Nigerian strike called off after fuel prices cut

Nigeria’s main trade union called off a national strike today after the government ordered immediate cuts in domestic fuel prices.

The reductions come “in the name of domestic peace in Nigeria,” Senator Ibrahim Mantu said.

The government has agreed to a nearly 10% reduction in prices of paraffin, petrol and diesel prices, said Mantu, head of a panel appointed by President Olusegun Obasanjo to address demands for lower prices.

The Nigeria Labour Congress, the country’s main blue-collar workers’ group, had called an indefinite strike beginning tomorrow with the support of the white-collar Trade Union Congress and a coalition of civic groups to protest at September’s 23% fuel price increases.