Source: 
Boiling Frogs Post
F. William Engdahl
 Nigeria,
 Africa’s most populous nation and its largest oil producer, is from all
 evidence being systematically thrown into chaos and a state of civil 
war. The recent surprise decision by the government of Goodluck Jonathan
 to abruptly lift subsidies on imported gasoline and other fuel has a 
far more sinister background than mere corruption and the 
Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) is playing a key 
role. China appears to be the likely loser along with Nigeria’s 
population.
Nigeria,
 Africa’s most populous nation and its largest oil producer, is from all
 evidence being systematically thrown into chaos and a state of civil 
war. The recent surprise decision by the government of Goodluck Jonathan
 to abruptly lift subsidies on imported gasoline and other fuel has a 
far more sinister background than mere corruption and the 
Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) is playing a key 
role. China appears to be the likely loser along with Nigeria’s 
population. 
The recent strikes protesting the government’s abrupt elimination of 
gasoline and other fuel subsidies, that brought Nigeria briefly to a 
standstill, came as a surprise to most in the country. Months earlier 
President Jonathan had promised the major trade union organizations that
 he would conduct a gradual four-stage lifting of the subsidy to ease 
the economic burden. Instead, without warning he announced an immediate 
full removal of subsidies effective January 1, 2012. It was “shock 
therapy” to put it mildly.
Nigeria today is one of the world’s most important producers of 
light, sweet crude oil—the same high quality crude oil that Libya and 
the British North Sea produce. The country is showing every indication 
of spiraling downward into deep disorder. Nigeria is the fifth largest 
supplier of oil to the United States and twelfth largest oil producer in
 the world on a par with Kuwait and just behind Venezuela with 
production exceeding two million barrels a day. [1] 
The curious timing of IMF subsidy demand 
 Despite
 its oil riches, Nigeria remains one of Africa’s poorest countries. The 
known oilfields are concentrated around the vast Niger Delta roughly 
between Port Harcourt and extending in the direction of the capital 
Lagos, with large new finds being developed all along the oil-rich Gulf 
of Guinea.  Nigeria’s oil is exploited and largely exported by the 
Anglo-American giants—Shell, Mobil, Chevron, Texaco. Italy’s Agip also 
has a presence and most recently, to no one’s surprise, the Chinese 
state oil companies began seeking major exploration and oil 
infrastructure agreements with the Lagos government.
Despite
 its oil riches, Nigeria remains one of Africa’s poorest countries. The 
known oilfields are concentrated around the vast Niger Delta roughly 
between Port Harcourt and extending in the direction of the capital 
Lagos, with large new finds being developed all along the oil-rich Gulf 
of Guinea.  Nigeria’s oil is exploited and largely exported by the 
Anglo-American giants—Shell, Mobil, Chevron, Texaco. Italy’s Agip also 
has a presence and most recently, to no one’s surprise, the Chinese 
state oil companies began seeking major exploration and oil 
infrastructure agreements with the Lagos government. 
Ironically, despite the fact that Nigeria has abundant oil to earn 
dollar export revenue to build its domestic infrastructure, government 
policy has deliberately let its domestic oil refining capacity fall into
 ruin. The consequence has been that most of the gasoline and other 
refined petroleum products used to drive transportation and industry, 
has to be imported, despite the country’s abundant oil. In order to 
shield the population from the high import costs of gasoline and other 
refined fuels, the central government has subsidized prices.