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Pius Utomi Ekpei / AFP - Getty Images
Protesters carry a mock coffin of President Goodluck Jonathan reading "Rest In Pains" during a demonstration on the fourth day protest against the scrapping of oil subsidy at Gani Fawehinmi Park in Lagos on January 12.
Nigeria's main oil union said Thursday it would try to shut down the country's oil and gas production from Sunday, as part of a crippling national strike over spiraling fuel prices.
The strike began Monday after the Nigerian government reversed a two-decade-long subsidy program that had kept gas prices low for Nigerian consumers.
Anger over the government's decision has led to demonstrations across Africa's most populous nation, and related violence has left at least 10 people dead.
A statement Thursday by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) said that if the government does not restore the subsidies, the union would have to act.
"We are hereby notifying the Federal Government of Nigeria ... that [we] shall be forced to go ahead and apply the bitter option of ordering the systematic shutting down of oil and gas production with effect from ... 0000 hours of Sunday Jan 15,'' the union said in a statement.
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 $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."
Gas prices doubled overnight
President Goodluck Jonathan removed subsidies on Jan. 1 that had kept gasoline 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.
Jonathan insists the move was necessary to save the country an estimated $8 billion a year, which he promises will go toward badly needed road and public projects.
But Nigerians marching through the streets in all parts of the country have seen government promises go unfulfilled before, while politicians got richer by stealing funds from planned public work projects. Many Nigerians don't even have electricity and clean drinking water.
That anger has seen some protesters confront police, set burning roadblocks and attack government offices. At least 10 people have been killed.
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 also killed a police officer.
Oil prices rose above $102 a barrel on Thursday following concerns about the strike in Nigeria.
However, even if Nigerian production is slowed, oil in inventories could continue to supply foreign markets for a time.
"A complete shutdown, if carried out, is likely to have a rather large detrimental effect on Nigerian output, even though exports could continue from their inventories in the short term," financial institution Barclays Capital recently said.
Nigeria is a top supplier of crude to the U.S., producing about 2.4 million barrels a day from the swamps of its southern delta to massive offshore oil fields. Oil accounts for up to 80 percent of revenues in Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people.
The president insists the removing the subsidy was necessary to save the country an estimated $8 billion a year -- money which he promises will go toward badly needed road and public projects.
However, protesters distrust the government, and say it should first cut corruption in a nation where military rulers and politicians have stolen billions of dollars.
In Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital of 15 million, several hundred protesters on Wednesday took over a major highway leading to the islands where the wealthy live. One protester carried a signed that read: "We are ready for the civil war."
Fears about violence were heightened as the leader of a radical Islamist sect challenged the authority of Nigeria's president in an online video. The video by Imam Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the sect known as Boko Haram, will aggravate religious and ethnic tensions in this nation of more than 160 million.
Attorney General Mohammed Bello Adoke has warned that the government "will not hesitate to bring to bear the full weight of the law" against violent protesters. He also said the strike by major labor unions violates a court injuction.
"Adoke also told public workers the government will implement a "no work, no pay" policy for those who join the strike. However, public workers already go weeks without pay in Nigeria at times because of corruption and mismanagement.
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Reuters, the Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.
Leave a Comment:
This was forced by the World Bank and IMF on the President . But he should not have buckled.
The World Bank just want more profits for the foreign companies who control much of Nigeria's oil and gas revenues.
The people are right to revolt.
If they would kick out the foreigners, they'd be in much better shape. The US corporations are gaining the upper hand.
Lee
I could not agree more with you !!!!!!!!
Profit at all coast is destroying the world and it's economy at a rapid pace . All to soon the people of the world will rise up in revolt against this .
bob
The filthy rich have never had a moral compass, but now they have lost their logical compass. The poor have little to lose if they destroy the country and the economy. The rich could lose their heads, literally. The rich are like lemmings headed for a cliff. Entitlement is better applied to their thinking about wealth, than the poor, for the little they get from the government.
The media in this country keep calling Social Security and Medicare entitlements where in fact, there is a separate tax that pays for each and congress has raided the trust funds and don't want to pay them back. Where did the money go? Into the pockets of the politicians and their cronies just like Nigeria.
If they kick out the foreigners the country will devolve into who knows what, look at africa since the white people from europe ran it. Now you have starvation and killings with rebel forces all over the place. Africans cannot run a country they are too tribal and hot headed.
The "darker" your country is the more screwed up it is!
Wow. Racism is alive and well.
This has nothing to do with the fact that European colonialism exploited them for a couple hundred years. Or American capitalism taking advantage of them for the last 50 or so years. Just the color of their skin.
I shake my head as you are probably writing that comment from America. I thought Dr. King, who we are about to celebrate this weekend, taught us a small lesson in equality.
ONE OVERREACH TOO MANY
Looks like it's spring in Nigeria also. Is it possible that the self serving wealthy class have reached the end of their reign? Maybe the US should do what they have usually have done, side with the wealthy and powerful, except it seems like the 99% in Nigeria are onto the game now and it looks like a fight. Will America wake up within it's borders to the chance that the disenfranchised are tired of being tromped on also? ZEEK
Zeek, it got cold so our "disenfranchised" went home. That "strong" occupy movement could not even survive the first couple months of winter.
The people in Nigeria are nothing like the people in America. Our "poor" that were "rising up" had more in their pockets than these people will have in a year. Ours were college educated kids who could not find a job they wanted (note: there are jobs, just not ones they want), people who could not afford their homes due to a variety of reasons (some self inflicted, others unfortunate), and many other "poor" people. They had laptops, cell phones, data plans, and fashionable clothes. The Nigerians are lucky to have food most days. They wear the same clothes all year because that is all they have. Computers and cell phones, none. They have a gap. Their revolution is nothing like our "Occupy" movement. We are spoiled, they are dying.
@army
I follow your country's news and I thought they were obeying the court orders to not set up tents? heard they got accused of being criminals and the government went in with smoke grenades and lrad , pepper spraying kids and blowing up vet's.
do believe they are going strong still , from what i read and keep track of.
also i think the article pointed out that they were the largest users and most internet connected country on the continent. good chance they know more about the occupy movements energy than you. so it might also be possible that they also own 2 shirts as they apparently have a GAP (?)
~soon all the poor will have to eat is the rich~
"If you throw a frog in boiling water it will try to jump out, but if you put it in cold water and turn up the heat it will slowly cook" Now how can they jump the price like that and not expect a backlash? Explain to me why one portion of your operating expense doubling justifies doubling the price of food? Oh there is corruption involved? Where do you think they learned that? smh
How do you think the food is transported? By donkey cart?
They should have done a phasing out of the subsidy instead of just cutting it off all at once. Now they, and the rest of the world will pay the price for their stupidity.
Does anyone wonder why George Soros is buying gold? I don't care for his politics, but he is a smart investor. Remember, he is in the 1% and he could care less about the 99%. He doesn't produce anything, he just takes it. So, when the price of gold goes up again, he will dump a sh-t load of it and the price will go down. Of course, he will have a short position at that time. It must be nice to be able to control the markets like that and still make people believe you are a freekin liberal. Very clever George.
What bothers me most about this is these Marines allowed themselves to be videoed. Duh!!! Remember Gitmo? And by that same token, remember what happened to our helicopter crew in Somalia, the bridge incident and hanging and, oh yeah, 911. Does it bother me for our Marines to piss on those responsible for starting this mess? Nope!!! But it does concern me that they allowed temselves to be rocorded doing so. Come on guys, damn !!! Piss away but put the cameras down. If nothing else this is a violation of OPSEC...
Can you imagine that. Food prices and Fuel prices doubled in a day and people complain. It takes us 5 years to do that and you don't hear us complaining. Or do you?
All I read " Take it away from the rich they control everything, Revolt,Revolt" Translation Take and give to me,Kill if necessary or am I wrong?
Yup, that is pretty much it. Class Warfare. Lets punish those who pay most of the taxes, provide most of the jobs, and then.... well......it's good till you run out of other peoples money. Socialism. how does it work?
Probably the govt has good intent, but its implementation is totally wrong. Why not provide the basic welfare services first. At least then, the extra cost can be borne. But increasing the price of fuel by over 100%, that's callous no matter the intent.
Insecurity(boko haram), removal of fuel subsidy, who knows what else "Goodluck" will be dishing out.
Isn't this the same as what OBOMBO and the demos are doing? forcing green agenda
wasting stimulus tax payer money making more regulations on energy forcing gas prices
and food prices up in a time when people are suffering with no jobs or economy? this president
and liberals are desperate to force their big union big government liberal agenda on all americans
and people see what a LIE it all is and how it destroys countries! Liberals are big hypocrites who
live off the poor and black and illegal immigrants promising things they can't and won't deliver
just for votes and to keep them in office to get richer and richer! tell OBOMBO to get back all
the bailouts from big unions GE wall street GMC soylandra and others and pay off the debt!
tell him to give his 65 million in contributions he just got and open a hosptial or food bank!
yeah that will happen like his socialist utopia will work one day in fairyland!
i can see where our gas prices will be going up up up! its not hard to see that our oil speculators have gotten to the Nigerian leader. i wonder how much he's getting to sell out.
7