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Nigeria’s all powerful trades unions, under the umbrella Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), launched a week of rallies against government plans to deregulate fuel prices, AFP reported.
The congress launched its protest in the northern city of Kano that began on Tuesday, with some 15,000 banner-carrying marchers. Thousands others protested in the northern cities of Katsina and Kaduna, the southwestern city of Abeokuta and the southeastern city of Abakaliki, AFP reported.
The government has, for years, been subsidising fuel. A litre of fuel costs 22 naira (about 18 US cents), AFP reported. However, the international price of crude has risen sharply and the dollar has gained strength against a weak naira, AFP reported. The result of cheap petrol has been smuggling across the borders where the commodity fetches higher prices.
A five-day strike by unions forced the government in June 2000 to back down from an attempt to raise the price of a litre of fuel from 20 to 30 naira.
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