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4 October, 2005
Mass protests rather than a general strike have begun in Nigeria to protest the government’s 26 August fuel price hike. ICEM oil workers’ union affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN have joined the rallies, which began 14 September to continue for two weeks. The government hiked the price of gas and diesel fuels by 40% in efforts to reduce subsidies and bring the price in line with global prices. Despite being one of the world’s leading exporters of crude, Nigeria depends on imports of refined fuels to meet domestic demand because the country’s five refineries under-perform from lack of capitalization. Nigerian unions are using the protests to get the government to roll back the fuel price hikes, as well as to demand higher wages incorporating cost-of-living increases.