The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) has sounded a grave warning to the Federal Government over the severe socio-economic distress confronting Nigerian workers, cautioning that unmitigated inflation, skyrocketing fuel pump prices, and rising hunger have pushed public sector employees to the edge of survival.
​Addressing labor representatives and newsmen on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at the union’s National Secretariat in Abuja, NASU President Comrade Dr. Makolo Hassan decried the steep escalation in the cost of basic commodities, housing, healthcare, and transportation.
​Speaking on behalf of the union’s executive leadership, Hassan warned that the purchasing power of the average worker has been thoroughly eroded by market realities. Although the implementation of the ₦70,000 National Minimum Wage was initially received with hope, the union maintained that petrol pump prices exceeding ₦1,400 per litre and recent electricity tariff hikes have effectively rendered the baseline salary inadequate to support an average family.
​”Workers across our educational institutions and research centers are suffocating under an unbearable economic burden. The prices of food and essential goods have soared beyond the reach of ordinary citizens, while transportation costs consume a disproportionate share of monthly earnings,” Hassan stated. “What was intended to be a living baseline has been reduced to a slave wage that can no longer secure basic nutrition or healthcare for a worker’s family.”
​During the press briefing, NASU outlined critical demands aimed at mitigating the ongoing economic pressure.
The union urged the Federal Government to establish formal, routine cost-of-living indexation mechanisms that automatically adjust workers’ compensation to keep pace with prevailing inflation rates.
NASU reiterated its call for legislation to criminalize the non-payment and delayed disbursement of earned wages by public and private employers. The leadership pressed for direct, transparent relief packages in transport subsidies, public healthcare financing, and agricultural support to bring down food prices nationwide.
​Closing his address, the NASU President warned that policymakers must prioritize worker welfare and move beyond structural policy defenses to deliver tangible economic relief, noting that Nigerian workers can no longer be expected to bear the brunt of unmitigated economic shocks.
