Hundreds of Nigerians took to the streets Monday, launching a nationwide strike to protest against the axing of a popular fuel subsidy in Africa's top oil producer. Shops, banks and petrol stations were shut and the highways into Lagos, usually clogged with rush hour traffic, were eerily empty. Nigeria's fuel regulator announced the end of the subsidy on Jan. 1 as part of efforts to cut government spending and encourage badly needed investment in local refining. Economists say the subsidy merely filled the fuel tanks of the rich and middle classes at the expense of the poor, fed corruption and siphoned off billions of dollars of public funds to a cartel of wealthy fuel importers. Removing it has been a flagship policy of President Goodluck Jonathan and his economic management team. “It was 25 percent of total expenditure in the budget, the single biggest item – more than education, health and agriculture combined,” said Bismarck Rewane, chief executive of Financial Derivatives.
