NIGERIA: Shops and business offices close as Nigeria's workers embark on indefinite strike

Record ID: 234868

  • Title: NIGERIA: Shops and business offices close as Nigeria's workers embark on indefinite strike
  • Date: 20th June 2007
  • Summary: (W3) LAGOS, NIGERIA (JUNE 20, 2007) (REUTERS) NIGERIA LABOUR UNION DRIVING ALONG MAJOR ROADS IN CITY TO ENSURE THAT PEOPLE COMPLY WITH THE STAY AT HOME ORDER PEOPLE STANDING BY ROAD SIDE, SHOUTING: "We are suffering, fight for us!" PEOPLE WALKING ON THE STREETS BECAUSE THERE ARE NO VEHICLES ON THE ROADS POLICEMEN SEATED ON THE STREET PEOPLE WALKING ON STREET VARIOUS OF CLOSED STORES, BUSINESS AND OFFICES LABOUR UNION OFFICIAL WITH FLAGS PEOPLE PICKING UP LEAFLETS PLACED ON THE ROAD BY LABOUR UNION GEORGE AWAM, LAGOS BUSINESSMAN READING LEAFLET HEADLINE OF LABOUR LEAFLET READING: "NIGERIA LABOUR CONGRESS, JUNE 2007 STRIKE, THE ISSUES IN DISPUTE." (SOUNDBITE) GEORGE AWAM, LAGOS BUSINESSMAN, SAYING: "We are in support of this strike because it is something that needs to be done, because the government has not reduced the price of fuel the way we want it. There's a way we want the price to be reduced, that five naira does not mean anything; we want it to be reduced to the lowest term so that we can benefit." VARIOUS OF CLOSED FOOD CENTRE MAN STANDING IN FRONT OF HIS CLOSED WORKSHOP (SOUNDBITE) DEBO THORPE, NIGERIA RESIDENT, SAYING: "As far as Nigeria is concerned we are rich but the government is wasting our money on useless things; some of them having 50 houses, 150 houses, while others are living in a mud house, in a wooden house, on the water side, in the slum; we are suffering and we are tired of this." PEOPLE WALKING ON STREET VARIOUS OF LABOUR UNION MEMBERS PICKETING AT A PETROL STATION SELLING FUEL LABOUR UNION AND ENTOURAGE DRIVING THROUGH THE STREETS TO ENSURE STAY AT HOME ORDER
  • Embargoed: 5th July 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Employment
  • Reuters ID: LVA6XPANVP0U4OIMRZDKGX0KKKIK
  • Story Text: A general strike over a rise in fuel prices brought much of Nigeria to a standstill on Wednesday (June 20) but oil supplies from Africa's top producer were initially unaffected.
    Unions pressed on with the strike despite a series of concessions offered by President Umaru Yar'Adua, who faces the first major test of his government three weeks after taking office.
    Streets in the main cities were deserted, but this was partly due to a five-day-old strike by road tanker drivers which has left most of the country without fuel. Very few buses were operating. Banks, schools and many government offices were closed.
    The offices of Western oil companies operating in Nigeria were closed along with most other businesses, but oil production and shipments from the world's eighth largest exporter of crude were uninterrupted, company officials said.
    Some international and domestic flights were cancelled because of a shortage of jet fuel. Yar'Adua agreed to reverse the tax increase and to implement the public sector pay rise, but talks broke down over the fuel price.
    Unions ordered workers to go on "total strike" and many people complied with the order saying that the concessions by the government would not alleviate their suffering.
    "We are in support of this strike because it is something that needs to be done, because the government has not reduced the price of fuel the way we want it. There's a way we want the price to be reduced, that five naira does not mean anything; we want it to be reduced to the lowest term so that we can benefit," Lagos businessman George Awam said.
    Yar'Adua inherited the crisis from his predecessor, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, who lifted fuel prices, doubled value-added tax and privatised two oil refineries days before leaving office on May 29.
    Unions rejected the government's offer to reduce pump prices by 5 naira (4 cents) a litre, saying only a full reversal of its 10-naira increase would avert the action.
    Nigerians argue that the country is rich but the government has mismanaged the wealth creating inequality with wide margin between the rich and poor.
    "As far as Nigeria is concerned we are rich but the government is wasting our money on useless things; some of them having 50 houses, 150 houses, while others are living in a mud house, in a wooden house, on the water side, in the slum; we are suffering and we are tired of this," Lagos resident Debo Thorpe said.
    The strike call has helped to keep world oil prices at close to 10-month highs around 72 U.D. dollars a barrel.
    Previous strikes in Nigeria have had a limited impact on oil operations, because they tend to build strength slowly and are normally resolved within a few days.
    Many Nigerians support the strike because they see cheap fuel as one of the few benefits they receive from a government that has failed to deliver constant power, clean water, healthcare or decent schools.
    Nigeria's four oil refineries have been shut for months because of sabotage and mismanagement, and Africa's largest producer of crude oil is entirely dependent on imports to meet its fuel needs.
    awa/jrc
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