Days before a nationwide protest over bad governance and the high cost of living, Nigerian leadership 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 have rocked the government in Kenya and prompted a tough security response in 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 nationwide job vacancies in a post on X for the first time in nearly a decade on Friday. An NNPC Ltd spokesperson said a flood of applications crashed the company’s website.
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 ministry had said in May it would revive the program, but little had been heard about it until Friday.
On Tuesday, Nigerian lawmakers passed a new minimum wage more than doubling the amount the least paid worker will earn monthly. Nigerians are organizing online for nationwide protests next week in response to surging inflation that has seen inflation rise to a 28-year-high of 34.2% which they blame on President Bola Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidies and a currency devaluation.
Religious clerics, traditional rulers, and other prominent Nigerians have joined the government in urging young people from embarking on protests, addressing the negative impact, and urging them to consider the adverse effects Kenya-style protests will have on the country.
