[01] Ogunwa Samuel Adetola, Department of Political Science and International Relations, College of Business and Social Sciences, Crawford University, Faith City, Igbesa, Ogun State, Nigeria.

The belief that democracy is about people and good governance, this was put to test in January 2012 in Nigeria when President Goodluck Jonathan increased the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from N65 per litre to N141 per litre. The protests that followed the president’s gesture suggested that no seating government in Nigeria will make such a sudden decision in the near future without consultations with stakeholders and at the same time make provision for palliative measures to help ameliorate the socio-economic consequences. Jonathan administration may have learnt from the national strikes and protests that consultation is part and parcel of a democratic government. The consequences humbled the government to listen to the people and aftermath the government reduced the price of PMS to N97 per litre. The paper argued that it was when the government of Jonathan was ‘dying’ or ‘nearing total’ collapse that the PMS price was reduced and palliative measures were quickly put in place to appease the populace. Also, corruption, mismanagement, institutional decay is characteristics of Nigerian government. This has become ethos of government officials either appointed or elected. Also argued that the protests and strikes conscientized many Nigerians home and aboard. The SURE-P as a panacea which meant to reduce the burden of Nigerians over subsidy removal is yet to be accepted by Nigerians. Pictures from the scenes of protests showed how the citizens at home and abroad demonstrated, the use of force by the Nigerian police, among others. Finally, the paper argued that any seating government in Nigeria should provide palliative measures such as alternatives before implementing policy that affect the general public. This will allow consultations among the stakeholders who will make suggestions for government. The effect of this is, is that it would leads to institutional and capacity building. And the same communicated to the people what government intends to do and provision of temporary measures to assist the public at the long run.

Democracy, Oil Price, Demonstration, Strike, Labour Union, Civil Society, Corruption, Consultation, Stakeholders

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