Background
On the 1st of January of 2012 while Nigerians were still on holidays, the federal government announced casually that it was removing subsidies on petrol thereby effectively increasing the price of Nigeria’s most essential product and driving a corresponding sharp rise in the cost of living. The government took this decision alone even after it had promised that it will consult broadly
as it seeks ways to more efficiently manage the subsidies which had become a major source of corruption and economic drain. A group of community organizers and activists held the view that the action of the government amounted to unjustly transferring the cost of its ineptitude in managing the petrol subsidies, to citizens. Given the significance of petrol to the Nigerian economy where electricity to drive businesses and sustain households is generated privately mostly using petrol generators, it was obvious that the action of government will result in serious economic pressure on Nigerians. This group of community organizer and activists congregated under the name We the People, directly derived from the opening pages of the Nigerian constitution, with the objective of expanding the civic engagement space and ensuring that the government rethinks its position. Long after that first successful collaboration, the group remained active in engaging government policies and pushing for a more open and just Nigerian society. In 2017, We the People became registered as nongovernmental organization in Nigeria with the name Centre for Social Studies and Development.
