AFP. 16 January 2002. Nigerian police arrest labour leader, use tear-gas at demo; 'Our leaders are vultures. Enough is enough'-Nigerians back strike; Clash reported at Nigerian university as general strike begins.
ABUJA and LAGOS -- Nigerian police on Wednesday arrested labour leader Adams Oshiomhole and used tear-gas to break up a demonstration launching a general strike here to protest a recent hike in fuel prices. Police moved in shortly after Oshiomhole, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), drove to the site of the demonstration close to government offices in Abuja, according to an AFP reporter. More than 500 supporters of the NLC had massed for the demonstration in the centre of the Nigerian capital. A senior union leader earlier said that the general strike over fuel prices got under way in Nigeria Wednesday and was being widely followed across the country. Sceptical of their government and hard-pressed by rising prices, ordinary Nigerians around the country voiced support Wednesday for a general strike called to force down fuel prices. "Our leaders in this country are vultures. Enough is enough," declared one caller to a Lagos radio phone-in, backing the strike begun on Wednesday by the main labour federation, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). Nigerians, who earn an average of around 300 dollars a year, say they could not afford to pay the old prices, let alone the new ones. According to a recent US-funded opinion survey of more than 2,000 Nigerians, most are sceptical of the government. Last month the government announced plans to spend 225 million dollars on a refit of the 469-member parliament, more than its 2002 budgets for either health or education. And last year it confirmed plans to spend more than 350 million dollars on a national sports stadium in Abuja which few Nigerians will ever be able to see. "The money they spend is always for them. It is never for us, they make money and they never spend it on the masses," said John Okomu, a civil servant on strike in Lagos Wednesday. Peter Oruma, a 36-year-old Lagos engineer said he too backed the strike. "It is necessary. We have to get the government to reverse the price hike. We are always being asked to sacrifice but no more," he said. Clement Ojikutu, a 42-year-old Lagos banker, said he also agreed with the strike. "If it means suffering to achieve our objectives, so be it," he said. In the northern city of Kano, support was also solid. "There should be no compromise on the strike. This is democracy and the government should listen to the people. We are saying 'enough'," said Salihu Dabo, a worker in a textile factory. Yakubu Ibrahim, a 34-year-old trader in the main Kano market agreed. "We have been oppressed for long. There have been price increases in the past with no positive effects for the common man. If the people allow this increase, more will follow," he said. Meanwhile, striking students clashed with police at a university in the southwest Nigerian city of Ibadan Wednesday as a general strike began, a local radio station reported. The report, on the Rythym FM radio station, said the clash erupted after police attempted to break up a demonstration called in support of the strike. No details on possible injuries or arrests were immediately available. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews
