A stay-at-home protest meant to embarrass Nigeria’s incoming president over flawed elections foundered on Monday as apathy and an unexpected public holiday diluted the effect.
Nigerian cities were quieter than usual on the eve of the inauguration of Umaru Yar’Adua as president but it was impossible to gauge whether this was due to the protest called by unions or because of the holiday.
Yar’Adua scored a landslide victory in last month’s election, which was so marred by vote-rigging and violence that international observers said it was ”not credible”.
”Tomorrow [Tuesday] is the handover, so what difference will it make?” said Daniel Legunsen, who was at work selling photocopiers in the capital Abuja.
Many Nigerians view the flawed election as the price to be paid for the transition, which will mark the first time one civilian president hands over to another in a country scarred by decades of army misrule.
Unions accused outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo of stealing their thunder by unexpectedly declaring Monday a public holiday after they had called for a stay-at-home strike.
Oil exports from Africa’s top producer were unaffected by the slowdown, industry sources said.
Ministries, banks and big offices were mostly closed but many petty traders and small businesses, which constitute the larger part of the Nigerian economy, stayed open.
”I am here because my boss insisted that strike or not, I must come to work today. Otherwise I would have stayed at home,” said Daniel Kanu, who works for a small shipping firm in Lagos.
‘Hollow ritual’
Vice -resident Atiku Abubakar, who ran as an opposition candidate in the election despite attempts to disqualify him by his estranged boss, Obasanjo, said he would boycott Yar’Adua’s inauguration.
”I shall not dignify such a hollow ritual with my presence,” Abubakar said in a statement issued from the United States.
Obasanjo backed Yar’Adua, a little-known state governor from far northern Katsina state, to succeed him and many critics suspect the retiring president intends to continue to influence the affairs of government through him.
Civil society groups and opposition parties hold Obasanjo personally responsible for the widespread vote-rigging during the elections, accusing him of using foul means to ensure candidates he liked won the polls.
In a controversial last-minute move, Obasanjo increased the pump price of petrol by 15% on Sunday to reduce government subsidies that keep it well below market prices.
After days of severe petrol shortages in the capital, Abuja, fuel queues disappeared after the hike. Unions, which have staged crippling strikes over fuel price increases in the past, were taken off guard by the unexpected measure.
”This was done in such a way to prevent robust discussion and policy-making involving the people,” said Peter Ozo-Eson, a top official in the umbrella Nigeria Labour Congress.
Some civil society groups had called for mass protests against the electoral abuses in the days leading up to the inauguration, but the police have banned all demonstrations.
”Whatever you do to stop the government it has no effect. If you protest in the end it turns into the killing of innocent citizens,” said Femi Akinnayajo, a salesperson in Abuja. — Reuters