General strike called off.

Trade unions in Nigeria have called off their general strike over recent petrol price hikes after four days after reaching a compromise agreement with the government. On 23 May representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) accepted the offer made by the government on the eve of the strike to reduce the pump price of petrol from N75 to N70 per litre. Originally they had rejected the proposal, calling for a complete reversal of the increase from N65 to N75 per litre introduced by former president Olusegun Obasanjo on 28 May, the day before he stepped down from power.

In return the government has agreed to freeze petrol prices for 12 months and to reverse the increase in value added tax from five to ten per cent, which was also introduced by Obasanjo shortly before he left office.

Instead it seems that no deal has been reached over the recent privatisation of two oil refineries in Port Harcourt, about which the unions have expressed their reservations.

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