The Nigeria Labor Congress called the action to demand that the gas rate hike--from 76 cents to $1.15 per gallon--be rescinded.

"This has been the most successful strike action called by the labor congress for quite some time," stated Lekan Aderibigbe, a Lagos school teacher. "There is hardly any one in this city who will say he was not affected by the strike in one way or the other." Lagos, a city of more than 10 million people is one of the country's most industrialized areas.

A senior government official ordered senior civil servants to return to work immediately or risk losing their jobs.

The higher fuel price is part of Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo's economic policy of deregulation and slashing subsidies as demanded by the International Monetary Fund as a condition for a $1 billion loan to the West African country. The nation is saddled with a $31 billion foreign debt, the vast majority of which is owed to banks in the imperialist centers.

In response to the mounting labor militancy, the Nigerian government offered to cut back the 50 percent gas price rise to 25 percent. The Nigeria Labor Congress rejected that compromise.

With an acute fuel shortage paralyzing the country, President Obasanjo apologized publicly on June 12 for not consulting more widely prior to announcing the boost in gasoline prices.

The next day Nigerian union officials announced they were calling off the five-day strike after reaching a compromise agreement with the government that would boost fuel prices by 10 percent.

While Nigeria is the world's sixth-largest oil producer, working people there are overwhelmingly subjected to poverty. Gross Domestic Product is $960 per capita, and about one-third of the population lives below the government-defined poverty line.  
 
 
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