Nigeria's President cuts fuel price to 97 naira/litre, but strike continues - Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday announced a cut in the price of petrol from at least 141 naira (US$0.9) per litre to 97 naira (US$0.6), in a move aimed at assuaging the anger of Nigerians who have been protesting high fuel prices since 9 Jan.

But the organized labour immediately announced that the strike that has shut down Africa's most populous nation will continue, though without streets protests, as the government's action fell short of the reversal to the old price of 65 naira (US$0.4) per litre demanded by the labour unions and their civil society partners.

In a television broadcast, President Jonathan said 'government will continue to pursue full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector. However, given the hardships being suffered by Nigerians, and after due consideration and consultations with state governors and the leadership of the National Assembly, government has approved the reduction of the pump price of petrol to N97 per litre.'

'The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has been directed to ensure compliance with this new pump price,' the President said, following the third round of talks in the capital city of Abuja on Sunday night, in an effort to end the strike.

Reacting to the government's decision, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. Abdulwaheed Omar, told journalists: 'The strike continues. We will extend the stay at home directive but there will be no streets protests (starting from Monday) so as not to
endanger innocent lives.'

He said the decision to suspend street protests followed an appeal by the President, who said there had been a serious security report to the effect that people outside organized labour have hijacked the street protests.

Mr. Omar said the labour unions, NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), would work with the committee set up by the federal government in the next few days on the contentious issue of the deregulation of the downstream oil sector, as well as the appropriate pricing of petrol.

The NLC President spoke after a series of meetings, first between President Jonathan and some state governors, and then between the Nigerian President and representatives of organized labour, in Abuja on Sunday.

Two previous rounds of talks on Thursday and Saturday had failed to end the strike, which was precipitated by the 1 Jan. 2012 withdrawal of state subsidy on petrol, which immediately shot up the price of the product by 125% and triggered a hike in the cost of goods and services.

On Friday, the labour unions ordered a two-day break in the protest (on Saturday and Sunday) to enable Nigerians to restock on food and fuel as well as replenish their energy ahead of the resumption of the strike on Monday, in the event that the government fails to revert to the old petrol price.

Pana 16/01/2012