Fuel scarcity bites as Nigerian strike looms

LAGOS, June 17 (Reuters) – Kolawole Adeosun slept overnight in his minibus waiting to buy petrol in Nigeria’s largest city Lagos, but he supports the strike which has caused the fuel scarcity across Africa’s top oil producer.

The strike by fuel tanker drivers, which was in its fourth day on Sunday, is a prelude to an indefinite general strike due to start on Wednesday in the world’s eighth largest oil exporter to protest against rising prices and privatisations.


“We slept here in the queue — see the mosquito bites on my arm. But I support the strike. The president should bring the fuel price down,” said Adeosun, a 34-year-old bus driver.

Days before leaving office on May 29, former president Olusegun Obasanjo increased fuel prices by 15 percent, doubled value-added tax and privatised two oil refineries.

Reuters