尼日利亞持續罷工威脅經濟
Tens of Thousands of Nigerians took to the streets for a third straight day Wednesday in the main commercial city of Lagos and the capital, Abuja, to protest soaring fuel costs, sparked by a government move to end a popular fuel subsidy.
抗議政府取消燃油補貼的尼日利亞全國大罷工進入第三天。與此同時，北部的穆斯林和南部的基督徒之間繼續發生教派衝突。目前的危機給政府帶來挑戰。批評人士說，政府無力應對這兩個危機。
Despite the growing public outcry, the government has shown no sign of reversing its decision to cut the popular subsidy, which it said would bankrupt the country in the long-term, and has vowed to withhold wages for public employees who are on strike.
儘管全國罷工進入第三天，但並沒有跡象顯示尼日利亞政府要扭轉其取消燃油補貼的決定。政府說，這項補貼在長期會導致國家破產。政府誓言將扣留那些參加罷工的政府僱員薪資。
That tactic has proven somewhat effective, but workers remain on strike in numbers that could force an economic crisis in the short-term. Sonny Enehuvwedia, a civil servant in Warri, did not cross the picket line and he is not discouraged by the defectors.
這一舉措產生了一定效果。但是仍在罷工的人數可能在短期內造成經濟危機。尼日利亞港口城市瓦里的公務員索尼·埃內胡威迪亞沒有跨越警戒線，他並沒有因爲罷工的鼓動而感到泄氣。
"Every struggle is always like that," said Enehuvwedia. "You must have betrayals. The whole people cannot be in the struggle together. But there are those who will be there to sustain it and, at the end of it all, victory will be ours."
埃內胡威迪亞說：“每一次鬥爭都是這樣。一定會有背叛者。不會所有的人都一起鬥爭。會有一些人將堅守住，最終，勝利將屬於我們。”
In addition to the paralysis of Africa's second-largest economy, the strike and accompanying protests have exacerbated Nigeria's security problems.
罷工和隨之的抗議活動不僅令這個非洲第二大經濟體陷入癱瘓，還使該國的安全問題加劇。
Most of the recent violence has stemmed from religious tensions and the government's conflict with the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram. President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in 15 locations last week but violence continues, including an attack on a mosque in southern Nigeria Tuesday.
最近發生的大多數暴力事件是由於教派的關係緊張以及政府與伊斯蘭激進教派“博科聖地”組織之間的衝突。尼日利亞總統喬納森上星期宣佈該國15個地區進入緊急狀態。然而，暴力事件還在繼續上演，包括星期二尼日利亞南部的一個清真寺遭到襲擊。
Abubakar Kari is a lecturer in the University of Abuja's Department of Sociology. He says that, between the two crises, a potential sectarian conflict is the greater threat to Nigeria.
阿布巴卡·卡里是阿布賈大學社會學系的講師。他說，就這兩個危機而言，潛在的教派衝突對於尼日利亞是較大的威脅。"This issue of oil price increase is a government policy which can be resolved, if the two sides want, in a matter of hours or minutes," said Kari. "But the second one has been a protracted an intractable problem and there appears to be no solution in sight."
卡里說：“油價上漲這個問題是政府的政策，如果雙方願意，這個問題能夠在短時間內解決。但是第二個危機已發展成難以解決的問題，看起來沒有什麼解決辦法。”
But Kari says that the fuel crisis must be resolved quickly if the government hopes to address the security crisis, which he says is an economic issue as well.
不過卡里說，如果政府希望解決安全危機，就必須迅速解決燃油危機。他說，安全危機也是個經濟問題。
"Because if poverty increases and unemployment worsens, it will be very easy to recruit people to engage in violence and terrorism," Kari added.
卡里說：“因爲如果貧困問題加劇，失業狀況惡化，將很容易導致人們作出暴力和恐怖主義行爲。”
Some in the international community fear the possibility of another civil war in Nigeria. But Kari says those people are incorrectly using other countries as indicators and they underestimate the majority of Nigerians.
國際社會有人擔心尼日利亞可能再次爆發內戰。但是卡里說，這些人錯誤地用其它國家來作參考，他們低估了尼日利亞的大多數民衆。
