Nigeria's president, Goodluck Jonathan, has allowed his government to loot the treasury, while militant organizations terrorize the populace. Its rich and powerful have already plunged Nigeria into a bloody civil war once, and they appear ready to do it again.
LAGOS – Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, who was elected only eight months ago, is already swimming in a sea of troubles. On January 1, New Year celebrations were abruptly cut short when Nigerians woke up to learn that the government gasoline subsidy had been withdrawn. The country’s poor immediately hit the streets, already angry because their corrupt and incompetent government has been unable to repair state-owned refineries, thereby forcing Africa’s largest oil producer to import petroleum products.
To ordinary Nigerians, the fuel subsidy was the only advantage that they derived from the petrodollars that pour into the national treasury. Suddenly, politicians, civil servants, and their cronies were embezzling even that benefit.
What began as sporadic protests quickly ballooned into a show of people power in Abuja (the national capital), Lagos (the commercial capital), and Kano (the most populous city in the north), led by the civil-society organizations Joint Action Front and Save Nigeria Group. Other towns and cities also joined in the protests, and Abdulwaheed Omar, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, called on workers around the country to strike until the government rescinded its decision to remove the subsidy. Millions complied, paralyzing the economy.
LAGOS – Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, who was elected only eight months ago, is already swimming in a sea of troubles. On January 1, New Year celebrations were abruptly cut short when Nigerians woke up to learn that the government gasoline subsidy had been withdrawn. The country’s poor immediately hit the streets, already angry because their corrupt and incompetent government has been unable to repair state-owned refineries, thereby forcing Africa’s largest oil producer to import petroleum products.
To ordinary Nigerians, the fuel subsidy was the only advantage that they derived from the petrodollars that pour into the national treasury. Suddenly, politicians, civil servants, and their cronies were embezzling even that benefit.
What began as sporadic protests quickly ballooned into a show of people power in Abuja (the national capital), Lagos (the commercial capital), and Kano (the most populous city in the north), led by the civil-society organizations Joint Action Front and Save Nigeria Group. Other towns and cities also joined in the protests, and Abdulwaheed Omar, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, called on workers around the country to strike until the government rescinded its decision to remove the subsidy. Millions complied, paralyzing the economy.