Politics
Nigeria update: Growing anger over fuel prices
The protest first drew Nigerians who live hand-to-trash, scavenging through mountains of garbage to make a living. Now, long lines of cars and expensive motorcycles are parking near demonstration that is drawing more than 10,000 people angry about life in Africa’s most populous nation.
The nationwide strike first began over gasoline prices more than doubling, but now it encompasses criticism of all Nigeria’s failings. People shout to anyone that will listen about the country’s cratered roads, dilapidated schools and the government corruption that leaves politicians wealthy and the people largely poor in the oil-rich nation.
And protesters say they want a permanent change in Nigeria, a move away from leaders who send their families abroad for schooling and medical checkups while the rest subsist on less than US$2 a day.
“They want to cut us off,” said Anthony Abang, a 32-year-old unemployed man who helped close down a Lagos highway. “They want to kill our future.”
President Goodluck Jonathan removed subsidies on January 1 that had kept gasoline prices low for more than two decades. Overnight, prices at the pump more than doubled, from US$1.70 per gallon (45 cents per liter) to at least US$3.50 per gallon (94 cents per liter). The costs of food and transportation also doubled.
Jonathan insists the move was necessary to save the country an estimated US$8 billion a year, which he promises will go toward badly needed road and public projects. But to the Nigerians marching through the streets in all parts of the country, government promises only enrich politicians who routinely swindle budget money from promised public works as electricity and clean drinking water remain out of reach for many.
That anger has seen some protesters confront police, set burning roadblocks and attack government offices, violence that has left at least 10 people dead so far. On Wednesday in Minna, the capital of the central Niger state, youths attacked the governor’s house, forcing him to flee by helicopter. A mob killed one police officer.
Attorney General Mohammed Bello Adoke has warned the government “will not hesitate to bring to bear the full weight of the law” against violent protesters. He also described the strike by major labor unions as illegally violating a court injuction.
