Power grid and airlines shut down in Nigeria as workers strike
Labor unions in Nigeria have shut down the country’s national grid as part of an indefinite strike, protesting an increase in electricity tariffs and the government’s alleged failure to agree to a new minimum wage, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reported on Monday.
According to the company, members of the labor union drove operators out of power control rooms across the West African nation early Monday, shutting down at least six substations, which resulted in nationwide blackouts.
“Staff that resisted were beaten while some were wounded in the course of forcing them out of the control room, and without any form of control or supervision, the Benin Area Control Center was brought to zero,” the TCN said in a statement.
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the country’s two largest workers’ associations, declared a strike on Friday after wage negotiations with the government failed.
The coalitions warned that the strike—the fourth undertaken since President Bola Tinubu took office in May of last year—would continue until a new minimum wage was introduced.
According to local media, the move has disrupted businesses and critical services across the country, including schools, hospitals, and power supplies, as workers followed the boycott order.
Vehicle access to airports across the country, including the capital, Abuja, has been blocked, leaving travelers stranded, Channel TV reported.
The Nigerian airline Ibom Air announced it has suspended flight operations until further notice in response to the general strike.
United Nigerian Airlines also said that none of its scheduled flights were permitted to depart Africa’s most populous country due to the airport shutdown.
There has been growing discontent among Nigerians, who are grappling with economic instability and the rising cost of living.
Last October, the unions called off an indefinite strike after Tinubu announced an increase in lower-paid state employees’ salaries, raising the minimum wage to 55,000 naira ($71) per month. However, protests erupted in February, with the TUC and NLC accusing the government of failing to deliver on its commitments, including payments of around $15 for three months to some 15 million vulnerable households between October and December of last year.
Last month, the labor unions also led demonstrations to demand the restoration of previous electricity rates, an end to consumer categorization into unfair bands, and a return to proper corporate sector governance.
The authorities have stated that electricity rates for some consumers more than doubled in April, while the government is set to forego at least $788 million in subsidies this year. These measures, including the elimination of the fuel discounts, pushed inflation to nearly 30% last month, the highest rate in nearly 30 years, according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics.
