Nine states in Nigeria have yet to implement the ₦70,000 minimum wage for teachers, months after President Bola Tinubu signed the bill into law in July 2024. According to data from the National Union of Teachers, Abia, Adamawa, Ebonyi, Enugu, Gombe, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Yobe, and Zamfara states are still not paying the approved wage.
In Abia, teachers remain on the old ₦18,000 minimum wage, while Adamawa has only moved to the ₦30,000 rate from 2019. Enugu introduced a ₦50,000 “enhanced wage award” but has not formally adopted the new minimum wage. Kaduna State authorities cited an ongoing teachers’ verification exercise as the reason for the delay.
The situation has sparked frustration among educators, particularly after teachers in the Federal Capital Territory recently ended a 100-day strike when local councils agreed to allocate more funds from their internally generated revenue to meet the wage requirement.
The NUT has called on the affected states to comply without further delay, warning that failure to do so could lead to unrest. The union also stressed that the wage increase should apply to all teachers, including those employed by local governments.
With education standards at risk due to poor teacher welfare, the delay in implementation raises concerns about Nigeria’s commitment to improving its public education system. If the states continue to withhold the new wage, further strikes or legal action by teachers’ unions may follow.
