2012 was a remarkable year in the lives of Nigerian. It was the first time the Nigerian government will actually remove fuel subsidy. The removal came as a shock to Nigerians and Nigerians suffered their first panic attack.

Occupy Nigeria was a protest movement that began in Nigeria on Monday, 2 January 2012 in response to the fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government of President Goodluck Jonathan. Protests took place across the country and Protesters shut petrol stations and formed human barriers along motorways. Nigeria’s main trade unions eventually announced an indefinite strike and mass demonstrations from Monday, 9 January 2012, eventually the removal of fuel subsidy was reversed.

Another attempt has been made this year by the present government and The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) are bracing up for another industrial action against the government for the latter’s deregulation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) which has increased the price of the product from N86.50 to N145.00 per litre.

This is 2016 and we are going to have a repeat of what happened in 2012 if maximum care isn’t taken. The Nationwide strike in 2012 affected a lot of things. The strike affected so many sectors. If NLC is actually thinking of doing what is right for the people, they will suspend the proposed action. In fact, totally kill the thought of it. The 2012 strike lasted for six days before it was finally called off by the Labour unions after a unilateral reduction of the pump price to N97 by the government. During those periods, economic activities were paralyzed in the country for several days resulting in economic losses in millions of naira.

If the strike were to take place, it means people will have to start buying food-stocks and other things for keeps. But the truth is, where is the money to buy Foodstuffs for keeps? The government cannot even pay it’s workers due to economy crisis. Where will the ones that haven’t been paid for seven months get the money to buy and keep Foodstuffs for their families against the proposed “hunger strike” in the name of “industrial action”? The reason the Federal Government removed subsidy is to enable Nigerians enjoy more in the long run. We definitely cannot afford to go on strike right now because a whole lot of people will go hungry as there won’t be food to eat, neither will anyone be able to go to banks (should they even have the money).

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, it is estimated that the nation lost N207,408.28 million during the eight-‐day strike. N207, 408.28 million is a whole lot of money. It was also recorded that the Wholesale and Retail Sector both with respect to absolute amount and relative proportion to other sectors, recorded a loss of approximately N86,981.84. This sector accounted for 42% of the overall total loss in output during the period, followed by the Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas Sector, the largest source of government revenue accounted for N28,710.87 million, and 14% of economic losses, while crop Production accounted for N15,220.37 million and 7 percent of economic losses during the period.

The Coal Production sector experienced a loss rate of 20 percent, losses in this sector were tempered due to the fact that a substantial percentage of coal production is located in Enugu, which had minor disruption in economic activity. The Metal Ores, Quarrying and Other Mining sectors predominantly in the North and South-‐Western regions of the country experienced substantial slowdowns as the protests were intense in these areas.

the Agricultural sector also suffered some minor disruptions. Having it in mind that Agriculture in Nigeria remains largely on a subsistence level. However, in rural areas where the impact of the strike was not as intense fishing and forestry still experienced a significantly higher numbers of loss as producers could not take their products to the market. It’s been 4 years since the last strike action and a lot has changed in the Agricultural sector. More people are investing in the sector these days, the number of producers Nigeria back then would have increased by at least 7%. If NLC declares a nationwide strike now, the loss will be massive.

The country needs money right now and we can’t afford to suffer any mishap this time around. The economy is crawling, we need to do something to make it come up way faster than it is. If NLC declares another worldwide strike this time around, who knows how long it’s going to last? Because with the way things are, it doesn’t look like the government is going to bow to NLC. If the strike happens to come on and the nation goes on strike for God knows how long, the economy will relapse further.

As a result of the 2012 strike and violence, at least 10 people died as a result of the violence, while Red Cross volunteers treated more than 600 injured people.

The 2012 strike had its effect on the Aviation industry, as many people were not able to travel due to the stand-still effect of all sectors. The industry itself is already being affected by the current challenges in the country and any move to shut down the aviation sector this time around will lead to a total collapse of the sector.

Sensitivity is the one of the best attributes of humans. NLC comprises of people. The sensitive ones among them should consider the cons of their proposed industrial action on the people they supposedly want to protect. Strike, right now, will bring the economic wall the government is trying to build down. And we all will have to pay for it one way or the other. Every strike action comes with a kind of payment. Payment in cash and in Kind. If NLC embarks on strike, such action would drastically affect the ailing economy of Nigeria. And who knows, NLC may end up killing the people they say they want to protect

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