Fuel strike - After Thursday's talks between President Goodluck Jonathan and organized labour ended in a deadlock in Abuja, the parties resumed their dialogue late Saturday evening in an effort to avert another round of strike from Monday.

Reports reaching PANA here indicate that the Senate President, Senator David Mark, is heading the government delegation while the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) are headed by Mr. Abdulwaheed Omar and Peter Esele respectively.

At stake is the issue of fuel subsidy, removed on new year day by the government which sparked the 125 per cent rise in the price of fuel (from 65 naira -- about US$ 0.4 -- to 140 naira -- about US$ 0.9).

In view of this development, the labour unions and their civil society counterparts called out Nigerians to protest the hike, insisting on the reversal to the pre-1 January price of 65 naira.

The fuel strike grounded the socio-economic activities for five days, effective from 9 January, with labour declaring a two-day rest on Saturday and Sunday with the intention of resuming the mass action Monday if no agreement is reached with government.

If Saturday's meeting fails to reach an agreement, the strike will now move to the next phase, in which the white-collar oil union PENGASSAN (Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria) has threatened to shut down the country's oil production stations and export terminals by midnight on Saturday.

'PENGASSAN shall be forced to go ahead and apply the bitter option of ordering the systematic shutting down of oil and gas production with effect from Sunday 15 January, where the federal government of Nigeria fails to yield to the popular agitation of Nigerians on her unacceptable approach to fuel subsidy removal,' the oil union said in a statement.

Pana 15/01/2012