“Revolutions” do not typically take a few days off. I am assuming that the NLC aims to end the strike soon. Suspending protests over the weekend is a prudent way to do this because Occupy Nigeria movement members are far more likely to acquiesce to the end of the strike after a weekend of rest. We will see.
On 12 January, negotiations between President Goodluck Jonathan and labour leaders, over the government’s removal of subsidy on petrol, reported some progress but produced no agreement. Labour leaders said the nationwide strike started on 9 January will continue, pending the outcome of another meeting on Saturday 14 January. But they halted public rallies and street demonstrations for the weekend.
The meeting between Jonathan and the labour leaders was the first since the strike began. The President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulwahed Omar told newsmen that: “We have not concluded discussions yet, but we have had very fruitful discussions. We have to continue on Saturday afternoon… Until we conclude the discussions, we maintain the status quo”.
The government had come under increasing pressure to make concessions. Over the past four days, tens of thousands of protesters, led by an alliance of labour leaders and civil society activists, had been…
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African Society and Conflict 
Goodluck Jonathan was just quoted as calling the current situation worse than that leading to the Biafran conflict in 1967. Beware leaders who warn of impending civil war. They have every reason to exaggerate the severity of threats in order to excuse their own use of excessive force against the opposition.
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