Ruptly
"Thousands of workers and union members rallied in Nigeria's capital on Friday to mark International Workers' Day amid tensions over the implementation of the new minimum wage, insecurity and rising inflation. Footage filmed in Abuja shows wide crowds of protesters marching with banners and chanting. "In the oil and gas downstream sector, recent global developments have once again exposed our vulnerability. The Iran-US-Israel tension triggered a 39 per cent increase in pump price by domestic refineries, the highest globally," noted Festus Osifo, president of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC). He further noted worsening transportation costs and deepening hardship for Nigerians. "This is despite the fact that Nigeria remained one of the world's largest crude exporters, currently producing about 1.8 million barrels of crude per day, with the additional gains of about 50 dollars per barrel," Osifo added. In his turn, Joe Ajaero, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), highlighted what he described as persistent inequality faced by workers. "Those who endure exploitation and subjugation yet refuse to bend. Those whose labour sees the profits of multinational corporations but who see little of that prosperity reflected in their own lives. That is who we are," Ajaero stressed. George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation, said authorities were committed to tackling insecurity and poverty while improving working conditions. "We are committed to overcoming insecurity. We are determined to defeat poverty, and we will continue to work tirelessly to achieve a nation where decent work is not a privilege for a few but a reality for all," he concluded. The situation in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway that carries about 20 per cent of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas output, has seen prices soar amid the Iran war - to over 100 USD per barrel."
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