By Farooq Kperogi Some APC-aligned accounts have been circulating a graphic suggesting that Nigerians should be grateful because petrol he...
By Farooq Kperogi
Some APC-aligned accounts have been circulating a graphic suggesting that Nigerians should be grateful because petrol here is among the cheapest in West Africa.
That comparison tells only half the story. A rich man boasting that his children are doing better than the children of his poorer neighbors would hardly be making an impressive boast. Nigeria is, after all, one of Africa’s biggest oil producers.
The fuller picture is more sobering. My comparison, compiled with the help of AI from official wage notices, fuel regulators and current pump-price reporting, shows that Nigeria has the second-cheapest petrol in West Africa, after Niger Republic.
But among countries with comparable statutory minimum wages, only Ghana and Sierra Leone have lower minimum wages than Nigeria.
And when the real question becomes how much petrol a month’s minimum wage can actually buy, only Ghana, Guinea, Mali and Sierra Leone fare worse. Nigeria’s ₦70,000 minimum wage buys only about 48 to 50 liters at current pump prices.
The comparison with Niger Republic is especially revealing. Our much poorer northern neighbor sells petrol at 499 CFA per liter, the cheapest in West Africa, and raised its minimum wage to 42,000 CFA a month from January 2026.
That minimum wage buys about 84 liters of petrol, nearly twice what Nigeria’s buys. So, saying petrol is relatively cheap in Nigeria is no great flex. What matters to ordinary people is not merely the nominal price at the pump, but how much of it their wages can actually buy.
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