Statistics And Numbers Can Be Misleading – Says Temitope Ajayi

As media platforms continue discussions on the minimum wage based on certain figures being bandied around, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Temitope Ajayi, has advised that the discussants should properly situate their arguments as statistics and numbers can be misleading. 

Mr. Ajayi said, “There is this Nairametrics’ table of minimum wage in oil producing countries in Africa compared to that of Nigeria. Seun Okinbaloye showed the same table yesterday on his show and I have seen AriseNews anchors use the same table as a talking point in their Q&A segment”.

“Statistics and numbers can be misleading depending on how they are presented. The table does not give the full picture. It is not enough to present Naira equivalent of minimum wage in Angola, Algeria, Tunisia, Kenya, DRC Congo, Gabon, Cameroon, Ghana etc. The question to ask is: what is the cost of living in these countries?”

“These are countries where VAT is between 15-21%. Countries where personal income tax rate is higher than that of Nigeria. Even with our current economic challenges, it is still far cheaper to live in Nigeria than any of these countries. In these countries, the cost of house rent, basic food items are higher than what is obtainable in Nigeria. A bottle of coke that sells for N300 in Nigeria sells in these countries for between N800-N2000 equivalent.”