Lateef Adams

January 2022 makes a decade the working people of Nigeria demonstrated against the increase in fuel price by the Jonathan led government. These demonstrations and the general strike has been described by many as a movement that unite the country in the fight against the anti-people policy of the Jonathan regime.

While many analysts described the event as an uprising, some others called it a protest to occupy Nigeria against neoliberal attacks. The corrupt capitalist governments of president Jonathan, the one before it president Obasanjo and the current president Buhari regime have always hidden under the cover of “fuel subsidy removal” as an excuse to increase fuel prices in the country.

Sadly, for over two decades successive governments have failed to fix any of the country’s four oil refineries and have continued to adopt and implement imperialist policies dictated by the International Monetary Fund IMF and World Bank. These policies have not gone well for the generality of the Nigerian masses as more jobs have been lost via the importation of petroleum products.

IMF VISIT TO ENFORCE SUBSIDY REMOVAL IN 2011

As 2012 gets closer and the budgeting for the year is on the course, the government in December 2011 welcomes the arrival of the Managing Director of the IMF Christine Lagarde. The IMF chief was reported to have held a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan and the then Minister for Finance Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala a former Managing Director of the World Bank.

There is no doubt that this august visit comes at a cost, a cost that will be unfavourable to the Nigerian masses. She told journalists after the meeting that she was impressed, the Daily Post quoted the IMF boss as saying “My mission is to come and listen and appreciate and understand exactly what economy programme will be implemented in Nigeria, and the initiative and the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan”.

The visit is a calculated attempt by the IMF to force down its policy of subsidy removal on the government. In the 2012 budget proposal submitted in December 2011 to the NASS, there was no provision for fuel subsidy. To defend the removal, President Jonathan claimed that for the country to make progress it must remove subsidies on petroleum products.

This argument is false and does not make sense; this is because, with all the revenue made from the oil boom in his regime, there is nothing to show for it. For instance, according to the CBN Annual Report and statement of Account, the Jonathan regime alone made N51 trillion from petroleum resources between 2010 and 2015 yet no single refinery was built or even to repair any of the four available ones.

The corruption in the government is so deep that the IMF was only interested in the working masses paying more for fuel. Another false impression from supporters of a hike in fuel prices under the pretext of subsidy removal in the country are those who claimed that subsidies only benefit the rich.

From those actors in government like the Minister for Finance, Dr Ngozi Iwaela claimed that “Nigerians will be better off without subsidy” while the then CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi claimed, “the economy will breakdown if the subsidy is not removed”. All these are coming at a time when there is a rise in the global oil prices of course those arguments from the minister is not to defend the working masses but rather the interest of the big business owners.

THE RISING GLOBAL OIL PRICES. A BLESSING OR CURSE TO THE NIGERIAN MASSES?

Nigeria as an oil-producing nation and the largest crude oil producer in Africa should have its masses excited whenever the news of the increase of global oil price arose. But unfortunately, the reverse is the case. When there is a rise in the oil price globally, the working masses in the country get frightened as it will result in to increase in the pump prices of petroleum products in the country.

This no doubt will have a summersault effect on the price of commodities and transport. With a daily average of 2.36 million barrels of crude oil production in 2012, the Nigerian government makes N12 trillion revenue from the oil and gas sector according to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) report for the year.

There is an unconnected relationship between the huge revenue generated from the sales of oil and the living standard of the working masses. Ironically, as the country’s revenues oil increase, the masses pay more for fuel. Before the year 2012, petrol is been sold at N65 per litre. On January 1, the government has increased the price by over 100 per cent to N141 per litre.

To respond to the government’s thoughtless policy, the Nigerian masses which are been struck the most confronts the government with street protests in Lagos and some other states before the Labour unions declared a general strike.

The mass protest and general strike is a genuine response to defeat the unpopular policies of the administration. This is because; comparing the cost of a litre of fuel in Nigeria to other oil-producing nations is laughable. For instance, at N65 price of fuel, Nigerians pay as high as $1.51 per gallon, oil-producing countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Venezuela pays $0.92, $0.78 and $0.12 per gallon respectively.

With the hike in price, it is expected that ordinary masses in the African most populated nation will be expected to pay about $3.5 per gallon. A country highly dependent on fuel in its generators to power machines for its small scale business or buses for commercial purposes is in for a new challenge. To tackle the challenge, the people show their strength on the street via mass demonstrations.

STREET PROTEST AGAINST THE HIKE

On January 1, 2012, Nigerians woke to receive the New Year gift of increment in fuel price from the government. The cost of fuel had gone from N65 to N141 which is more than 100 per cent. Although expected since the Jonathan capitalist government has not proved to deviate from anti-people policies of deregulations among others.

The prices vary among states, apart from Lagos and Abuja cost of fuel is between N150 to N200 or even more. In the morning of January 2, transport fear had gone up. In the street of Lagos, commuters became stranded and angry that this isn’t the New Year greetings they expected from their government.

As people gathered and fumed against the hardship being melted down by the regime, the only way out is to resist. The street protest broke out, in Ajegunle Lagos and some other parts of the country the masses have started demonstrating even before the organized Labour reacted.

The hike is seen as much as wickedness against the Nigerian masses as it was the time when Nigerians travelled to celebrate the Christmas and New Year festival in their various towns and village. Many who travelled could not return immediately after New Year day as transport costs had skyrocketed beyond their budget.

On the 3rd of January, the Joint Action Front (JAF) had continued its protest against the fuel price increase. The protest was held in Lagos, Ibadan and a few other states. In Lagos, the protest commenced from Yaba with JAF members. In a few minutes, the many angered Nigerians had joined the demonstration in numbers. The protest grew as it moved along streets and the express road to Ojota.

It could be recalled that JAF partook in a protest against the planned hike in fuel on December 31 2011. The protest organized by the wife of the late GaniFawehinmi kicked off from the former Skypower Ground and demonstrated through Ikeja, Oregon road and ended at the Gani Fawehinmi statue in Ojota.

The protest witnessed hundreds of demonstrators agitating against any increment. The protest was significant as it called out Nigerians to resist any form of hike in the guise of subsidy removal. The mood of Nigerians to resist government attacks is in a high spirit.

Couples of protest have already broken out in some parts of the North like in Kano and Kogi. In Benin and a few other state capitals, people are already agitating. The pressure was mounting but without central coordination.

The need for intervention by the labour leadership becomes paramount. On the 4th of January, the organized labour, represented by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) rose from its emergency meeting to demand the Jonathan government reverse its hike in fuel price to N65 or be faced with nationwide strike action.

The organized labour declared a general strike to start Monday 9, 2012. Many Nigerians commend the labour union for its stands including General Buhari who lost the presidential election in April 2011 to President Jonathan. While the atmosphere of the strike rented the air, the mood of Nigerians was to march along with the labour leaders for direction and even call for a system change to booth out the Jonathan anti-people government.

GENERAL STRIKE THAT ALMOST BOOTS OUT THE REGIME

On Monday, January 9 saw the commencement of the strike action called by the labour unions. While academic activities for the New Year were supposed to commence for primary and secondary schools in all different parts of the country on that day, many children with their parents that travelled for the festive season were still stranded due to the high cost of transport fares.

The general strike and mass protest gained wider participation as millions of Nigerians everywhere united to condemn the government policies. This time, Nigerians were on the street in all parts of the country drumming the call for a change on how the government is run. In every demonstration centre, the call was the same. It was “N65 or a revolution.”

In Lagos state, the major theatre of the movement was in Ojota, people trekked over 5 to ten kilometres to join the gathering demanding for the reversal. In Abuja, Kano, Ibadan and other parts of the country the demonstrations were peaceful. Nigerians irrespective of where they came from were united in their demands.

There was no discrimination as people looked out for each other. When it was time for Muslims to pray, the Christians made a human wall of themselves around all of the praying Muslims to protect them from any attack, the Muslims in turn did the same for the Christians. It was a show of solidarity by the working masses made nonsense of the fact that they could not be united across their various religious and ethnic nationality groups.

Nigerians in the diaspora joined in the demonstration, the Nigerian Embassy in London witnessed protest action by Nigerians also calling on the government to revert the hike in fuel price. At this time the government was in a panicked mood. It was an uprising against the dictates of the ruling elites. The fear of a revolution gripped the ruling elites and was seeking every method to frustrate the movement.

They had resorted to the use of force which was resisted by the protesting and united Nigerians. This protest is significant as it shows that the working class, had all of the capability to provide the leadership for all of the working people in the country and that indeed in uniting Nigerians, they could proceed to take on the ruling elites and seek to bring an end to the Jonathan regime. Already the streets were washed with the slogan “Jonathan Must Go”.

There was no denying the fact that Government was scared, it was under pressure from within its rank to not reverse and employ all of the maximum force of the state to end the strike which grew into an insurrection, while some others preferred concede to a reduction. Yet another thinking was to appease Nigerians by conceding to a reduction.

What was however not then known to all, was that the labour leaders were as scared too, they had not expected the huge support all over the country, suddenly the working masses with millions of them on the street daily had closed down the country, demonstrating that the working class was the real power in society, they turn the wheel, and make the country move, now that they had withdrawn their services the country ground to level zero?

This very fact had also been demonstrated in all of the General strikes action against this same policy of deregulation and increase in fuel price under the Obasanjo regime from 2000 to 2006. But this time around the masses were demanding for more, posing the question of power with the slogan of “Jonathan Must Go”, but painfully the labour leaders led by Abdulwaheed Omar like under Adams Oshiomole chickened out, that they were not politicians, they were not revolutionaries, and we’re not out to overthrow the government.

With Jonathan agreeing to a reduction, they called off the strike action on the negotiating table with the government, leaving the protesting masses stranded on the street, exposed to the very danger of confronting the military that moved into the street on their terms.

Could things have been otherwise, Socialists answer with a yes and yes, but that the labour leaders they had chosen to be guided in their actions by Marxism-the philosophy of the working class as opposed to the neoliberal philosophy of the ruling class, things would have turned out differently? The least is that the working people would have emerged from the strike stronger and united and more than ever ready to pose the question of power, by building a political platform of the working people.

TEN YEARS AFTER, THE BUHARI’S REGIME IS IN THE SAME QUAGMIRE

January 2012 is just eight months after General Buhari lost the election to President Goodluck Jonathan. Buhari condemned the hike in fuel and refer to the fuel subsidy as a scam. And had supported the protest as a genuine response to anti-people policies. Ten years after the Buhari regime is calling to hike fuel prices for the second time in six-year into its rule. Not a different pattern from the Jonathan era.

And we again back to the same cycle of “removal of fuel subsidy”, the same excuse again for another fuel price increase. Are there lessons from 10 years ago to be learnt both for the labour leaders and the working masses? Can the working people place their trust once again in the labour leaders led Wabba to not repeat the same thing. Would there be a qualitative difference to previous strike actions on this same subject?

While not dismissing that a reduction is not a minus, but has seen, it will only be buying time before the ruling elites return with the same excuse for another increase, which invariably leaves us with the key lesson that the working people must pose the question of power and pose an alternative to capitalism.

And with the programme of Socialist Alternative challenge and defeat the ruling elites, and bring into being a Working People government. Such a government nationalizing the commanding sector of the economy under workers’ control and management will free up the resources to repair and rebuild new refineries.

It will be an end to the bogey removal of fuel subsidy and increase in fuel prices as well develop in full all of the means of production – putting the needs of the working masses first and foremost as opposed to profit for big business; nationally and internationally.