For the first ten days in August, Nigerians nationwide protested against bad governance and a downturn in their collective economic fortunes.
The past 18 months have seen the Naira sink even lower against the dollar, food inflation reach an all-time high (40%), the cost of petrol double after a subsidy was discontinued with no back-up plan, and unknown ‘bandits’ continuing to wreak havoc across the north of the country.
There have also been budget padding scandals – in which a budget is artificially inflated or reduced to divert funds away, often for corrupt purposes – allegations of public money being spent on a presidential yacht and private jets, and a general sense that the political rich are getting richer and the country’s poor and now nearly non-existent middle class are getting screwed.
