By Baba Lawan
There was a time in Nigeria when money had dignity. A time when the ordinary worker could survive modestly yet comfortably, feed a family, pay transport fares, buy clothes, and still keep something aside for tomorrow. In those days, the Nigerian economy, despite its impqerfections, still protected the purchasing power of ordinary citizens. Today, however, that reality has collapsed under the crushing weight of inflation, corruption, currency devaluation, and decades of political and economic mismanagement.
The popular story of surviving an entire day with just ₦5 in 1983 is therefore more than mere nostalgia. It is a painful reminder of how far Nigeria has fallen economically. In 1983, a citizen could leave home with ₦5 and spend the day comfortably. He could buy beans cake (kosai) and hot (Koko) for breakfast, board a taxi to his destination, eat rice and beans with meat in a restaurant, drink a bottle of Coca-Cola, buy suya in the evening, purchase bread for the family, and still return home with money remaining in his pocket. At the same time, the national minimum wage stood around ₦120 monthly, yet workers still managed to survive with dignity.
The significance of that era was not that Nigerians were wealthy, but that the value of the Naira still reflected some economic stability. Teachers, civil servants, junior workers, factory employees, and traders could still maintain a decent standard of living. Foodstuffs were affordable, transportation costs were manageable, and local industries still contributed meaningfully to the economy. Markets functioned with relative stability, and ordinary people could plan their lives with some degree of confidence.
The late Ghanaian diplomat and economist Kofi Annan once argued that good governance remains one of the most important foundations for reducing poverty and promoting development. Nigeria’s economic decline over the decades strongly reflects the opposite reality: when governance weakens, the value of both labor and currency eventually collapses.
Today, Nigeria presents a painful contradiction. The minimum wage has increased numerically from ₦120 in the early 1980s to about ₦70,000 today, yet the average worker is poorer than before. Salaries have risen on paper while purchasing power has disappeared in practice. The ordinary Nigerian worker now lives under permanent economic pressure. Before the month ends, salaries vanish into transport costs, feeding expenses, school fees, electricity bills, rent, and medical costs. Many workers survive only through loans, cooperative societies, or side businesses.
In modern Nigeria, ₦5, ₦10, and ₦20 notes have become almost meaningless in economic transactions. In many places, such amounts cannot purchase even sachet water. A quantity of suya that once cost ₦1 now requires several thousands of Naira. Bread, rice, cooking oil, tomatoes, transportation, rent, and electricity continue rising in price almost every week. The working class is no longer truly living; it is merely struggling to survive.
The famous British economist John Maynard Keynes warned that inflation can quietly destroy society by weakening the real value of income and savings. Inflation does not simply increase prices; it gradually transfers suffering onto ordinary citizens while reducing their confidence in the economy itself. Nigeria’s present condition reflects this reality clearly. Workers may receive higher salaries numerically, but inflation quickly destroys the practical value of those earnings.
The deeper tragedy is that many people now assume that increasing salaries alone can solve the crisis. In reality, if Nigeria’s minimum wage were raised to ₦500,000 without addressing the structural weaknesses of the economy, inflation would likely consume much of the increase. Prices of food, transportation, housing, and services would simply rise further, leaving workers trapped in another cycle of hardship. The issue therefore is not merely salary figures; it is the productive strength and structure of the economy itself.
The renowned economist Milton Friedman once argued that inflation is deeply connected to monetary instability. Nigeria’s experience, however, reveals an even broader crisis involving corruption, weak production, import dependency, policy inconsistency, and reckless governance. Over several decades, Nigeria gradually transformed from a producing nation into a consuming nation. Factories closed, textile industries collapsed, local manufacturing weakened, and agriculture suffered neglect. Instead of building productive capacity, governments depended heavily on oil revenues while importing goods that could potentially be produced locally.
As local industries weakened, dependence on imports increased. Consequently, every devaluation of the Naira immediately translated into higher prices for goods and services. Since Nigeria imports many essential items such as fuel, medicine, machinery, food products, and industrial materials, ordinary citizens suffer each time the currency loses value.
The Nigerian political elite bears considerable responsibility for this situation. Through corruption, reckless borrowing, inflated contracts, poor industrial planning, and wasteful public spending, resources that could have strengthened the economy were diverted into private enrichment. The Guyanese historian and political thinker Walter Rodney argued that societies become underdeveloped when ruling systems prioritize extraction over productive development. Although Rodney focused mainly on colonial structures, many African intellectuals later extended his analysis to post-colonial elites who inherited political power yet continued exploitative economic practices.
Nigeria sadly reflects this contradiction. Despite enormous oil wealth and vast human resources, millions of citizens struggle daily for basic survival while wealth remains concentrated among a narrow political and economic class. The respected Nigerian political scientist Claude Ake also warned that many African states eventually become instruments for elite accumulation rather than public development. Political office gradually transforms into a pathway for personal enrichment instead of national service. Nigeria’s present condition strongly reflects this observation.
While workers struggle to afford rice and transportation, many political office holders continue to enjoy luxury convoys, extravagant allowances, expensive foreign trips, and lavish lifestyles funded through public resources. The widening gap between rulers and ordinary citizens has become economically dangerous and morally disturbing.
The psychological consequences of this economic decline are equally severe. When small denominations lose value, public confidence in the currency weakens. Citizens increasingly seek refuge in foreign currencies, informal survival methods, or migration abroad. The Kenyan writer and scholar Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o once observed that economic domination eventually shapes the psychology of society itself. Poverty therefore affects not only material conditions but also confidence, dignity, and national identity.
Nigeria’s economic crisis has created exactly this atmosphere. Many young people no longer believe that honest labor alone guarantees survival. Graduates face unemployment. Skilled workers migrate abroad in search of better opportunities. Entrepreneurs struggle under unstable exchange rates, high electricity costs, and weak infrastructure.
Yet despite these painful realities, solutions still exist if genuine leadership and economic discipline can emerge. Nigeria must rebuild local production by investing seriously in agriculture, manufacturing, and small industries. Countries that produce what they consume naturally stabilize their currencies and reduce inflationary pressures. Corruption must also be confronted beyond political speeches. Public resources should prioritize infrastructure, healthcare, education, electricity, and industrial development instead of elite luxury consumption.
Monetary and fiscal discipline remain essential. Constant devaluation weakens the purchasing power of workers while enriching speculative interests. Economic reforms must focus on strengthening production rather than merely satisfying external financial pressures. Electricity supply must improve drastically because no industrial economy can survive when businesses spend heavily on generators and fuel.
Nigeria must also reduce excessive dependence on imports. The country possesses fertile agricultural land, energetic youth populations, and enormous natural resources capable of supporting industrial growth if managed responsibly. The Indian economist and philosopher Amartya Sen argued that development should ultimately be measured by the expansion of human capability and dignity rather than mere statistics. Nigeria’s challenge today is therefore not simply about GDP growth or salary increases, but whether ordinary citizens can live meaningful and secure lives.
The story of ₦5 in 1983 remains important because it symbolizes a period when the relationship between wages and survival still possessed balance. It reminds Nigerians that economic dignity once existed for ordinary workers. Today, even ₦5,000 disappears rapidly in markets and transport stations. Yet the greatest tragedy is not inflation alone, but the normalization of suffering in a country blessed with enormous resources.
Nigeria can still recover, but recovery requires more than speeches, propaganda, or temporary salary adjustments. It requires rebuilding productive institutions, restoring the value of labor, strengthening governance, and placing national welfare above elite accumulation.
Until then, millions of Nigerians may continue earning larger salaries numerically while becoming poorer in practical reality — trapped in an economy where numbers rise but human dignity continues to suffering.
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