Nigerian workers march over fuel shortages, wages

By Tume Ahemba

LAGOS, May 13 (Reuters) - Thousands of workers marched on Wednesday in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos to protest against low wages, lingering fuel shortages and lack of progress with electoral reform in Africa's top oil exporter.

The demonstration, the first in a series of rallies planned around the country over the next ten days, is the first of its kind to be directed against President Umaru Yar'Adua's administration since he came to power just over two years ago.

The workers, chanting songs and waving banners, trekked from the National Stadium in Lagos to the office of State Governor Babatunde Fashola, to whom they gave a copy of their demands to forward to Yar'Adua. "Ask the sleeping government of Yar'Adua to negotiate a new minimum wage", "Stop fraudulent elections in Nigeria", and "Repair refineries, build more" read some of the banners.

"We believe all these demands are practicable and workable," said Abdulwahed Omar, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the country's umbrella workers' movement which is organising the rallies. When Yar'Adua took office in 2007 pledging respect for the rule of law, he was seen as a breath of fresh air after 8 years of rule by Olusegun Obasanjo, an overbearing ex-military leader.

But little has changed in the most tangible aspects of daily life for most of Nigeria's 140 million people. Power supply is still almost non-existent, infrastructure is in shambles and fuel and food prices have been on the rise.

One of the unions' major demands is that the government repair the country's oil refineries so that it no longer has to rely on expensive imported fuel. Despite being the world's eighth biggest crude exporter, Nigeria imports about 85 percent of its refined fuel needs.

Powerful business moguls who lead the main fuel importing firms have effectively held the country to ransom in recent weeks, suspending imports and triggering fuel shortages over delays in the payment of government subsidies.

The marketers said on Wednesday they were resuming imports after the government began clearing its arrears. [ID:nLD837835]