General Strike Shuts Down Nigeria as Fuel Subsidy Protests Continue

January 09, 2012 from Euronews

Trade unions in Nigeria staged a nationwide strike on Monday over the government's scrapping of fuel subsidies. The industrial action in Africa's top oil-producing nation has closed businesses and schools. Subsidies allowed Nigerians to buy a litre of petrol for 31 euro cents (approximately USD1.50 per gallon) until they were axed on January 1. Scrapping them has seen the cost of fuel almost double. The government says the policy cost more than six billion euros last year.

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Nigeria

Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in t... Explore this topic

General strike

A general strike is a strike action in which a substantial proportion of the total labour force in a city, region, or country participates. General strikes are characterized by the participation of workers in a multitude of workplaces, and tend to involve entire communities. G... Explore this topic

Protest

An act of defiance or objection by an individual or group of people. Protests can take many forms: peaceful or violent, direct or indirect, large or small. Protests in the news are often political in nature, as groups of citizens voice their disagreement or dissatisfaction. Pr... Explore this topic

Price of petroleum

The price of petroleum as quoted in news generally refers to the spot price per barrel (159 liters) of either WTI/light crude as traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) for delivery at Cushing, Oklahoma, or of Brent as traded on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE, i... Explore this topic

Lagos

Lagos is a port city and the most populous city in Lagos State, Nigeria. Officially, the population of Lagos was last recorded in 2006 at 7,937,932. Lagos is the second fastest growing city in Africa and the seventh fastest growing city in the world. Lagos was originally inhab... Explore this topic

Subsidy

A subsidy is a grant or other financial assistance given by one party for the support or development of another. Subsidy has been used by economists with different meanings and connotations in different contexts. According to one OECD definition, “A subsidy is a measure that k... Explore this topic

Trade union

A trade union, labour union or labor union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals such as protecting the integrity of its trade, achieving higher pay, increasing the number of employees an employer hires, and better working conditions. T... Explore this topic

Petroleum industry

The petroleum industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting, and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline. Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products, incl... Explore this topic

Industrial action

Industrial action or job action refers collectively to any measure taken by trade unions or other organised labour meant to reduce productivity in a workplace. Quite often it is used and interpreted as a euphemism for strike, but the scope is much wider. Industrial action may ... Explore this topic

Politics of Nigeria

Nigeria is a Federal Republic modeled after the United States, with executive power exercised by the president and with influences from the Westminster System model in the composition and management of the upper and lower houses of the bicameral legislature. However, the Presi... Explore this topic

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