Nigeria faces mass strike and protests over discontinued state fuel subsidy
The timing could hardly have been worse. Already grappling with a string of attacks by a violent Islamist group in recent weeks, Nigeria's government now faces an indefinite mass strike and protests that threaten to shut down the country.
Thousands in Africa's most populous nation have poured onto the streets since the government announced on 1 January that it would discontinue a state fuel subsidy programme, which has kept fuel cheap for decades – but diverted valuable funds needed to invest in infrastructure for Nigeria's booming population.
Overnight, petrol pump prices in Africa's largest oil-producing country more than doubled to about $1 per litre.
With the fuel subsidy eating into a quarter of the annual budget, the government says it will save £4.2bn annually to invest in underperforming refineries that have forced Nigeria to import its own oil once it has been refined.
full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/08/nigeria-fuel-strike-seun-kuti
