African Arguments

Top Menu

  • About Us
    • Our philosophy
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate
  • Fellowship

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • Somaliland
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • eSwatini
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
    • Climate crisis
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • From the fellows
    • Radical Activism in Africa
    • On Food Security & COVID19
    • #EndSARS
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Podcast
    • Into Africa Podcast
    • Africa Science Focus Podcast
    • Think African Podcast
  • Debating Ideas
  • About Us
    • Our philosophy
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate
  • Fellowship

logo

African Arguments

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • Somaliland
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • eSwatini
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
    • Climate crisis
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • From the fellows
    • Radical Activism in Africa
    • On Food Security & COVID19
    • #EndSARS
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Podcast
    • Into Africa Podcast
    • Africa Science Focus Podcast
    • Think African Podcast
  • Debating Ideas
Politics
Home›African Arguments›Politics›Nigeria: tensions as Jonathan accedes to fuel protestors’ demands – By Ejiro Barrett

Nigeria: tensions as Jonathan accedes to fuel protestors’ demands – By Ejiro Barrett

By Uncategorised
January 16, 2012
2057
0

The nationwide strike called by labour unions against fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria has been suspended pending further negotiations, but it is not clear whether the protests will continue. The President announced a sixty percent cut in the price of petrol, indicating the continuation of a moderate subsidy regime. On Monday, most protest grounds had been taken over by the army and check points were set up across Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. Prior to this apparent breakthrough, two days of Intense closed door negotiations at the end of last week between the state governors, Nigeria’s president Goodluck Jonathan, members of the Nigerian senate and executive members of the Labour unions ended in deadlock as no one seemed willing to shift grounds. Across the country, the protests were organised at public squares that became symbols of the anti government rallies. In Lagos, Nigeria’s largest metropolis and known for its political liberalism, the crowds chose to gather around the Gani Fawehinmi Park, named after one of Nigeria’s most celebrated civil rights lawyers.

In some cities there have also been pockets of violence. The labour unions have had to suspend protests in Kano, the commercial hub of the north. They have cancelled protests in a few other cities where there have been lootings and attacks on members of the country’s northern Muslim communities resident there. There have also been some migrations by northern, predominantly Hausa, residents from southern states. These acts have been condemned by the Unions and have raised fears of retaliatory action in the northern parts of the country where Boko Haram militants have attacked several Christian centres of worship.

It is expected that as the protesters become more entrenched, then these attacks will cease. Surprising to many however, there have been no attacks on southern Christians in the northern cities where most Nigerians expected a breakout of sectarian violence during the protests. On the streets of Kaduna, considered one of the most volatile centres in the north with a history of sectarian violence, protesters were seen holding crucifixes and Muslim prayer beads in both hands as a sign of unity in the struggle. Nigeria came close to an explosion of national religious conflict over Christmas when the terrorist group, Boko Haram, claimed responsibility for attacks on several churches and warned all Christians to leave towns and cities in the North. These warnings have heightened fears among southern Christians who live in the northern, predominantly Muslim states and have also sparked some migrations.

HEAVY-HANDED SECURITY RESPONSE

Some state governments imposed dusk-to-dawn curfews  in order to calm the situation. There have also been reports of heavy-handedness by Nigeria’s security agencies against protesters resulting in several deaths. Most of these deaths have been blamed on members of the Police and army. Nigerian security agencies, known for their violent response to public protests and their use of live ammunition against peaceful protesters, have been blamed for several fatal shootings in the five days of protests. The police have denied any involvement in most of the killings but eye witnesses say they have seen police men open fire at protesters in several cities.

The labour union leadership, anticipating a heavy-handed response from the police,  gave certain guidelines to follow during the protest marches. It has warned that any act of violence by the police would be raised before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Protesters have been asked to stay away from public properties and to remain peaceful.

PAINS OF SUBSIDY REMOVAL

Nigerians were already feeling the pinch of subsidy removal as the strike and protests continued – the costs of the most basic commodities have going up by between 30 and 100 percent. Petrol filling stations across the country have adjusted their meters upward, food prices have risen and house rents are expected to follow soon. Some basic foodstuffs like beef were absent from the markets for a short while in some southern cities as fears of attacks kept the predominantly northern cattle sellers away from southern markets.

Banks and most commercial chains have remained closed and most interstate road transporters have stopped all operations either in solidarity with the strike or because of a nationwide shut down by most petrol filling stations in compliance with the directives from labour unions. Aside from the new prices for petroleum products, the strike has made what little available fuel products there are even more expensive, further raising transport costs across the country beyond the subsidy induced prices.

THE CAUSES

The removal of fuel subsidy remains the key reason for the strikes and protests, but many believe it is a catalyst for a growing demand on government to end massive corruption – an issue that stokes public distrust of government in Nigeria. Protests under the “Occupy Nigeria” banner have attracted the support of many Nigerian celebrities. One of the upshots of the subsidy removal debate is the question of government expenditure, particularly on salaries and ancillary benefits to political office holders. Since Jonathan was sworn in as president, figures show government spending has increased and there has been very little effort by his government to investigate allegations of corruption amongst members of his cabinet.

The government however insists that the fuel subsidy had to go. It claims that for over thirty years subsidy has been a constant drain on government resources and only a select group of fuel importers have benefited. In the last year, government claims that over 8 billion dollars has been spent on subsidy – this being a huge drain on available funds for developmental programmes. The government also claims that Nigeria produces about thirty percent of the fuel consumed locally while it subsidises imported fuel, which means that the subsidy is susceptible to fluctuations in international market prices. A select group of fuel importers have formed a wealthy clique with enormous powers to influence political decisions. The subsidy administration has been fraught with fraud and has seen a large part of the subsidised fuel smuggled out to neighbouring countries where the product sells at the international price. However, while Jonathan has admitted the presence of such a group and its smuggling activities, his government has done nothing to prosecute any of the culprits.

The cost of government, which Jonathan has promised to bring down, has continued to rise. Under Jonathan’s presidency, the abuse of government funds has spiraled out of control. Many people ask how a budget of $2 billion for subsidy suddenly increased to $8 billion within a year. The recently unveiled 2012 budget has exposed further increase in the cost of government contributing to heavy budget deficit and mounting public debt.

Jonathan insists that the funds derived from the removal of subsidy will be used to provide essential services such as health, transport and physical infrastructure. What Nigerians are asking is how the government intends to provide palliatives for the expected increase in food costs, rent, private medical costs and school tuition.

Many Nigerians say it was not so much the removal of the subsidy that sparked anger but the way it was done. The decision was arbitrary and it took the whole nation by surprise, especially as government had commenced discussions with members of civil society groups on alternatives, and senior government officials had given the impression that the subsidy would not be removed before April 2012. Many people say the government’s decision to remove the subsidy on the first day of the New Year exposed insincerity in its decisions.

Even as the government accedes to labour demands to reverse its decision, most Nigerians remain apprehensive about its commitment to fighting corruption. It is not clear whether the protests will continue but it is expected that the pressure will be kept on government to bring down its huge expenditure and to investigate all allegations of corruption.

Ejiro Barrett is a freelance journalist and reporter. He writes a weekly column for The Nigerian Observer.

Previous Article

In the 2 Sudans: where separation breeds ...

Next Article

Intervening in Somalia: risky business with no ...

Uncategorised

Leave a reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Civil SocietyDebating IdeasDecolonisationIdentitiesSexualitiesSpecialised Series

    Doing More on Sexuality

  • Politics

    Humanitarian aid and the International Criminal Court: Grounds for divorce (2)

  • Politics

    Meles’ death sparks succession planning as El Cid rides again – By Mike Jennings

Subscribe to our newsletter

Click here to subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and never miss a thing!

  • 81.7K+
    Followers

Find us on Facebook

Interactive Elections Map

Keep up to date with all the African elections.

Recent Posts

  • The unaccountability of Liberia’s polluting miners
  • Africa Elections 2023: All the upcoming votes
  • “Poking the Leopard’s Anus”: Legal Spectacle and Queer Feminist Politics
  • Introducing Parselelo and a new climate focus
  • The ‘Hustler’ Fund: Kenya’s Approach to National Transformation

Editor’s Picks

CultureEditor's PicksNigeria

Burna Boy claims to be a politically conscious “African Giant.” He’s not.

Instead, he may be a giant of marketing or of missed opportunities.  For years, Burna Boy has been carefully crafting his image as a socially conscious artist. From his breakout ...
  • The 8 December 2021 protest by the media against state-led press repression in Sudan. Credit: Ayin.

    “Back to the former lies”: Sudan reverts to media repression post-coup

    By Elzahraa Jadallah, Khaled Fathi & Tom Rhodes
    December 16, 2021
  • Exhibits from Michael Soi's "China Loves Africa" exhibition at the Circle Art Gallery in Nairobi. Credit: Circle Art Gallery.

    Why is Africa always portrayed as a passive woman?

    By Nanjala Nyabola
    September 18, 2018
  • Doctors perform obstetric fistula surgery in Eldoret, Kenya. Credit: Heidi Breeze-Harris/One By One.

    The solvable health issue that kills more than malaria, AIDS and TB

    By Desmond Jumbam
    May 24, 2022
  • Don’t just vote. Mobilise. (Aka Why elections won’t change Nigeria)

    By Ayo Sogunro
    January 29, 2019

Brought to you by


Creative Commons

Creative Commons Licence
Articles on African Arguments are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
  • Cookies
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • en English
    am Amharicar Arabicny Chichewazh-CN Chinese (Simplified)en Englishfr Frenchde Germanha Hausait Italianpt Portuguesest Sesothosn Shonaes Spanishsw Swahilixh Xhosayo Yorubazu Zulu
© Copyright African Arguments 2020
By continuing to browse this site, you agree to our use of cookies.
en English
am Amharicar Arabicny Chichewazh-CN Chinese (Simplified)en Englishfr Frenchde Germanha Hausait Italianpt Portuguesest Sesothosn Shonaes Spanishsw Swahilixh Xhosayo Yorubazu Zulu