In Nigeria, trade union members and the public are protesting against the removal of a fuel subsidy as well as the inflation it has brought about.
This comes after Tuesday’s (August 1, 2023) negotiations between the government and the unions ended without a deal.
The leader of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, urged members to “gather in our respective states and wherever we may be across the nation to give vent to this collective resolve.”.
Police Commissioner, Kayode Egbetokun urged commissioners to fully deploy officers to secure the protesters while issuing a warning against using violence during the demonstrations.
According to the unions, the broad-reaching measures announced by President Bola Tinubu on Monday, July 31, 2023 to mitigate the effects of the removal of fuel subsidies, including conditional grants to at least a million small businesses, were insufficient.
The government claimed that ending the widely used but expensive fuel subsidy would help solve the country’s funding woes.
