Labour unions call strike over hike in fuel prices

Labour unions led by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have called a general strike to press President Olusegun Obasanjo's government to reverse recent deregulation of fuel prices, which has caused the prices of petrol, kerosene and diesel to shoot up in the past week. At a meeting in the southwest city of Ibadan, 100 km north of the commercial capital Lagos, on Saturday, attended by the leadership of its 29 affiliate unions, the NLC declared it would embark on an indefinite nationwide strike by Thursday 9 October, if the government did not revert to the old fuel prices. Oil prices rose at filling stations across Nigeria - which is Africa's leading oil producer - on 1 October, after the government said it had deregulated petroleum products prices. Against the previous price of 34 naira (US $0.26) a litre, new prices charged in different parts of the country have since ranged between 39.90 naira ($0.31) to 45 naira ($0.34) a litre. "Nigerians must fight deregulation now as price increases for [petroleum] products will occur frequently," Adams Oshiomhole, president of NLC, told reporters after the meeting. "We are resuming our strike on Thursday." A crippling strike by the unions between late June and early July forced the government to scale down a 50 percent increase it had effected in fuel prices. The unions said at the time they were merely suspending their strike. Oshiomhole advised Nigerians to use between Monday and Wednesday to withdraw money from banks and get stocks of food "because we forsee a prolonged struggle". The government has often said Nigeria should no longer spend US $2 billion a year subsidising fuel, arguing that savings from deregulation could be better spent on education and social services. But the NLC leaders dispute government motives and accuse it of deliberately sabotaging the country's petroleum refineries to pave way for fuel import deals awarded to the cronies of those in power. "The decision not to fix our refineries is an unholy collusion with [petroleum products] marketers and deregulation is a recipe for disaster," Oshiomhole said. "If Nigeria is not going to be subjected to endless devaluation in dollar/naira exchange, this is the time to arrest deregulation and endless price increases," he added.