Lagos, Oct 08: A petrol drought struck Africa's busiest city yesterday as a mood of crisis gripped Nigeria in the build-up to a nationwide strike called by labour unions to protest a fuel price hike. Long fuel queues snarled traffic in Lagos, home to more than 13 million people, as fears mounted that the planned strike could disrupt oil exports and undermine President Olusegun Obasanjo's plans for economic reform.
Union leaders have called on Nigerians to stay home from tomorrow, in a repeat of a similar action in June which paralysed major cities, but there is no sign that Obasanjo is ready to back down over fuel deregulation. "There is no going back on the strike since Obasanjo has refused to budge. He will not even talk with us. We expect all Nigerians to stay at home," said John Odah, general secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress.

"We have adequately mobilised market women, traders, transporters, students, private sector operators and civil servants. The struggle is in their interest and we are sure they will comply," he told a news agency.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called for the strike to protest a government decision to deregulate fuel sales, removing a price cap on petrol and diesel and phasing out a subsidy. In anticipation of a long and disruptive battle, fuel hoarding has spread across the country. Of the 24 filling stations visited yesterday by an a news agency correspondent in Lagos, only five were selling fuel, while long and rowdy queues of cars snaked around the city, and reportedly around other major towns.

Bureau Report