Jan 9th Monday and it started...
The government removed the fuel subsidy as of Jan 1st without a real notice and overnight, the fuel price in Nigeria went up from 64 Naira (40 cents) to 150 Naira (1$). Since fuel is the major cost of all consumer products, agriculture and even the generator, it caused a major reaction among the Nigerians. Since last week, everybody was talking about the major strike Union Labors called for as of Monday Jan 9th.
What a coincidence! This week was the week of the big visit: Our CEO was planning to come to Lagos and we were to have detailed plans with him like store checks and consumer home visits. Until the last minute we worked like crazy to make things happen but all the signals were on the negative side.
On last Thursday, my agency called me saying that they are having difficulty to recruit consumers due to the recent developments on fuel subsidy removal and people were really nervous about it. As they had more serious issues like increasing prices of essentials and limited disposable income, they were less willing to participate in a consumer home visit and talk to some unknown people about their category habits.
It was painful for me and my agency as well since we worked on the preparations until the last minute. We spent all Friday and Saturday doing the dry run with the consumers before the big visit.
Despite all the preparations, we got the news this morning that the strike has started and the trip has been cancelled. It is sad that all the company was working on this trip since November.
It is also sad for the country as well as the subsidy is not sustainable (current cost is $1.3 trillion). There are also many examples (Ghana 2004) saying that subsidy is beneficial more for the rich rather than poor. However, the problem with Nigeria is that citizens do not trust the government and they'd like to see solid actions from the government as a signal that this money is used for the benefit of the citizens rather than being pockets by some of the governors.
So the summary, we stayed at home all day and majority of Nigerians were out there protesting the government.
Bob visit has been cancelled but it is anyways interesting to experience one of those historical times in Nigeria!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16464922
The government removed the fuel subsidy as of Jan 1st without a real notice and overnight, the fuel price in Nigeria went up from 64 Naira (40 cents) to 150 Naira (1$). Since fuel is the major cost of all consumer products, agriculture and even the generator, it caused a major reaction among the Nigerians. Since last week, everybody was talking about the major strike Union Labors called for as of Monday Jan 9th.
What a coincidence! This week was the week of the big visit: Our CEO was planning to come to Lagos and we were to have detailed plans with him like store checks and consumer home visits. Until the last minute we worked like crazy to make things happen but all the signals were on the negative side.
On last Thursday, my agency called me saying that they are having difficulty to recruit consumers due to the recent developments on fuel subsidy removal and people were really nervous about it. As they had more serious issues like increasing prices of essentials and limited disposable income, they were less willing to participate in a consumer home visit and talk to some unknown people about their category habits.
It was painful for me and my agency as well since we worked on the preparations until the last minute. We spent all Friday and Saturday doing the dry run with the consumers before the big visit.
Despite all the preparations, we got the news this morning that the strike has started and the trip has been cancelled. It is sad that all the company was working on this trip since November.
It is also sad for the country as well as the subsidy is not sustainable (current cost is $1.3 trillion). There are also many examples (Ghana 2004) saying that subsidy is beneficial more for the rich rather than poor. However, the problem with Nigeria is that citizens do not trust the government and they'd like to see solid actions from the government as a signal that this money is used for the benefit of the citizens rather than being pockets by some of the governors.
So the summary, we stayed at home all day and majority of Nigerians were out there protesting the government.
Bob visit has been cancelled but it is anyways interesting to experience one of those historical times in Nigeria!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16464922
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