#OccupyNigeria: 8 reasons Nigerians may not join NLC protest against fuel subsidy
On Wednesday, May 11, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, announced that fuel subsidy has been removed and the pump price of petrol has increased from N86.50 to N145 per litre.
The announcement has been trailed with controversy as some Nigerians are in support while others are not.
The Nigerian Labour Congress has threatened a nationwide shutdown if the federal government failed to yield to their demand that the fuel price should be reversed to N86.50.
The strike is expected to commence on Wednesday, May 18.
A similar scenario played out in 2012, when Nigerians were welcomed into the New Year with the removal of subsidy by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
Nigerians came out en masse to protest the subsidy removal. For a week, the protesters crippled economic activities. The #OccupyNigeria was trending at that time on social media.
Jonathan’s administration finally gave in to the demands of the people and removed the fuel subsidy partially.
This time, Nigerians may not be coming out en masse to support the NLC protest against the fuel subsidy removal and increase in fuel price. The protest may not even hold and here are eight reasons why.
1. Nigerians have learnt their lesson: Majority of Nigerians wouldn’t have supported the protest in 2012 if they had known better. Many had no knowledge of what fuel subsidy was in 2012 and why it needed to be removed. Out of their ignorance, they joined those who were more concerned about bringing Jonathan’s administration down to protest the subsidy removal. Now, many Nigerians have been schooled on what subsidy is and why it is necessary to be removed. For this reason, some are in support of its removal and would not be coming out to protest.
#SayNoToSubsidy AM NOT GOING TO BE PARTY TO THE STRIKE BCOS AM TOO INFORMED TO BE MISINFORMED.
— Emmanuel Atser (@emmanuel_atser) May 16, 2016
2. Those who championed the protest are now in power: In 2012, prominent politicians like Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Dino Melaye, Babatunde Fashola and others fought against the removal of subsidy. They championed the protests which shut down economic activities for a whole week. Their party, the All Progressives Congress defeated the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2015 general elections and they are now the ruling party. They are now in support of subsidy removal and have urged their supporters to accept government’s decision.
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3. Some Nigerians are die-hard fans of Buhari and trust his decisions: Nigerians had little or no trust for Jonathan and his party, the PDP as they were seen as very corrupt. Though some Nigerians are unhappy with Buhari’s administration, they still believe he is less corrupt than previous administrations under the PDP. Despite the hardship Nigerians are going through under the administration of President Buhari, they still believe in his ability to curb corruption in the country.
4. The Buhari-led administration has managed to divide Nigerians: The country is more divided than ever before. There is ethnic and religious division. This division has been strongly fuelled by recent happenings and Buhari’s position and these happenings such as the agitation for Biafra Republic, Fulani herdsmen attack and appointment of government officials who were mostly northerners. While many northerners continue to support Buhari’s administration, those in the south south and south east are see Buhari ar a president who is only interested in welfare of the northern people. As a result of this division, the protest, if it eventually holds may not experience the same large crowd as in 2012.
5. Many already see the protest as a waste of time: Nigerians know better now. All the protests in the past yielded little or no result. Nigerians don’t really have faith in the NLC to fight for the rights of the workers as they have been failing to do so for some time now.
They always pull up dis gimmick of wanting to start a strike, weneva it comes to the issue of fuel. NLC isn’t trustworthy #SayNoToSubsidy
— # October 11th (@IaMaNtOniODk) May 16, 2016
6. President Buhari will not change his mind: Many Nigerians already know the president as a very strong-willed person who will not back down once his mind is made up. Since he became president, Buhari has always stood his ground. For instance, he has maintained his stance against devaluation of naira, despite pressure from different quarters. Another case is that of the 2016 budget which he refused to assent until the National Assembly rectified the grey areas. Nigerian are already aware of the fact that Buhari will not compromise like Jonathan. Jonathan may be a weak president but Buhari is not.
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7. The fear of Buhari is the beginning of wisdom: Being a no-nonsense president, some Nigerians are of the opinion that Buhari may order military men to shoot anyone who dares protests.
Buhari is not GEJ. GEJ is a democrat, Buhari is a tyrant. If you #OccupyNigeria, he will order shoot at sight.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you
— Lere we know (@Gomeznsude) May 11, 2016
8. The National Industrial Court has restrained NLC from going ahead with its planned strike: On Tuesday, May 17, Babatunde Adejumo, president of the court ordered the NLC to suspend its planned strike. He also directed the government to dialogue with the NLC towards an amicable resolution of their dispute.
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