Irrigating the famished fields: The impact of labour-led struggle on policy and action in Nigeria (1999 - 2007)

Abstract

Between 1999 and 2007, a broad-based labour-led movement which focused most of its energies on its struggle against unpopular fuel price hikes in Nigeria wasb able to exert considerable, though limited, influence on an Obasanjo-led executive arm of government that was at best quasidemocratic in its orientation. This article argues that, despite the very important roles layed by other factors (notably the presence of more democratic space in Nigeria post-1999), the movement?s adoption of a mass social movement approach facilitated its ability to exert such influence.