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Nigeria: Goodluck Jonathan in crisis talks over strike
Nigeria President., Goodluck Jonathan. PHOTO/File
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was in crisis talks with union leaders Thursday night in an effort to end a violent nationwide strike over his government’s decision to withdraw long-standing fuel subsidies.
The meeting with leaders of the country’s two biggest umbrella unions, the Nigeria Labor Congress and the Trade Union Congress, came after the country’s biggest oil union, Pengassan, announced it would start shutting down oil production on Sunday.
The move by Pengassan increased the pressure on the government, which depends on oil sales for more than 80 percent of its revenue. Despite four days of mass action that have paralyzed the country, Jonathan has so far refused to reinstate the subsidy, whose removal on January 1 caused gas prices to jump 120 percent.
