On 12 June, members of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) – CWI Nigeria – held different activities across four states to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1993 presidential election, whose annulment triggered a struggle against military rule and eventually led to the restoration of civil rule in 1999.
The advent of so-called democracy has not mitigated attacks on democratic rights or guaranteed better living standards for the vast majority. So it is not accidental that this anniversary comes at the same time as the government has criminally hiked the price of petrol, under the guise of subsidy removal, by over 200% from N185 per litre to as high as N577. The government has also planned to unleash other anti-poor policies like devaluation of the currency and high increases in the fees of public universities.
Unfortunately, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Nigeria’s main trade union federation, backed down from the general strike against the petrol price hike it had called.
So the central materials for the DSM’s activities on this day were a special leaflet, which calls for mass resistance against the petrol price hike, and the current edition of the DSM paper, whose lead article articulates what should be done by working people and youth to fight the anti-poor policies of the new Tinubu government.
- See reports and analysis at socialistnigeria.org and socialistworld.net
