A coalition of trade unions and pro-democracy groups issued Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo with an ultimatum on Tuesday, warning him to cut fuel prices this week or face a renewed nationwide general strike.
”By Sunday the coalition is going to meet in Lagos and if by that time the issue has not been resolved satisfactorily by Mr President, then the coalition will announce a date for the second phase of the general strike and mass protest,” said Adams
Oshiomhole, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
Earlier this month the NLC and its allies staged a four-day nationwide stoppage in protest at a recent hike in the pump price of petrol and diesel, bringing economic life in Nigeria’s major cities to a halt.
On September 23, Nigerian petrol prices jumped by around 25% to 55 naira (40 US cents) per litre, the latest in a series of hikes since Obasanjo decided in October last year to deregulate fuel sales and halt subsidies.
Obasanjo’s camp has defended the price increases as a necessary evil as Nigeria embarks on an ambitious series of economic reforms designed to halt Africa’s most populous nation’s seemingly inexorable slide into poverty.
But the unions, and the bulk of public opinion, remain unconvinced.
Oshiomhole said union leaders ”are convinced that we cannot abandon the struggle midway, and that it would be dangerous for the Nigerian people to give the impression that they can be tired of fighting when those inflicting the pain are not tired”.
”Therefore we have resolved to sustain the struggle for justice, fairness and for government to listen to the cries of the people,” he warned.
Nigeria’s previous general strike raised fears on the international markets that the country’s huge oil exports might be disrupted, which would have driven world prices higher at a time when they are already pushing all-time records.
But exports were unaffected during the earlier protest, as oil unions allowed skeleton crews to maintain essential operations. – Sapa-AFP