Nigerian Strike Enters Second Week as Fuel Price Cut Spurned

Nigerian labor unions spurned an offer by President Goodluck Jonathan to cut gasoline prices in Africa’s biggest crude producer and said they’ll extend a national strike over the abolition of fuel subsidies into a second week.

Oil union Pengassan said it will only shut down oil output as “a last resort” in Africa’s top crude producer to give more time for negotiations with the government to end the strike, which has slowed trading in stocks and the naira, closed ports and banks and sparked street protests. The President today unilaterally reduced gasoline prices and the country’s oil minister pledged to speed up oil industry reform.