QUEUES AS NIGERIA RETURNS TO WORK !
Many Nigerians buy their fuel on the black market. Nigerians formed long queues for fuel and transport on Monday morning as they returned to work after a four-day general strike.
A BBC reporter in Lagos says many commuters were stranded at bus stops.
Businesses and schools reopened for the first time since the stoppage began last Wednesday.
Trade unions called off their strike over recent rises in petrol prices and value-added tax, after talks with government officials on Saturday.
Union leaders said they had accepted the government's proposal to freeze petrol prices for at least a year at the compromise price of 70 naira (55 US cents) per litre.
'No winner'
Some filling stations have yet to reflect the new price on the pumps but the government says the new prices would soon be posted everywhere.
The government had already agreed to reduce its increase in prices as one of a series of offers made before the strike began on Wednesday.
President Umaru Yar'Adua has survived his first test Unions had called the strike over rises in fuel prices and value-added tax and the sale of two major oil refineries.
The unions were angry at a series of measures pushed through in the last days of the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo, who stepped down last month.
The price of petrol was increased from 65 naira (51 US cents) a litre to 75.
"There is no winner or loser," Babagana Kingibe, who led the negotiations for the government, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
"If there's a loser, it's the Nigerian people."
The BBC's Alex Last in the biggest city, Lagos, says the deal can be seen as a victory for the unions but not a total one.
He says the price of fuel is a sensitive issue in the country because it is one of the few benefits Nigerians get from the government, which receives billions of dollars in oil revenues but fails to provide even basic amenities.
New President Umaru Yar'Adua has emerged from this first major test just about intact, our correspondent says.
Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer but has to import most of its petrol because of the poor state of its refineries.
BBC NEWS REPORT.A BBC reporter in Lagos says many commuters were stranded at bus stops.
Businesses and schools reopened for the first time since the stoppage began last Wednesday.
Trade unions called off their strike over recent rises in petrol prices and value-added tax, after talks with government officials on Saturday.
Union leaders said they had accepted the government's proposal to freeze petrol prices for at least a year at the compromise price of 70 naira (55 US cents) per litre.
'No winner'
Some filling stations have yet to reflect the new price on the pumps but the government says the new prices would soon be posted everywhere.
The government had already agreed to reduce its increase in prices as one of a series of offers made before the strike began on Wednesday.
President Umaru Yar'Adua has survived his first test Unions had called the strike over rises in fuel prices and value-added tax and the sale of two major oil refineries.
The unions were angry at a series of measures pushed through in the last days of the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo, who stepped down last month.
The price of petrol was increased from 65 naira (51 US cents) a litre to 75.
"There is no winner or loser," Babagana Kingibe, who led the negotiations for the government, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
"If there's a loser, it's the Nigerian people."
The BBC's Alex Last in the biggest city, Lagos, says the deal can be seen as a victory for the unions but not a total one.
He says the price of fuel is a sensitive issue in the country because it is one of the few benefits Nigerians get from the government, which receives billions of dollars in oil revenues but fails to provide even basic amenities.
New President Umaru Yar'Adua has emerged from this first major test just about intact, our correspondent says.
Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer but has to import most of its petrol because of the poor state of its refineries.
Labels: Nigeria Lagos Oil Revenues Amenities Test Intact Petrol Strike Trade-Unions Queues
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