Photo: Osun Defender

The Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) has called off a nationwide strike scheduled for today.

The NLC, an amalgamation of Nigerian trade unions, initially threatened to strike if the federal government continued its plans to proceed with a contempt suit against it. The court action comes following NLC-led protests sparked by a hike in fuel prices.

Newly-elected President Bola Tinubu removed the fuel subsidies in June. Although economists believe that the decision to remove the subsidies was necessary to reduce government expenditures, many Nigerian citizens were angered after fuel prices tripled, putting further strain on a Nigerian economy that already faces 20% inflation. Despite its popularity among economists, the scheme has mainly benefitted well-off Nigerians and has created avenues for embezzlement.

Even though today’s strike has been called off, demonstrations are likely to continue throughout the country in the near term as President Tinubu’s decision will be unpopular politically and socially. However, it is expected to save billions of dollars in the long term and will provide Tinubu with the opportunity to implement reforms and strategies to improve Nigeria’s oil refining capacities and ultimately reduce reliance on imported oil. Like his predecessors, however, Tinubu will face major obstacles to effective reform like weak political institutions and corruption.