General Strike Stops Nigeria But Union Leaders Have No Answers
FOR THREE days, 9-11 June, Nigeria came to an almost
complete halt in the fourth general strike in four years as workers and poor
once again moved into action. Enraged by the latest rise in fuel prices and
alienated from the increasingly authoritarian regime of ex-general Olusegun
Obasanjo, the vast majority of Nigerians heeded the trade unions’ call to
stop work.
James Long
Millions of Nigerians, repelled by the ruling elite’s
continuing corruption and seeing themselves disenfranchised by repeated
electoral fraud, saw the strike as the only way of making their voices
heard.
It is under a year since an eight-day general strike
completely stopped Nigeria when Obasanjo’s government tried to raise the
petrol price from 26Niara (US19 cents) a litre to 40N (US30 cents). That
struggle ended in a deal with the NLC (Nigerian Labour Congress, the main
trade union federation) accepting a compromise price of 34N.
But since then the price has relentlessly gone up. Late
last month prices had reached 50N-55N a litre for petrol, while kerosene
used for cooking had jumped from 39N-75N.
In both last October and January, the NLC called off
general strikes at the last minute after agreeing new compromises with the
government that included accepting a further increase in the fuel price to
38N a litre for petrol. But this compromise did not last.
Now the NLC has "suspended" the strike and
accepted a new compromise with the government of the price returning to
between "N40-N41" for petrol in Lagos, something that did not
mention either kerosene or petrol prices outside Lagos. But even this deal
was immediately under attack with fuel shortages gripping Lagos as the oil
marketers went "on strike", saying they’d refuse to sell fuel at
this price.
The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM, the Nigerian
section of the CWI) has warned of the dangers posed by the NLC leaders’
policies. It argues for a thorough mobilisation of working people with the
formation of democratic bodies to run the struggle and for a socialist
alternative.
Nigeria is facing an increasingly turbulent period. If
the rising mass anger is not directed towards the real cause of the
country’s crisis, the capitalist system, there is the danger of a further
growth of ethnic and religious clashes.
