NIGERIA: International travelers stranded at Nigerian main airport as protests against the removal of fuel subsidies entered the third day

Record ID: 235462

  • Title: NIGERIA: International travelers stranded at Nigerian main airport as protests against the removal of fuel subsidies entered the third day
  • Date: 12th January 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIGERIAN ANALYST, BISMARCK REWANE, SAYING: "The President is between a rock and a hard place, if he backs down, he loses credibility not only on this issue, on every issue, his ability to govern becomes seriously undermined. At the same time, if he does not give in, he would be considered to be in transit so there has to be a meeting of minds and a negotiated settlement in which labour and the people will win some, and the government also, will win some." AWARDS ON DESK EMPTY STREETS
  • Embargoed: 27th January 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria, Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA7VEI0TPYO8E8DNX15XT079ELK
  • Story Text: A bitter showdown between Nigeria's government and unions with popular backing entered its third day on Wednesday (January 11), with workers vowing to stay on strike unless a motor fuel subsidy is restored, and authorities threatening to withhold their pay.
    Two days of strikes and protests have strangled Africa's second biggest economy, besieged people in their homes and on occasion erupted into lethal violence.
    The Lagos international airport has also been affected and for the last three days, not a single aircraft has taken off leaving hundreds stranded. Anger is exhibited on the faces of those stranded.
    "We have been here since Saturday sleeping here, the airlines are ready to work but the so called labour said they don't want the airlines to work, meanwhile this is an international airport not local, I believe they have power over the locals. We are going out here, we are going out of the country and moreover, they are disgracing this country because there are a lot of foreigners here that do not belong to Nigeria and they want to travel back, that is why the people are showing their grievances," said Emmanuel Ebat, a Nigerian national studying in South Africa.
    Most passengers like Ivy Onyado had travelled back to Nigeria to visit their relatives during the festive season but as fate would have it, they are stuck at the airport with others like her who can not go back to their country of residence.
    "I don't support them stranding people here especially international people, like we don't have jobs to go to or places to stay so we have to go back to our jobs, that we came back home to support our families that are here, so I don't think it is fair that they are trying to keep us here, I wish them (Nigeria Labour Congress) the best and I think there are better ways to go about pushing the country forward instead of hurting the economy and all that," said Ivy Onyado, a Nigerian national working at a university in Untied States.
    The administration of President Goodluck Jonathan is now facing two major security headaches -- opposition to the fuel price rise and low level sectarian strife started by Boko Haram, the increasingly violent group of Islamist insurgents.
    A mob killed five people in an attack on a mosque in southern Nigeria on Tuesday, taking advantage of the civil disorder to settle sectarian scores and highlighting the worsening fragility of Africa's biggest oil producer.
    Police shot dead two people and wounded at least two dozen during protests on Monday.
    Jonathan has been under fire for failing to quell the Boko Haram, whose insurgency is rooted in the largely Muslim north but which is increasingly targeting Christians from the south -- most recently in attacks on churches that have killed dozens and sparked reprisals against Muslims.
    "The President is between a rock and a hard place, if he backs down, he loses credibility not only on this issue, on every issue, his ability to govern becomes seriously undermined. At the same time, if he does not give in, he would be considered to be intransitted so there has to be a meeting of minds and a negotiated settlement in which labour and the people will win some, and the government also, will win some," said a Nigerian analyst Bismarck Rewane.
    Tens of thousands demonstrated in cities across the country of 160 million in protests that are gathering pace, especially in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, and in the capital Abuja.
    Jonathan has shown no sign of weakening in the face of protests similar to those that have derailed past attempts to scrap the fuel subsidy.
    The government estimates it will save 1 trillion naira (6 billion U.S. dollars) this year by eliminating the subsidy.
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