Nigeria bids to placate youth to avert looming inflation protests

Days before a nationwide protest over bad governance and a high cost of living, Nigeria is offering its young people jobs in the state-oil company and billions of naira worth of grants among other incentives to discourage the action.

Nigerian activists have been looking to emulate youth-led protests elsewhere in Africa which haverocked the governmentin Kenya and prompted atough security responsein Uganda.

Nigeria’s state oil firm, which seven years ago warned job seekers against falling prey to fraudulent messages about job placements in the company,published on Friday nationwide job vacancies in a post on X for the first time in nearly a decade.

An NNPC Ltd spokesperson said a flood of applications crashed thecompany’s website.

Read:Nigeria averts labour crisis but falling Naira signals more trouble

Nigeria’s Ministry of Youth Development on Friday also relaunched a 110-billion-naira ($70 million youth investment fund that was started in 2020, aimed at providing grants to Nigeria’s youth to generate jobs.

The Youth Ministryhad said in Maysaid it would revive the programme, but little had been heard about it until Friday.

On Tuesday, Nigerian lawmakers passed anew minimum wage, more than doubling the amount the least paid worker will earn monthly.

Nigerians are organising online for nationwide protests next week in response to a cost of living crisis that has seen inflation rise to a 28-year-high of 34.2 percentwhich followed President Bola Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidies and a currency devaluation.

Read:Nigerians feel pains of Tinubu’s reforms to cut cost of living

Religious clerics, traditional rulers and other prominent Nigerians have joined the government in discouraging young people from embarking on protests slated to begin fromAugust1, fearing Kenya-style protests will wreak havocon the economy.

The government has sought more time to end hardships and both thepoliceandarmyleadership have warned against the protests, saying they could get out of control.

Protesters have said they have a right to peaceful demonstrations, calling the government’s warnings of violence a smokescreen for a potential crackdown.