E.A Olatoye's Blog

Psalms 133:1 NIV
How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!

Happy Workers day. Fellow Nigerians, how far can N70,000 really go?😟

For a Nigerian worker on minimum wage, it buys two pots of jollof rice for a family of five. That’s it. Shikena! One pot now costs N30,435, eating up 44% of a month’s labour.

The SBM Intelligence Jollof Index calls it a 19.4% jump from N25,486 between October 2025 and March 2026. So by the second pot, the salary’s gone. Rent, transport, electricity? All still waiting.🤔

Zoom out and the pattern gets starker. has the sharpest mismatch between income and cost of living among peers like , , , and .

A South African worker on R5,240, about $312, has stronger purchasing power than a Nigerian on N70,000. Same title, “minimum wage”, but one pays for electricity and healthcare, the other barely covers two meals. If work no longer guarantees basics, what does it guarantee?

🛠️ It's Workers’ Day, yet the mood is heavy. A dire cost of living hike has hollowed out recent wage adjustments and promised welfare packages. Public and private sector staff are saying the same thing: money arrives, value disappears. "Money slow to enter, money quick to go," Rapper MI once said. It feels like running on the spot.

Then the -US wahala is pouring on the fire ⛽. Global oil has hit $126 a barrel, its highest since 2022. The Middle East tensions behind it feel far away until Dangote Refinery hikes diesel prices and suspends loading. Analysts are already warning: petrol is next.

Which way Nigeria
Which way to go
I love my fathers land
I want to know....
Which way Nigeria is heading to?

May the Lord deliver us from clueless, wicked, visionless leaders, and raise able Men and Women that will redirect Nigeria back from perilious journey she is heading to in Jesus name, amen.