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Nigerians protest hiked fuel prices
Hundreds of Nigerians take to the streets to protest the removal of government fuel subsidies due to poor standard of living.
Protesters hold placards calling for a stop to "executive lies" as fuel subsidies are removed
A nationwide strike to object the removal of a fuel subsidy in Africa’s top oil producer sees hundreds of Nigerians taking to the streets.
Protesters waved placards with phrases such as “Stop killing us with executive lies”.
All commercial businesses and banks were closed and streets toward the centre of Lagos were uncharacteristically empty due to the absence of rush-hour traffic.
The end of the subsidy was announced on New Year’s Day by Nigeria’s fuel regulator in an attempt to reduce government expenditure.
Investment in local refining is desperately required and it was thought the cut would encourage such investment.
President Goodluck Jonathan said the subsidy was 25% of total expenditure in the budget and cost more than education, health and agriculture combined.
Nigerians were urged by Jonathan to support the removal but Nigerians live on less than $2 a day and consider cheap fuel to be the only substantial benefit from the government.
The subsidy was considered to be filling the fuel tanks of the rich and middle classes at the expense of the poor according to economists.
Finance experts said this financial support also fed corruption and paid billions of dollars to a lobby of already wealthy fuel importers.
