‘We live from hand to mouth,’ Ondo polytechnic staff lament N18,000 monthly pay

Staff of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, have petitioned the Ondo State Government, alleging they still earn ₦18,000 minimum wage and are owed three months’ salary arrears amid worsening economic hardship.

Staff members of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic have raised concerns over deteriorating welfare conditions, accusing the administration of Lucky Aiyedatiwa of neglecting the institution. In a “Save Our Soul” petition, the workers alleged that their welfare had “nosedived” under the current government, leaving many financially distressed and unable to meet basic living expenses. They appealed for urgent public attention, claiming that thousands of employees have been pushed into hardship due to poor remuneration and unpaid salaries.

According to the staff, “our members have practically been living from hand to mouth,” adding that they had been subjected to “huge financially embarrassment by virtue of the grossly low salary scale being used in the Polytechnic.” They further stated that “staff of the Polytechnic are still collecting N18,000 as minimum wage as at January, 2026,” despite national wage reviews that replaced the ₦18,000 benchmark with ₦30,000 in 2019 and subsequent increases. The petition described them as “the only government workers in Nigeria that are still collecting N18,000,” alleging that repeated appeals to the Ondo State Government to implement the new wage structure had yielded no result.

The workers also accused the governor of excluding the polytechnic workforce from the new wage implementation that reportedly commenced for other state workers in October 2024. In addition, they alleged that staff are owed three months’ salary arrears covering October, November and December 2025. According to the petition, the governor had approved payment of the arrears during the institution’s combined convocation ceremony on October 25, 2025, but the promise remains unfulfilled.

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