President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, has urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to adopt immediate and temporary relief measures to reduce the burden of the hike in petroleum products on Nigerians, as obtained in other countries of the world, news.ng reports.
He made the call as the war in the Middle East entered its sixth week.
This news platform recalls that the conflict, which started on February 28, 2026, escalated when US-Israeli airstrikes targeted military sites in Iran, unfortunately leading to the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.
Consequently, Iran, which geographically occupies a strategic position in the Gulf region—a major route through which oil vessels convey crude from Gulf countries to other parts of the world—has been preventing these vessels from passing through the Strait of Hormuz since the conflict began until after a ceasefire was established, with partial compliance from Iran.
This has led to an astronomical rise in the price of crude oil on the international market to between $95 and $100 per barrel, which has economically affected the pump price of petroleum products in countries that rely heavily on the importation of these products.
Strategically, Nigeria is not immune to the conflict despite the presence of Dangote Refinery, which alone cannot meet the country’s daily consumption needs.
Meanwhile, Osifo, in an interview on Arise Television on Thursday evening, noted that in times like this, governments across the world deploy policies to reduce hardship.
He said, “In every part of the world, different governments are coming up with different strategies in managing the pump price. So, they’ve removed the tax. So different governments in different parts of the world, they are bringing different policies in order to reduce the pain of the people.”
According to him, these measures are not difficult to implement in the country, and he called on the government to act.
“There is nothing that is too scientific, there is nothing that is too difficult on that in any way,” he stated.
On the implications of the fuel hike, the union leader questioned the rationale behind the government putting infrastructure in place when people struggle to pay for basic transportation.
“If the same people that you are building hospitals for cannot be able to pay transport fare when somebody is sick, how will the person get that healthcare?” he asked.
