Nigeria’s electricity grid shut down on Monday as the country’s main labor unions engaged in a general strike. Schools, offices, and hospitals are also closed and most flights were canceled at Nigeria’s major airports.
The Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress said the strike will continue until the government raises the minimum wage to at least 494,000 naira a month ($369). President Bola Tinubu’s government countered that the demands risked destabilizing the economy.
The price of gas and other commodities has soared to a record 28-year-high in Nigeria, in part due to ending subsidies and devaluing the currency.