Nigerians are frustrated by economic hardship but authorities fear planned protests could turn ugly

By Chinedu Asadu | AP

ABUJA, Nigeria — Frustrated with growing economic hardships, Nigerians are planning nationwide protests this week against the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

And with momentum soaring on social media, authorities fear a replay of the deadly 2020 demonstrations against police brutality in this West African nation — or a wave of violence similar to last month’s protests in Kenya, where a tax hike led to chaos in the capital, Nairobi.

The government of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu says it is determined to prevent such a scenario in a country that has long been a top African oil producer but whose citizens are among the world’s poorest.

On Wednesday, security forces were deployed on major roads in cities, including the capital of Abuja and the country’s largest, Lagos. Authorities touted the positives, appealing to organizers to shelve plans for the protests.

“Is a protest the catalyst for progress we need now? I strongly believe it isn’t. Instead, it could undo the modest gains we’ve made,” Lagos Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu said in a speech.

Nigerian politicians and lawmakers, often accused of corruption, are some of the best-paid in Africa. Even the president’s wife — her office nowhere in the constitution — is entitled to SUVs and other luxuries funded by taxpayers.

Nigeria’s population of over 210 million people — the continent’s largest — is also among the hungriest in the world and its government has struggled to create jobs.

The current economic hardship under Tinubu, who promised “renewed hope” when he was sworn into office in May 2023, is blamed on surging inflation that is at a 28-year high and the government’s economic policies that have pushed the local currency to record low against the dollar.

Local media have reported that organizers of the protests, which are planned for Thursday, rejected a proposal from Nigeria’s police to instead hold rallies in confined spaces — easily controlled by security forces.

“So many people are struggling to stay alive,” Rev. Peter Odogwu said during his Sunday sermon at a church in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.

“There is so much hardship and that is why collectively people want to speak out,” the Catholic priest said. “But there’s so much opposition from the government trying to discourage people from going out.”

The frustration is widespread, though it is worse in northeastern Nigeria, where the world’s longest war on militancy has left 4.8 million people in dire need of food, according to the United Nation’s food agency. Nationwide, at least 32 million Nigerians face acute hunger, which is 10% of the global burden, the World Food Program said.

“The malnutrition rates and the rate of food insecurity in the (three northeastern) states have never been as bad as they are this year, but they’ve never been as bad country-wide either,” said David Stevenson, WFP country director in Nigeria.

Tinubu’s aides have sought to defend his achievements and efforts to ease the hardship, citing convoys of food trucks dispatched to the worst-hit states, cash support to families and businesses and a new law that more than doubled the minimum pay of government workers.

But the new minimum monthly wage of $43 is six times lower than what labor unions said they needed to cover for the loss in the value of the naira, Nigeria’s currency.

The president’s critics also say he has performed below the expectations that catapulted him to power 14 years ago. They point to Nigeria’s deadly security crises in the conflict-battered north and an ailing economy, which was once ranked Africa’s largest but is set to slip to fourth place this year, according to the forecast by the International Monetary Fund.

Tinubu’s economic reforms — including the suspension of decadeslong and costly gas subsidies and measures by the country’s central bank such as currency devaluations to halt the distorted foreign exchange rate — were supposed to save the government money and shore up dwindling foreign investments.

However, their poor implementation has had a knock-on effect on the price of just about everything else, analysts say, pointing especially to the absence of adequate and timely support programs.

The suspension of gas subsidies more than doubled the price of petrol.

In a country where millions have little to no electricity, that meant more money spent on fuel for generators and a growing number of people trekking to work because of rising transport costs.

More people are also having to work multiple jobs.

“The work that you’ve never done before, when Tinubu came, all of us began to do it,” said James Ayuba, a laborer who lives in Abuja.

His family has had to move from the city center to the outskirts, where living is cheaper and costs are lower. He also got a second job but his family still struggles to buy food and other basic needs.

“Everything in Nigeria has turned upside down,” the father of three said.