[sustran] fwd - Fuel riots in Nigeria

[SUSTRAN Resource Centre]

My comment on the news item below: 
I was in Jakarta last week for the Sustainable Transport and Clean Air
Conference plus the SUSTRAN Network Assembly. Fuel subsidies are also
crippling the budget of the Indonesian government. 

A thorny question: how to remove these subsidies without hurting the poor
really hard and without sparking riots. It is tragic because a high
percentage of the fuel subsidy usually ends in the pockets of the rich (who
use more fuel than the poor). But the poor hate and fear inflation more
than the rich - so any rise in prices creates a backlash. 

Phasing out the fuel subsidy seems to be especially difficult in cases like
Indonesia and Nigeria where the public is understandably sceptical of
government. Therefore few people believe that savings from reducing fuel
subsidies will be used for the public good. 

Any suggestions?

Paul
SUSTRAN Resource Centre

------------------------
BBC Worldservice News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/

Monday, 5 June, 2000, 15:43 GMT 16:43 UK 
Fuel riots in south-west Nigeria

Lagos has been badly hit by recent fuel price hikes

Riots have broken out across cities in south-western Nigeria over last
Thursday's surprise 50% rise in fuel prices. 
Students chanting anti-government slogans burned tyres and blocked roads
leading into the Yaba district of Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos. 

Students and workers also were reported to have gone on the rampage in the
south-western cities of Abeokuta and Ibadan, about 55 km (35 miles) and 110
km (70 miles) north of Lagos. 

One eyewitness told Reuters news agency: "The police fired teargas to
disperse the rioters". 

The price of petrol rose from 20 to 30 naira per litre ($0.20-$0.30).
Kerosene and diesel prices have also risen by similar margins. 

The rioters called on the government to withdraw the increases and restore
fuel subsidies. 

Strike call

The Nigerian Labour Congress had called for a stay-at-home strike on
Thursday to protest against what it said was an outrageous increase. 

Earlier this year, President Obasanjo suggested a rise in petrol prices. 

An official spokesman said the government could not continue heavily
subsidising domestic fuel prices. 

Many Nigerians see fuel subsidies as one of the few benefits delivered by
the government of Africa's biggest oil producer and said the price rise had
pushed up prices of other goods and services. 

A journalist in Lagos, Oludare Mayowa, said: "Transport fares and prices of
foodstuffs have risen since fuel prices went up last week. It is making
life more difficult for the masses". 

Nigeria's fuel has been a source of conflict in the country's troubled
history. 

There have been several riots in the Delta region over the unequal
distribution of oil wealth amongst local communities. 
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Distributed for the purpose of education and research.

A. Rahman Paul BARTER
SUSTRAN Resource Centre
Information services for the Sustainable Transport Action Network
for Asia and the Pacific (the SUSTRAN Network)
sustran at po.jaring.my,  http://www.malaysiakini.com/sustran