LAGOS, NIGERIA – Suleiman Babatunde, 40, is a truck driver in Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous city. Sitting on a bench, he waits for a phone call before he drives to meet his next client. He says he is one of the many Nigerians affected by the nationwide hike in fuel prices this year.
Nigeria recently ended weeks of protests after the government removed the fuel subsidy at the beginning of the year. Babatunde says that the resulting rise in fuel prices has affected his job.
“Fuel that we used to buy per liter for 65 naira [40 cents] is now 141 naira [90 cents],” he says. “If you were working for someone and asked for 50,000 naira [$320] before, now if you asked for 65,000 naira [$410], how will you explain that?”
He shakes his head.
Nationwide protests by Nigerian citizens pressured the government to resume partial subsidizing. This brought the cost of each liter down to 97 naira (60 cents) and the protests to an end. But Babatunde appeals to the government to fully revive the subsidy to return the cost of fuel to the former price.
“Everything is with the government,” he says. “We can only fight for our rights. But if they can reduce it again to the former price, that's when it can favor us.”
He arranges some marbles on the table in front of him, as if playing a game of draught.
“No oh, this one is not draught,” he says. “I am counting these things to measure burglary.”
He explains in his native Yoruba that when there are no driving jobs, he fixes burglaries for people as an extra source of income for himself. With the new price of fuel, he says he’s going to need it.
“Everyone is tired,” he says. “It is hard for us.”
Nigerians say social media raised consciousness, fostered solidarity and demanded more accountability during nationwide protests earlier this year in response to changes in the fuel subsidy by enabling them to increase and quicken communication. Beyond the fuel subsidy, Nigerians urge the government to address corruption and high unemployment. President Goodluck Jonathan has promised increased fiscal responsibility and transparency, as have various ministers via Twitter. Wary of government efforts, citizens say fellow Nigerians must continue to unite in order to push for real change.
Earlier this year, Nigerians responded to the increase of more than 100 percent in fuel prices after the initial subsidy removal with outrage. Labor unions and civil society coordinated a nationwide Occupy Nigeria protest.
Despite being an oil-rich nation, Nigeria imports most of its gasoline because it lacks the mechanism to refine its oil itself. The government spent 3.7 trillion naira ($23.5 billion) on fuel subsidies from 2006 to August 2011, according to the Ministry of Finance. There was a 160-percent increase in the amount spent from 2006 to 2010, with unprecedented increases in 2011.
When the hikes were announced, Nigerians were quick to use social media to amplify and insert citizen voices into the issue.
Japheth Omojuwa, an active blogger who also has more than 20,000 followers on Twitter, called social media extremely significant in the protests.
“It was, in my opinion, the most useful tool for the protests,” he wrote in an email.
Victor Ehikhamenor, a photographer and artist in his 40s, says that social media spread the fires of the protests faster, serving as a platform for the populace to become more active.
“The youth plugged into the social media for instant information dissemination,” he says. “A large part of the populace are more aware now and will no longer sit down and be kicked without screaming. It became cool to say, ‘I am part of the Occupy Movement.’”
Protesters used Twitter to share information and photos. For example, when police shot and killed a protester in Lagos, pictures of the police van's license plate number went viral. Pressured to address the issue, the government arrested the officer.
Chukwudi Ukwuegbu, a retired lawyer in his 60s, says that the unity Nigerians were able to achieve during the protests sent strong signals to the government.
“They never imagined we can be so united through the protests,” he says. “People were almost asking for a regime change. They know that if they don’t do anything quickly, there may be a change.”
Soji Babalola, an entrepreneur in his 30s, says that increasing political consciousness has given a new voice to old issues, such as widespread unemployment and poverty.
“Nigerians are becoming conscious of how their future should be managed,” he says. “Poverty has eaten deep into the society. Many young people are jobless. The situation in the country is pathetic. So many people ended in the streets, frustrated with the status quo, and maybe the removal of the subsidy would make things worse.”
He says that he could feel the anger in the crowd as they marched through the streets of Ado Ekiti, a city in western Nigeria.
Ukwuegbu says that aside from the removal of the fuel subsidy itself, what angered the people was the manner in which the policy was executed.
“Government was still in talks with different quarters,” he says. “When people were still home on holidays, they just did a more than 100-percent increase. It is annoying.”
According to the Ministry of Finance, the fuel subsidy was unsustainable, disproportionately benefited the wealthy and diverted resources from investments in infrastructure.
“Even if makes economic sense, it does not make any social and political sense the way they went about it, without taking into consideration the human suffering index,” Ukwuegbu says.
But he says the protests and pressure since have forced government officials to consider the people’s voice – and on various issues beyond the subsidy.
“They are trying to save themselves,” he says. “And in this, they may be able to salvage the economy. They may be able to create jobs for the youth.”
Though retired himself, he says he worries about unemployment in his children’s generation.
“Two of my children who have graduated do not have the jobs that we really want for them,” he says. “There is no level playing field. It is a question of who you know, and politicians have a way of cornering the jobs to themselves. Let them create jobs so that my children can be economically independent and can stand on their own without the need to rely on me again.”
Nearly half of the country’s more than 167 million citizens fall between ages 20 and 40, according to 2011 statistics by the National Population Commission and the World Bank.
In terms of the fuel subsidy, Ukwuegbu says that the government should have first tackled the more serious underlying issues before removing it, such as corruption and the state of the nation's refineries.
“What people are saying is, try to remove the corruption in the system,” he says, his voice rising as he begins to speak faster. “The probe panels by the Senate ha[ve] been revealing. People are paying for the corruption. Let us even know the real cost of the oil. Why is it that all of a sudden from 141 naira [90 cents], the price came back to 97 naira [60 cents]?”
He says that the government is asking the masses to make sacrifices while they live on large salaries.
“When people are angry and you tell them to make economic sacrifice, it cannot work,” he says. “We cannot make any sacrifice when we know that there is a lot of wastage in the government in the salaries of the legislature and the executive. People are protesting about the thievery, the unnecessary affluence of the government.”
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said during a nationwide broadcast in January 2012 that the government plans to cut costs this year.
“We must all be prepared to make sacrifices,” he said. “We are taking several measures aimed at cutting the size and cost of governance, including ongoing and continuous effort to reduce the size of our recurrent expenditure and increase capital spending.”
He said that starting this year, the government would reduce the basic salaries of all political office holders by 25 percent and their overseas travel expenses to the barest minimum. The government is also reviewing the number of committees, commissions and parastatals with overlapping responsibilities.
At the same time, the government has set up new task forces and committees in response to questions of accountability. A new task force is working with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to quickly pass the Petroleum Industry Bill, an act to regulate the petroleum industry. Nuhu Ribadu, a former government anti-corruption chief, is heading another new task force under the ministry to monitor oil revenue.
The government is also using social media to inform the public of these developments.
“All hands are on deck to ensure full probity and accountability in the oil industry,” Diezani Alison-Madueke, minister of petroleum resources, tweeted in January.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, coordinating minister for the economy and minister of finance, acknowledged via Twitter the government’s resolve to be clearer and more prudent about its expenses in light of public mistrust.
“We'll get a system that is more open and transparent,” she tweeted in January. “Our job is to create more revenue for government.”
The federal government unveiled the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Program, which aims to mitigate the immediate impact of the fuel subsidy reduction during the next three to four years and to accelerate economic growth through investments in infrastructure, according to a Ministry of Finance press release.
“We are investing in the agricultural, solid minerals, and housing sectors to increase production, create more jobs and increase revenue,” Okonjo-Iweala tweeted.
But this month, Jonathan announced the government’s need to shrink the plan, which had been based on the original removal of the fuel subsdy, since it was maintaining partial funding.
Still, many citizens doubt that new committees, plans and promises via social media will lead to meaningful solutions.
Gimba Kakanda, who was instrumental in starting the protests in Niger state in northern Nigeria, says that social media will not suffice.
“Solutions to a country can't be actualized on the social media,” he says.
Kakanda also raises concerns about the reliance on violence during the protests. He says that sending the military to keep civilians out of the streets may encourage civilians to carry arms to protect themselves in the event of another protest.
“That's a mistake,” he says. “Now average Nigerian may not want to leave his house for a protest unarmed. During the Occupy Nigeria protests, I sensed that the majority of Nigerians were interested in a revolution. A number of them were asking where to buy a gun to engage in a battle with the security operatives. It was sheer luck and not police presence that stopped the unrest.”
Omojuwa is a social media proponent, but he believes that setting up new committees is not enough to generate positive change.
“It won’t change anything,” he wrote in an email. “You do not solve seemingly permanent problems with ad hoc solutions.”
For Omojuwa, everyone has a role to play now that the protests are over.
“Civil society must make the enlightenment and education of the people a critical focus,” he wrote. “It is easier to fight and agitate for people when such people know exactly what the issues are about. They must keep their eyes open on government too.”
He encourages fellow citizens to keep the conversation going.
“Keep the discussions on,” he wrote. “Maintain the pressure on our civil rulers and make them continue to sense a threat in the revolt of the people. We will continue to do what we did before the protests – citizenship education and public enlightenment. When people know the right things, they ask the right questions and demand for good governance.”
Looking ahead, Kakanda says that Nigerians need to continue to unite in the fight for true democracy.
“I must tell you that unless we stand up and unite as an oppressed majority, this country is on its way to destruction,” he says. “We must understand that this is our only opportunity to reclaim our land. There is no cause for violence. There would never be a force stronger than a united majority. We need to unite, contribute meager resources for this cause. Nigerians deserve better.”