The tanker overturned along the Sapele-Benin road on Sunday night causing a spillage. It's understood that locals, mostly young people, flocked to the scene to fill containers with the spilled fuel, despite warnings. A spark then ignited a fire causing the deadly explosion.
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Nigeria's biggest labour federations on Monday said they were suspending an indefinite strike that was set to begin on Tuesday after last minute talks with President Bola Tinubu's government, which had warned that the action could damage the economy.
Tinubu is under pressure to ease economic hardships after he scrapped a decades-old petrol subsidy and allowed the naira currency to depreciate, leading to soaring prices in Africa's biggest economy and major oil producer.
The government agreed a temporary wage increase for government workers, a three-month income subsidy for 15 million poor households and a pause in a value-added tax on diesel, among several concessions to prevent the strike.
In return, unions will suspend the strike for 30 days while negotiations continue, including on a new minimum wage for all Nigerian workers.
"After 30 days if these issues are not implemented ... it will show bad faith on the side of government," Joe Ajaero, the leader of Nigeria Labour Congress, the country's largest federation, told reporters.
By Felix Onuah, Reuters
Related story: Nigerian government offers wage rise to state workers as strike looms
Nigerian economist Idris Shuiab says the proposal to lift the country's tax take to 18% of gross domestic product within three years from 11% currently is an uphill task but not an impossible one. Shuiab says Nigeria can make enormous progress by simply improving the tax collection process rather than increasing and imposing taxes.
Nigeria on Sunday announced a temporary wage increase for government workers, a three-month income subsidy for 15 million poor households and a pause in a value-added tax on diesel as the government sought to prevent an indefinite strike in two days.
After meeting with the government on Sunday, unions will on Monday take the proposals to their affiliates, who will decide whether to press on with the strike or suspend it, Joe Ajaero, president of the largest labour federation, Nigeria Labour Congress, told reporters.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said government workers would receive an additional 25,000 naira ($32) a month for the next six months, a smaller raise than the 200,000 naira that unions demanded. Tinubu said this was necessary to avoid pushing up double-digit inflation.
That would mean the lowest paid government worker in Nigeria will now earn 55,000 naira a month, up from 30,000 naira.
Poor households would also receive 25,000 naira a month for three months and a value-added tax on diesel will be paused for the same period, the president said.
The government also announced that mass transit buses would begin running on compressed natural gas.
At his inauguration in May, the president scrapped a decades-old fuel subsidy and ended foreign exchange restrictions, which has led to soaring cost of living, angering unions.
In a national broadcast earlier on Sunday marking 63 years of independence, Tinubu defended the reforms as necessary to put Africa's biggest economy on the path to recovery.
"I am attuned to the hardships that have come. I wish today's difficulties did not exist. But we must endure if we are to reach the good side of our future," said Tinubu.
By Felix Onuah, Reuters
Related story: Oil workers in Nigeria to join nationwide strike next week
The Nigerian currency Naira weakened to record low against the U.S. dollar this week, falling to 1,000 Naira per dollar on the parallel market, 29 percent weaker than the official rate of 775.37 per dollar. So, how much is the uncertainty at the CBN driving the Naira's performance in comparison to other economic fundamentals?
