Nigerians count cost of crippling general strike

LAGOS, June 24 (Reuters) Nigeria's new president, Umaru Yar'Adua, came under fire today as Nigerians counted the cost of a crippling four-day general strike that many commentators said he mishandled.

The strike, called on wednesday by unions to protest against a 15 percent rise in fuel prices, was suspended yesterday after the government agreed to freeze the price at 70 naira (55 cents) per litre for a year.

Unions had initially rejected the five-naira cut, insisting on a return to 65 naira after the price was adjusted to 75 naira in the dying days of the previous government.

A deal was finally cut -- but only after the protest had taken a heavy toll on the economy of Africa's most populous nation and top oil producer at an estimated cost of 50 billion naira a day.

Though vital crude oil exports were unaffected because Western companies replaced key union staff with management, the strike shut down government offices, schools, hospitals, commercial banks and big businesses.

Seaports and airports were closed. Public transport also collapsed as most petrol stations were left without supplies because of a separate strike by road tanker drivers.

''I am anguished that the economy and our people have endured avoidable hardship and that it will take a long time for us to recover from the after effect of the strike action,'' Yar'Adua said in a letter to the unions.

Analysts said the strike was an inauspicious start to the presidency of Yar'Adua who is still facing questions over the legitimacy of his mandate after widespread vote-rigging in the April election that brought him to power.

The highly unpopular fuel price increase was announced by former President Olusegun Obasanjo two days before his retirement on May 29.

Many had expected Yar'Adua to reverse the price hike and other last-minute decisions by his predecessor, including the fire sale of two oil refineries and the doubling of Value Added Tax (VAT) to 10 per cent.

''This is not what you expect from a servant leader ...

Yar'Adua has made a false start,'' Simon Kolawole, editor of Thisday newspaper wrote in his Sunday column.

''What Yar'Adua should have done ... was to first suspend the decisions on fuel and VAT. Then, he should have entered into discussions with manufacturers, unionists and other members of the civil society,'' Kolawole said.

DAILY LOSS The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) estimates that Nigeria, the world's eighth biggest oil exporter, lost 50 billion naira daily during the strike.

The government succumbed yesterday and agreed to set up committees to examine fuel prices and the privatisation of oil refineries and power stations.

Millions of Nigerians supported the strike, one of the most effective protests in recent times, because the majority live in poverty and the increase in fuel prices affects the cost of most basic goods.

Nigerians see fuel subsidies as one of the few benefits they receive from a corrupt and inept government that has failed to provide basic infrastructure like roads, schools, running water and hospitals.

Nigeria depends almost entirely on fuel imports to supply its own fuel requirements because none of its four oil refineries with a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day, has worked for months due mainly to mismanagement and sabotage.

But the government argues that rising world oil prices have made fuel subsidies unsustainable.

REUTERS JT VC2110