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.
抗议政府取消燃油补贴的尼日利亚全国大罢工进入第三天。与此同时，北部的穆斯林和南部的基督徒之间继续发生教派冲突。目前的危机给政府带来挑战。批评人士说，政府无力应对这两个危机。
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.
尽管全国罢工进入第三天，但并没有迹象显示尼日利亚政府要扭转其取消燃油补贴的决定。政府说，这项补贴在长期会导致国家破产。政府誓言将扣留那些参加罢工的政府雇员薪资。
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.
这一举措产生了一定效果。但是仍在罢工的人数可能在短期内造成经济危机。尼日利亚港口城市瓦里的公务员索尼·埃内胡威迪亚没有跨越警戒线，他并没有因为罢工的鼓动而感到泄气。
"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."
埃内胡威迪亚说：“每一次斗争都是这样。一定会有背叛者。不会所有的人都一起斗争。会有一些人将坚守住，最终，胜利将属于我们。”
In addition to the paralysis of Africa's second-largest economy, the strike and accompanying protests have exacerbated Nigeria's security problems.
罢工和随之的抗议活动不仅令这个非洲第二大经济体陷入瘫痪，还使该国的安全问题加剧。
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.
最近发生的大多数暴力事件是由于教派的关系紧张以及政府与伊斯兰激进教派“博科圣地”组织之间的冲突。尼日利亚总统乔纳森上星期宣布该国15个地区进入紧急状态。然而，暴力事件还在继续上演，包括星期二尼日利亚南部的一个清真寺遭到袭击。
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·卡里是阿布贾大学社会学系的讲师。他说，就这两个危机而言，潜在的教派冲突对于尼日利亚是较大的威胁。
"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."
卡里说：“油价上涨这个问题是政府的政策，如果双方愿意，这个问题能够在短时间内解决。但是第二个危机已发展成难以解决的问题，看起来没有什么解决办法。”
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.
不过卡里说，如果政府希望解决安全危机，就必须迅速解决燃油危机。他说，安全危机也是个经济问题。
"Because if poverty increases and unemployment worsens, it will be very easy to recruit people to engage in violence and terrorism," Kari added.
卡里说：“因为如果贫困问题加剧，失业状况恶化，将很容易导致人们作出暴力和恐怖主义行为。”
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.
国际社会有人担心尼日利亚可能再次爆发内战。但是卡里说，这些人错误地用其它国家来作参考，他们低估了尼日利亚的大多数民众。 |