Unions hold talks to end strikes over the loss of Nigerian petrol subsidies

NIGERIAN unions met president Goodluck Jonathan last night to try to defuse a row over the removal of fuel subsidies that has paralysed the economy and raised fears of a shutdown of its oil industry.

A nationwide strike and demonstrations have unleashed years of pent-up frustrations in Nigeria and brought the country to a virtual standstill. Workers in the oil industry, which produces two million barrels a day, have threatened to halt production. The strikes are costing Africa’s second biggest economy about $600 million (£392m) a day, Central Bank governor Lamido Sanusi said.

Fury at the country’s leadership grew as Twitter users shared pictures of dead protesters while others broke down the oil-rich nation’s 2012 budget figures, comparing funds allocated to the president and vice-president’s offices with the cost of living of the average Nigerian. Hackers have targeted government websites, while others criticised news coverage of demonstrations in a nation where journalists often accept bribes from those they cover. At least one private news channel has received calls from government officials asking it not to broadcast live images of a daily demonstration in Lagos that drew more than 20,000 people on Friday alone.

“I think the government has opened a can of worms and we are now picking each, one at a time,” said Kola Oyeneyin, 31, who uses Twitter to give protest updates.

The protests began at the beginning of the month when the government removed a subsidy that had kept fuel prices low for more than two decades. Overnight, prices at the pump more than doubled, from $1.70 per gallon to at least $3.50 per gallon. The costs of food and transportation also doubled in a nation where most live on less than $2 a day.

Jonathan insists the move was necessary to save the country an estimated $8 billion a year, which he promises will go toward badly-needed roads and public projects.

Protesters – who joined the nationwide strike under the hash-tagged slogan of “Occupy Nigeria” – say the government is in no position to ask people to sacrifice in a nation with extravagant government spending and a history of widespread theft of billions by military rulers and politicians.

Nigeria, an Opec member nation producing about 2.4 million barrels of crude oil a day, is a top supplier to the United States, but virtually all of its petroleum products are imported after years of graft, mismanagement and violence at its refineries.

Eager to calm public anger, government-aligned groups have published newspaper advertisements for days trying to sell Nigeria’s more than 160 million people on the idea that money saved by removing fuel subsidies would go toward needed projects.

The protests will continue to be swayed by social media, despite low incomes, as Nigeria has the continent’s top mobile phone market and is estimated to have the largest online audience in Africa.