Camilla Houeland is a researcher at the Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research, Norway, and associate professor II at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo, researching the politics of oil, work, and the green transition in Nigeria and Norway.
Bola Tinubu, a candidate from Nigeria’s ruling party, has claimed the presidency with a weak and disputed mandate on the lowest turnout since democracy was restored. Tinubu will inherit a deep social crisis that can only be addressed by radical reform.
An outsider candidate, Peter Obi, is the surprise favorite in this week’s Nigerian presidential election. Obi has attracted support from labor and youth activists, but his neoliberal economic agenda won’t address the dire social conditions afflicting Nigeria.
International organizations like the IMF are pressing Global South countries to cut their fuel subsidies in the name of fighting climate change. But don’t be fooled: these are neoliberal measures that do little to reduce emissions while hammering the livelihoods of poor and working-class people.