Labor unions ended a crippling nationwide strike after Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan partially restored subsidies that keep gasoline prices low, though it took soldiers deployed in the streets to stop demonstrations in Africa’s most populous nation.
Union leaders claimed a victory on Monday for labor, saying this would allow its leaders to guide the country’s policy on fuel subsidies in the future. However, the newly agreed price of about US$0.60 a liter is still more expensive than the previous price of US$0.45 a liter, putting additional economic strain on those living in a nation where most earn less than US$2 a day and few see the rewards of being a major oil exporter.
Moreover, to force the compromise and stop popular protests, Jonathan ordered soldiers to take over security in the country’s major cities, something unseen since the nation abandoned military rule for an uneasy democracy in 1999. The move raises new questions about freedom of speech in a nation where government power still appears absolute.
“This is a clear case of intolerance and shutting of the democratic space against the people of Nigeria, which must be condemned by all democracy-loving people around the world,” read a statement from the Save Nigeria Group, which has organized massive demonstrations in Lagos.
The six-day strike began after fuel prices more than doubled to at least US$0.94 a liter following a decision by Jonathan’s administration to end the government-sponsored subsidies.
Low gasoline prices remain one of the only benefits the average Nigerian sees from the nation producing 2.4 million barrels of crude oil a day.
The government tried to persuade the nation to its side, promising the estimated US$8 billion saved a year by ending the subsidies would go toward needed public work projects. That failed to win popular support as tens of thousands joined in protests across the country.
In the past two days, government authorities began warning that provocateurs wanted to exploit the rallies to cause unrest in a nation with a long history of coups.
“It has become clear to government and all well-meaning Nigerians that other interests beyond the implementation of the deregulation policy have hijacked the protest ... These same interests seek to promote discord, anarchy and insecurity to the detriment of public peace,” Jonathan said on national TV on Monday.
He gave no further explanation to his remarks. Opposition politicians did sometimes lead demonstrations, but they were not connected to the violence that killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 600 others during strikes.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in