradually introduce as the days go by? The HR always withholds the full information you need to know concerning your job description and pay. He only tells you about the security after 2 days of training and then make it seem like he forgot to state it initially.

Some of the staff that resigned recently still have their salaries owed them. This fast food, Sunic, is notorious for having a high turnover of staff. People get hired, and in less than 6 months they leave the job. The ones that still work there are the fellows that the company have taken their youth and their juice, so even if they decide to leave, no other company will be willing to hire them. Others are bidding their time, waiting for an opportunity to leave. I can go on and on, but time and space constrains me.
I will make a detailed exposition at the appropriate time. Both here and across all other social media platforms (especially X) What a typical day in the office looks like, how the company steals from staff in the name of surcharges, the scam called off days among other issues.

The pertinent question to ask is this:
Is there a way one can institute an action against them? What agencies are responsible for checking the excesses of this company and others who tow this path? Is it the NLC, Servicom, SERAP or the National Industrial Court?
Evil thrives when men refuse to do the right thing.
I will continue to talk about this until it gets to the appropriate quarters.
The name is Sunic, it’s at Douglas Road, Owerri.

hotel magadisho metro hotel and alsana hotel in Kaduna make millions monthly but pay workers less than 50k

An interesting topic as this gets poor recognition and constructive debates. But let it be about preek and towtow, boom! 5pages..

See, in as much as it is advisable to leave a low paying job, make sure you have secured another one before resigning. Half bread is better than none. I once worked at a place as a graduate earning #40k. But I just knew from the onset that I won't spend up to six months there. And truly as God would have it, left and ever since to today, it's history...

PLEASE BE FAIR TO THE SECTOR THAT PROVIDES FOR YOU MORE THAN YOUR GOVERNMENT DOES

YOU BLAME THE PRIVATE SECTOR FOR POOR WAGES WHEN EVEN SOME PRIVATE JOBS PAY MORE THAN SOME STATES AND EVEN FEDERAL MINISTRY WORKERS

TO HAVE A COMPANY IN NIGERIA IS NOW STRESS, BECAUSE AGENCIES FOR REGULATIONS HAS NOW TURNED INTO INCOME GENERATING AGENCIES BY PROXIES CHARGING COMPANIES A PERCENTAGE OF A COMPANYS TOTAL REVENUE E.G EFCC, CAC, PENCOM, FRC,

ASIDES FROM THE HEAVY TAXES THEY PAY AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT

THIS IS WHY GOVERNMENTS SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE AND WHY YOUR VOTES ARE BOUGHT BY POLITICIANS , BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTAND THIS

THE PRIVATE SECTOR BEARS THE LOAD IN THE MIXED ECONOMY THAT NIGERIAN PRACTICES, WHILE GOVERNMENT IS DORMANT DOING NOTHING BUT SPENDING MONEY THEY DID NOT GENERATE

80% OF TAXES ARE PAID BY PRIVATE BUSINESSES & SIMILARLY 80% OF EMPLOYEES ARE PRIVATE

100% OF TAXES GOES TO GOVERNMENT PROXIES AS POLITICIANS GET FUNDS FROM BUDGET,

NOW THEY CAN SPEND THE MONEY & BORROW ONCE THEY'VE FINISHED IT AGAINST THE FUTURE TAXES YOU HAVE TO PAY... AND THIS IS WHY NIGERIA IS IN SERIOUS DEBT AMID SERIOUS INFRASTRUCTURE DEFICIT WE HAVE

NOW POLITICIANS CAN SPEND THIS BUDGET AND NOT GIVE ACCOUNT TO THE PEOPLE , WHICH IS WHY CITIZENS MUST HOLD ELECTED POLITICAL OFFICE HOLDER RESPONSIBLE, AT ALL LEVELS AND TIERS


WHICH IS WHY YOU SHOULD PRIORITIZE VOTING A CANDIDATE THAT UNDERSTANDS FISCAL SPENDING AND CUTTING GOVERNMENT SPENDINGS TO WHAT IS NEEDED

THERE ARE TOO MANY MINISTRIES THAT SHOULD NOT EXIST. A LOT OF AGENCIES ALSO BECAUSE THEY ADD NO VALUE TO GOVERNANCE

IF NIGERIANS DON'T UNDERSTAND WHERE THE PROBLEM IS COMING FROM CAUSE

80% OF NIGERIANS ARE NOT FINANCIAL LITERATES, THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT ELECTIONS AND GOOD GOVERNANCE CAN DO FOR YOU

Employees seeking alternative employment with better pay should never be seen as disloyal, is the employee supposed to be disloyal to themselves. You always have to take care of no 1 and leaving for better opportunities is within your control.

Even in the UK most employees move on after 3 years of see finish especially when one is stagnant or has reached the top of their pay scale.

In 9ja, the employer themselves are often not making much when you take in bad debts, theft and work ethics.

Dmthreads:
I need to get something off my chest, because I think a lot of us have normalized something that genuinely shouldn't be normal.

A friend of mine — university graduate, skilled, works in a demanding role — recently told me her monthly salary. I won't put the exact figure here, but let's just say it was embarrassingly low for the amount of work, hours, and stress involved. When I asked why she hasn't pushed back or looked elsewhere, her answer was simple: "at least I have a job."

That sentence alone tells you everything about the power employers hold in this country right now.

"At least you have a job" has become an excuse for exploitation

Because unemployment is so high, employers know they don't have to pay fairly — there's always somebody desperate enough to accept whatever is offered. So salaries stay stagnant, workloads increase, and the moment you complain, you're quietly reminded that ten other people would gladly take your position at half the stress tolerance.

Salary secrecy protects the employer, not the employee

Most Nigerian workplaces treat salary information like classified government intelligence. You're often not even allowed to know what your colleague doing the same job earns. This secrecy benefits nobody but the company — because if people knew how unevenly (and sometimes unfairly) pay is distributed internally, there would be real pushback.

"Experience" is used as payment

Especially for young graduates — companies dangle "exposure" and "experience" as if it should replace an actual living wage. Meanwhile rent, transport, and food don't accept "experience" as payment.

Job hopping gets frowned upon, but staying loyal rarely gets rewarded either

Stay too long without much salary movement, and you're seen as complacent. Leave for better pay elsewhere, and you're labeled "not loyal" or "job-hopper." Employees can't win either way, while employers benefit from both the guilt-tripping and the underpayment.

Skilled workers are undervalued until they leave the country

Funny enough, the same skills that earn "we can't afford to pay you well" here suddenly become worth 5-10x more the moment someone relocates abroad. That alone tells you the issue was never really about the value of the skill — it's about what employers can get away with paying, locally.

This isn't about entitlement, it's about fairness

Working hard should reasonably translate to being paid what your labor is actually worth, not just enough to survive while a company profits comfortably off your underpayment.

I think a big part of shifting this starts with us actually talking about pay more openly instead of treating it as a taboo topic, and being willing to walk away from roles that don't value us — as difficult as that is in this economy.

What's the most underpaid you've ever been for the amount of work you were doing? And do you think Nigerians will ever get more comfortable discussing salaries openly with each other? 👇

NwaNimo1:
They pay poorly because of low productivity.......and employee's do as little as possible because of their poor pay!

Should be obvious.....go into any establishment and the only people working are those who are well paid or those who have an illegal side hustle set up.

There is a secret many don't know......it is to first put in the effort and then the rewards will follow

I think it’s the other way around; low wages lead to low productivity. An average Nigerian employer doesn’t believe in fair wages. There are firms, especially sole proprietorships, that are making tons of money but would rather pay their employees peanuts while pocketing all the profits. In some countries, some businesses would rather go bust than owing and cheating their workers, but for Naija, it’s a different story.

Why blame the employer? The friend if yours said at least I have a job. She has absolutely no respect for herself .. her worth.. her time. She is in mental slavery... and there are many like her. I don't blame the employers one bit. She may even be the backbone of that company ... the employer knows it ... know how valuable she is ... but why should he offer to increase her salary if she doesn't even ask? Wayyyy too many slaves in Nigeria. The boss is wayyy more afraid of her leaving than she is afraid of losing her job if she asks .

Ni

Dmthreads:
I need to get something off my chest, because I think a lot of us have normalized something that genuinely shouldn't be normal.

A friend of mine — university graduate, skilled, works in a demanding role — recently told me her monthly salary. I won't put the exact figure here, but let's just say it was embarrassingly low for the amount of work, hours, and stress involved. When I asked why she hasn't pushed back or looked elsewhere, her answer was simple: "at least I have a job."

That sentence alone tells you everything about the power employers hold in this country right now.

"At least you have a job" has become an excuse for exploitation

Because unemployment is so high, employers know they don't have to pay fairly — there's always somebody desperate enough to accept whatever is offered. So salaries stay stagnant, workloads increase, and the moment you complain, you're quietly reminded that ten other people would gladly take your position at half the stress tolerance.

Salary secrecy protects the employer, not the employee

Most Nigerian workplaces treat salary information like classified government intelligence. You're often not even allowed to know what your colleague doing the same job earns. This secrecy benefits nobody but the company — because if people knew how unevenly (and sometimes unfairly) pay is distributed internally, there would be real pushback.

"Experience" is used as payment

Especially for young graduates — companies dangle "exposure" and "experience" as if it should replace an actual living wage. Meanwhile rent, transport, and food don't accept "experience" as payment.

Job hopping gets frowned upon, but staying loyal rarely gets rewarded either

Stay too long without much salary movement, and you're seen as complacent. Leave for better pay elsewhere, and you're labeled "not loyal" or "job-hopper." Employees can't win either way, while employers benefit from both the guilt-tripping and the underpayment.

Skilled workers are undervalued until they leave the country

Funny enough, the same skills that earn "we can't afford to pay you well" here suddenly become worth 5-10x more the moment someone relocates abroad. That alone tells you the issue was never really about the value of the skill — it's about what employers can get away with paying, locally.

This isn't about entitlement, it's about fairness

Working hard should reasonably translate to being paid what your labor is actually worth,

what is your labor worth
Is it you that will determine your worth

not just enough to survive while a company profits comfortably off your underpayment.

I think a big part of shifting this starts with us actually talking about pay more openly instead of treating it as a taboo topic, and being willing to walk away from roles that don't value us — as difficult as that is in this economy.

What's the most underpaid you've ever been for the amount of work you were doing? And do you think Nigerians will ever get more comfortable discussing salaries openly with each other? 👇

define underpaid 😂

Better workers rights and protection laws need to be made and enforced.

All job advertisements must list the salary range.

Contract staffing should only be used for up to six months and non-renewable. After six months, the said staff must be given a permanent contract with the employer directly.

Minimum wage needs to be replaced with a living wage agreed to by the government and each states' worker/labour union and reviewed yearly.

All companies employing more than 5 workers must pay the living wage.

Employment tribunals to replace the national industrial court to mediate and give binding judgements on all work related cases.

I can't afford to put my child in the school I work presently. I just blame the government.

Esc2ctrl:
PLEASE BE FAIR TO THE SECTOR THAT PROVIDES FOR YOU MORE THAN YOUR GOVERNMENT DOES

YOU BLAME THE PRIVATE SECTOR FOR POOR WAGES WHEN EVEN SOME PRIVATE JOBS PAY MORE THAN SOME STATES AND EVEN FEDERAL MINISTRY WORKERS

TO HAVE A COMPANY IN NIGERIA IS NOW STRESS, BECAUSE AGENCIES FOR REGULATIONS HAS NOW TURNED INTO INCOME GENERATING AGENCIES BY PROXIES CHARGING COMPANIES A PERCENTAGE OF A COMPANYS TOTAL REVENUE E.G EFCC, CAC, PENCOM, FRC,

ASIDES FROM THE HEAVY TAXES THEY PAY AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT

THIS IS WHY GOVERNMENTS SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE AND WHY YOUR VOTES ARE BOUGHT BY POLITICIANS , BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTAND THIS

THE PRIVATE SECTOR BEARS THE LOAD IN THE MIXED ECONOMY THAT NIGERIAN PRACTICES, WHILE GOVERNMENT IS DORMANT DOING NOTHING BUT SPENDING MONEY THEY DID NOT GENERATE

80% OF TAXES ARE PAID BY PRIVATE BUSINESSES & SIMILARLY 80% OF EMPLOYEES ARE PRIVATE

100% OF TAXES GOES TO GOVERNMENT PROXIES AS POLITICIANS GET FUNDS FROM BUDGET,

NOW THEY CAN SPEND THE MONEY & BORROW ONCE THEY'VE FINISHED IT AGAINST THE FUTURE TAXES YOU HAVE TO PAY... AND THIS IS WHY NIGERIA IS IN SERIOUS DEBT AMID SERIOUS INFRASTRUCTURE DEFICIT WE HAVE

NOW POLITICIANS CAN SPEND THIS BUDGET AND NOT GIVE ACCOUNT TO THE PEOPLE , WHICH IS WHY CITIZENS MUST HOLD ELECTED POLITICAL OFFICE HOLDER RESPONSIBLE, AT ALL LEVELS AND TIERS


WHICH IS WHY YOU SHOULD PRIORITIZE VOTING A CANDIDATE THAT UNDERSTANDS FISCAL SPENDING AND CUTTING GOVERNMENT SPENDINGS TO WHAT IS NEEDED

THERE ARE TOO MANY MINISTRIES THAT SHOULD NOT EXIST. A LOT OF AGENCIES ALSO BECAUSE THEY ADD NO VALUE TO GOVERNANCE

IF NIGERIANS DON'T UNDERSTAND WHERE THE PROBLEM IS COMING FROM CAUSE

80% OF NIGERIANS ARE NOT FINANCIAL LITERATES, THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT ELECTIONS AND GOOD GOVERNANCE CAN DO FOR YOU

everything that you said is rubbish, instead of attacking the people in question, you are defending them and blaming Nigerians on voting. Is this the reason why banks hire more contract staff and pay them peanut but they announce billion of naira quarterly as profit? What we need is strong labour law that will check the excesses of private biz owners. Why will you be deducting people salary for lateness and on anything bad that occur in the organization. Govt should enlightened people more on their labour right law if we have any.

I sincerely don't know the work of the ministry of Labour in Nigeria, is it just a way for the president to reward his fellow corrupt politicians. No framework of what that ministry stand for. No strong labour law to protect Nigerian jobs and the only time you will see those incompetent labour union is only during workers day. The labour union can't propose any bill to the Senate but they only cry for increment in minimum wage as if everybody in Nigeria is a civil servants. Bad govt and weak labour law gives rom to this exploitation going on in the private sector.