Business activities last week resumed on a rather slow note in some parts of Abuja following the week long demonstrations by the organised labour and civil society organisations over the recent hike in pump price of petroleum products. The week long protests paralysed business activities in the federal capital territory.
However, business activities at the weekend started picking up in the city outskirts as traders and market women trooped out to open their stalls for trade. Signs that residents are already fed up with the protest emerged when traders trouped out in their numbers at the popular Nyanya market.
The move by the traders might have encouraged others as residents in other satellite towns of Abuja took a cue from the Nyanya residents and began a slow but steady return to normal business activities.
Most of the traders and residents regretted the week long strike saying that the strike has caused them untold hardship and called on the government to come to a compromise with labour in order to end the strike in the interest of the masses.
Elijah Dennis, a resident of Abuja described the whole process as traumatic and called on both labour leaders and government officials to address the situation. “I was billed to attend the protest but could not make it there because I do not have money for transportation. I am still trying to see how I can join them in the future,” he said.
A commercial driver who pleaded anonymity complained that the strike has collapsed their business activities, adding that it is high time labour calls off the strike so as to avoid total collapse of economic activities in the country.
“This is where many of us get our daily bread to feed our families. This strike has really affected us negatively and we are appealing to all stakeholders to tackle this problem,” he said.