Now that long-cherished benefit has ended, more than doubling prices and fuelling a planned nationwide strike by angry unions.
The strike, scheduled to start yesterday, already bears similarities to a nationwide strike in 2003 during which the country was almost shut down by angry workers and residents.
While analysts said removing the subsidy would free $US8 billion ($7.8bn) a year that was needed to help the country, they warned the move would only alienate those living in a nation of more than 160 million people where only the wealthy elite benefit from oil riches.
"The government does not have credibility," said Adeola Adenikinju, an economics professor at the University of Ibadan who has long supported ending the fuel subsidy.








"The issue is that Nigerians don't trust government."
Petrol prices have risen from $US1.70 a gallon to at least $US3.50 a gallon since the subsidy ended at the order of President Goodluck Jonathan. That spurred a spike in prices for food and transport across a nation where most people live on less than $US2 a day.
In response, two major unions called for a strike. While an industrial court has issued an order trying to stop the strike, the Nigerian Labor Congress has said it would send its members into the streets no matter what, mirroring a July 2003 strike where it ignored a court order as well.
That eight-day strike halted work in the country as labour activists and others attacked shops and took over the air traffic control towers at Lagos international airport. Police confrontations with activists and local gang members swept into violence, firing teargas and killing.
More troubling for the US, which relies on Nigeria for fuel supplies, oil workers began to walk off the job, stalling production.
Nigeria, an OPEC member nation, produces about 2.4 million barrels of crude oil a day.
The strike ended when the government agreed to bring prices down with subsidies. However, Mr Jonathan and other government officials say they will not back down, warning that Nigeria will collapse under the weight of the ballooning costs of subsidies.
Acknowledging the anger, Mr Jonathan made a nationwide televised address on the state-run Nigerian Television Authority promising some austerity cuts on travel and salaries in the executive branch, as well as new jobs.
"Let me seize this opportunity to assure all Nigerians that I feel the pain that you all feel," Mr Jonathan said.
"Whatever pain you may feel at the moment will be temporary."
The unions that called the strike later dismissed Mr Jonathan's offer of cuts, saying the country "cannot afford the high fuel prices and will not accept the hyper-inflation this misguided policy has created".

Petrol price hike sparks Nigeria strike