Government Stops The Funding of Petroleum

The Nigerian government recently announced that it would stop funding petroleum products and transfer the money to finance different areas of national economic development. This idea has caused mixed emotions throughout the community. Some argued that it will put impoverish Nigerians into further debt and desperation and only benefit the few wealthy people. The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) argues that it will conserve funds for development of other sectors. Energy, infrastructure, and industries are the main sectors that will be focused on with the de-regularization of petroleum.

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This article relates to what we have been learning in class because of the economy, social cleavages, and different views by society and the government. The government is trying make the market more efficient, whereas society sees it as a way to divert their attention from the impact of the global financial crisis on Nigerians. Predictions are that the wealthier people will even more, while the majority of society, the poor Nigerians, will suffer more.

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Nigerian Oil Workers Go On Strike

Oil workers for the company, Total in Nigeria, have decided to protest against the recent situations by striking. The strikers are protesting about the apparent lack of security they receive from armed groups like Mend who have been kidnapping them and their family members. In addition, the kidnappings have increased over the past few months which are fueling the protesters even more. The protesters continued their plans for strike even after their national union executive informed them that the strike would only delay industrial action. The workers picketed their company office along with employees from Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (Pengassan). There have also been repeated rape threats towards kidnapping victims including towards the wife of the former oil minister who had to pay a reported $2.5 million dollars for her release after the kidnappers released a statement declaring that they would "rape her every day" until they were paid.

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The article relates to what we have been learning in class by the social cleavages caused by oil distribution in Nigeria. The armed groups like Mend are fighting for a more equal distribution of the oil wealth instead of all the wealth continuing to only to go the rich. Political violence is also displayed in the article by kidnapping. In addition, interest groups are formed like the workers who have decided to strike and their movement to strike also displays social movements that occur in Nigeria.

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