Nigeria protests up pressure to reform oil

By James Jukwey

LAGOS (Reuters) - A week of protests over fuel prices has put Nigeria's government under more pressure than ever to make good on long-unfulfilled promises to reform its notoriously inefficient and corrupt energy sector, and this time it will be harder not to act.

The powerful oligarchs in charge of the oil industry, Africa's largest, have been attacked in the media and pilloried at rallies after their abrupt withdrawal of the fuel subsidy on New Year's Day unleashed protests that crippled the economy.

"We call for a forensic audit of all the payments that have been made in the name of subsidy in the last 10 years," independent daily This Day wrote in an editorial on Wednesday. "We call for the law to take its full course on those that have (become) fat on the nation's misery."

Strikes nearly led to a shutdown of some of Nigeria's 2 million barrels per day of oil output, when oil workers threatened to join the action before the crisis was resolved.

President Goodluck Jonathan, elected with a healthy majority last April on an agenda to transform Africa's most populous country, was forced to partially row back on scrapping the subsidy, a key economic reform.

Its removal had doubled petrol pump prices to around 150 naira per litre from 65 naira, but Jonathan on Monday partially reinstated the subsidy, pegging the price at 97 naira.

Although the immediate cause of the strikes and protests was fuel prices, protesters said the underlying anger was more about years of frustration at corruption and mismanagement of the country's huge oil wealth.

Apparently sensitive to this, Jonathan and oil minister Diezani Allison-Madueke promised prompt action this week to implement long delayed reforms to the oil sector.   Continued...