Abdulsalami: I’m afraid for Nigeria

Former Head of State, Gen. Abudulsalami Abubakar (rtd), has expressed fears over the political situation in the country.

Speaking in Minna yesterday, the former head of state called on politicians to learn from the unfortunate situation in Kenya.

"I'm afraid for Nigeria, because this is not the Nigeria that our founding father's bequeathed to us".

"We are no longer our brothers keepers and instead of us talking about Nigeria, you are either talking about local governments or our states,'' he said.

Read the full story here.


In this article, former Head of State General Abudulsalami Abubakar questioned the current state of Nigeria. He asserted that today's Nigeria is not the nation that it was founded as and has strayed from the nation that its founding fathers created it to be. This brings into question the legitimacy of the nation: does Nigeria's government actually have a right to rule if it is not acting in a manner that is expected or desired?


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North Korea Offers Military Pact with Nigeria

The Flagship of the Nigerian Navy

The People's Democratic Republic of North Korea yesterday solicited a military pact with Nigeria to deepen the two countries' cooperation on military matters.

The country's Ambassador, Ri Chan Ho, told Defence Minister, Yayale Ahmed, in Abuja that both Korea and Nigeria attached great importance to military matters and have a lot to learn from each other.

He listed such areas to be covered by the pact to include barracks development and boat building, saying that his country has enormous capability to deliver for Nigeria in these areas.

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This concise article discusses the possibility of a military agreement between North Korea and Nigeria. The seriousness of the offer is not known, but an offer of military support between North Korea and a democratic country with a pre-existing military pact with the United States such as Nigeria seems odd and unlikely.
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The Chairman of INEC Allegedly Lied Under Oath

Some ballot papers used for the April 21, 2007 presidential election were printed in South Africa, findings by THE PUNCH have revealed.

This contradicts the claim of the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Maurice Iwu, that the printing were solely handled by the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company at a cost of N7.7bn.

Iwu’s claim was contained in his affidavit in response to the 27 questions raised by the presidential candidate of the Action Congress, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on the conduct of the poll.

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In support of the accusations made by Buhari and Abubakar on the 24th, Punch newspaper has discovered that the ballots for the most recent election were indeed made at least partly by a South African company, but it has not been confirmed whether or not the ballot had serial numbers. The handling of the elections, however, was under the control of Obasanjo, and Yar’Adua may or may not have been at fault.
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World Bank Okays N1.2b to Upgrade Nigeria's Airports

POOR infrastructure at most Nigerian airports will be addressed with a N1.2 billion ($10 million) World Bank facility.


The bulk of the money, according to sources in the Federal Ministry of Transportation Aviation, would be used to upgrade infrastructure and navigational aids at the airports.


The project will be supervised by World Bank officials.


Already, a Nigerian consultant has been appointed to manage the advertisement for bidders for the execution of the projects.


The project, when completed, will help to provide basic necessities at the four major airports in the country, which have suffered near neglect, and whose facilities are obsolete.

Read the full story here.

This article addresses the recent decision to allocate funds to better the Nigerian airports so that they will be of the most benefit to the citizens of Nigeria. This allocation of funds shows the drive of Nigeria to become more industrialized and modern which can allow for greater competition with other nations throughout the world.

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Measles and Cholera Claim 264 Lives in 3 Months

A total of 264 deaths have been recorded across the country since the outbreak of various epidemics in the last quarter of last year.


The bulk of the casualties occurred in Kaduna, Kano, Gombe, Borno and Katsina States where measles claimed 196 lives.


A report released by the Health Emergency Response Division, Public Health Department, Federal Ministry of Health indicates that a total of 5,957 cases of measles were reported nationwide over the last twelve weeks...


The report also disclosed that in Katsina State, a cumulative total of 201 cases and 21 deaths were recorded in the cerebro-spinal meningitis ( CS M) epidemic that occurred in three local government areas of the state...


In 2007, a total of 1444 cases and 34 deaths were recorded from cholera outbreaks nationwide. The outbreaks occurred in Borno, Jigawa, Bauchi, Kaduna, Edo, Delta and Bayelsa States.

Read the full story...

Nigeria's disease outbreak has reached nearly epidemic proportions. Measles, cholera, yellow fever, and cerebro-spinal meningitis are all preventable diseases, but the health department in Nigeria does not have the resources to immunize even the majority of their citizens. Hundreds and even thousands of people are dieing from diseases that could be treated if they only lived in a more prosperous part of the world.

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Aliyu Recants on Alleged Fraudsters, Begs Senators

SENATOR Nuhu Aliyu yesterday dramatically backed down over his allegation that there were fraudsters in the National Assembly. He tendered an apology to his colleagues and withdrew his statement.


According to the former head of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (CID), who had spent 35 years in the police, he had been made to realise that "until a suspect is tried and convicted for a crime, he could not be called a criminal." ...


But it was not a very good day for the senator as fellow senators whose friendship
he prized took turns to pour venom on him.


However, there were still voices in support of the senator.

Read the full story here.


This article addresses Nuhu Aliyu taking back his allegations of "419ers" in the Nigerian Senate. Aliyu stated in a letter addressed to the Senate President David Mark that he was losing friends in the Senate because of his remarks about fellow Senators. He said that the debate must end and the Senate must return to being a "family." Despite Aliyu's apology, many Senators have continued to "pour venom" on Aliyu saying that he should have been aware of what he was saying and contemplated it before he said anything.


This article brings into question the legitimacy of the government if such harsh allegations are going to be made about fellow leaders. If these allegations continue, Nigeria's right to rule that is felt by the citizens could be lowered.


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Bankole Gives Condition for Removal of Immunity Clause

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, has said that the House would take a final decision on whether to remove the immunity clause or not at the end of the trial of the former governors who allegedly enriched themselves while in office.

Speaking to journalists yesterday at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, Bankole observed that the governors committed the alleged crimes under the protection of the immunity clause and it is after they have been tried and convicted that the lawmakers would justify its removal, adding that any member of the House indicted for fraudulent activities (419) would also be made to face the law.

The Speaker said that the statement made by President Umar Yar’adua suggesting that the immunity clause should be expunged might have been due to the fact that those governors allegedly looted the funds of their various states under the protection of the immunity clause.

“Quite frankly, I think because of the situation we have whereby the EFCC is beginning to invite former governors to answer questions, the president believe that may be that would have been sorted out if there was no immunity clause. It hasalso made the President believe that may be it would have prevented some other possible damage that might have occurred, but I would not be able to comment so much on that right now until such former public office holders have been convicted.”

Read the full story...

The fraudulent governors have been tried and convicted. Due to an immunity clause, when the governors were in office, they could not be convicted of stealing money; nNow that they no longer have the title, they also no longer have the privilege. This again highlights how corrupt and unorganized the Nigerian government is, although they are heading in the right direction by punishing illicit behavior and not allowing former government officials special treatment.

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Yar'Adua Faces Court Over Alleged Fraudulent Elections

Since the election, denounced by some outside observers as the most fraudulent they had ever witnessed, over 1,200 petitions have been filed by the losing candidates in protest against the results. Almost all the successful petitions so far have alleged individual breaches of the electoral law, such as ballot papers with missing names. But more systematic crimes may have occurred, and indeed the first petitioner to prove wholesale malpractice on election day—many voters never even saw ballot papers—won his case last week against the governor of Enugu state. Those bringing the case against the president hope to do the same.

The former military president, Muhammadu Buhari, and the former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, are leading the charge against Mr Yar'Adua—both lost to him in the presidential poll. They allege that the elections were a sham, that the country failed to produce a complete voters' register and that ballots lacked serial numbers (and were therefore impossible to track). Furthermore, Mr Abubakar says he was illegally excluded from the poll until the very last minute, preventing him from campaigning.

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Many people in Nigeria are claiming that the most recent elctions were fraudulent, and this is no surprise for a counry so recently Democratic as Nigeria. The recent change to Democracy would also make it easy for someone to denouce the elections as the "most fraudulent," because they have probably only witnessed three. In all seriousness, the claims over fraud are probably true to at least some degree, but whether anything will be done remains to be seen. Holding elections for a seceond time may prove difficult or impossible to accomplish.
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20 Tertiary Health Centers in Poor State

TWENTY tertiary health institutions in Nigeria made up of Federal Medical Centres, University Teaching Hospitals, and Specialist Hospitals were yesterday described as failures in terms of poor service delivery by SERVICOM, a federal government agency with the sole responsibility of ensuring that public institutions deliver quality service to Nigerians. The Director of SERVICOM, Mr. Ade Obe, disclosed this in Abuja while presenting a recent report on hospital management conduct by SERVICOM to the Health Minister, Professor Adenike Grange.


According to Mr. Obe 44 tertiary healthcare providers in the country out of the total 54 were recently assessed by SERVICOM and none of the institutions got the praiseworthy grade being the highest for optimum performance.


11 of the hospitals assessed were commended for their quality of service. However, Mr. Obe said those in the failure category is too large for a nation that wants to provide quality health to its citizens.

Read the full story here.


This article addresses SERVICOM’s recent inspection of health care centers in Nigeria. According to the investigation, zero of forty-four providers that were investigated received a “praiseworthy grade.” This is a concern considering that the Nigerian government has placed an emphasis on affordable quality healthcare. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the areas in which Nigeria was lacking and try to solve the problem. These revelations will be a display of the government’s ability to do as they promised and provide for their citizens as expected.


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Uproar over Claims of Fraudsters Being in Senate

IT was meant to be a normal legislative day, but it was bedlam at the Senate yesterday as a member alleged for the second time in two years that there were
fraudsters in the Upper House. Voices were raised, accusing fingers pointed, eyes became red, egos were bruised and an angry Senator flashed documents with names of alleged fraudsters...


At a very stormy session yesterday, the Upper Legislative Chamber also urged the Federal Government to remain steadfast in its commitment to the war against corruption just as it invited the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, to brief it on his plans to sustain the anti-graft war.

Read the full story here.


This article addresses Senator Nuhu Aliyu's allegations that there were men in the Senate who were fradulent. This article is significant because it addresses the war on corruption that President Yar'Adua has initiated, and it shows the true corruptive nature of Nigeria in that even some of its highest leaders are the most corrupt. Although Aliyu received serious backlash because of his statement, he stood by his assertion and stated that he would name the "419's" as they are commonly referred to in Nigeria. This assertion could show the power of one man's voice if further action is taken on his allegations.


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FEC Okays New Policy on Industialisation Reviews EPA Pact

TO enhance better industrial growth in the country, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved a new policy known as the Nigeria Industrial Development Strategy.

The policy proposes the "cluster concept of industrialisation as a plank for development of the country's Small and Medium Enterprises (SMES) as a way of realising the vision 2020 strategy.

Also, the FEC approved a study on the potential impact of the various support options for Nigeria under the status of the ongoing Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiation between Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mauritania and the European Union (EU).

Read the full story here.

This article addresses recent decisions in Nigeria to make attempts at bettering the “industrial growth” of the nation. This article also addresses the fact that there was a decision to designate $46.65 million to the International Development Association (IDA) which will use the money to “support West and Central African Air Transport Safety and Security projects.” Key Nigerian leaders decided that after the decisions made in this council, they must decide how thorough and in depth their involvement will be and to what extent they need to involve the citizens of Nigeria. These steps allow the government to maintain legitimate and give the citizens a feeling that their government has a right to lead.

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Strike may Shut down Water and Electricity

As the nationwide strike enters its third day the NLC, TUC and the Joint Action forum (JAF) in a press release yesterday said water and electricity may be shut down.

"The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) again commend the generality of the Nigeria people for observing the general strike. The level of compliance, mass support and participation has remained appreciable across the 36 states and the Federal Capital territory, in all sectors of the economy and in all spheres of life.

In particular, wecommend the peaceful conduct of workers and other members of the public during the strike, pickets and other protest activities in various parts of the Country.We also commend the manifest civility demonstrated by the Police in the
ongoing general strike/mass protests. This is a marked departure from the excessive high-handedness which Police had displayed in the past.

We also condemn the reported deployment of officers and men of the Army and Navy to operate fuel depots and other purely civil infrastructures for which they have no mandate. Over all, the NLC and TUC remain disappointed by the apparent indifference of the Federal Government to the popular wishes of the people by returning the price of petrol to N65 per litre."

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Nigeria's people have been very peaceful in their demand for lower oil prices, but the government has been unresponsive and has instated military replacements. The fact that a democracy such as Migeria does not listen to its citizens does not reflect well on their political tact.
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Yar'Adua Not an Honest Man, Says Enahoro

Elder statesman and leader of Pro-National Conference Coalition(PRONACO), Anthony Enahoro, has dismissed with a wave of the hand President Umaru Yar’Adua’s much-flaunted credential as an honest man.

He also dismissed the current effort by the government to reform the nation’s Electoral Act, saying that "there is no way we can have a free and fair election under this present system." Enahoro made this position known during an interview with Sunday Independent.

He said if Yar’Adua was a sincere man he should long have resigned his position as President immediately he admitted the controversial election that brought him to power was indeed flawed.

"I was impressed when the President acknowledged in far away Germany, before the Western world and their press, that the process that brought him in was faulty. But I was expecting him to follow it up. He has not done anything so far and I am still waiting. I would have thought that an honest man should have resigned his post on the basis of that, but he did not do that; I am still waiting for what he will do about it."

Read the full story...

Enahoro, the elder statesman and leader of PRONACO, asserts that the flawed Nigerian presidential elections can not be fixed unless Yar'Adua gives up his presidency. Though he realized that the elections were flawed, Yar'Adua had no trouble accepting his new presidential position.

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Obasanjo is the Richest Ex-President in Africa

Former Abia State governor and Chairman of the Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA), Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu has again called on President UmaruYar’Adua to probe the investments of former president Olusegun Obasanjo. Speaking at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, yesterday, Dr. Kalu alleged that the former president was one of the richest individuals in Africa .

According to him, Obasanjo was a sacred cow as former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss; Mallam Nuhu Ribadu did not have the guts to probe him.

He alleged that Obasanjo, the former president has serious investments in banks, insurance companies while in office.

"If Yar’Adua probes Obasanjo today (yesterday) you will find that he is the richest individual in the whole of Africa . They have invested too much in banks, so much in insurance companies and so much in all aspects of investments but I thank God that I accused him of corruption."

Read the full story...

This evidence further proves that the Nigerian government is corrupt. Obasanjo probably did not become this wealthy by following laws. As president, he was in control of a significant portion of Nigeria's profits.

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Nigerian Police Rescue Children

Nigerian authorities are searching for the families of 105 abducted children found packed into a minibus.

The children, aged between five and 13, were taken from Kano state in the north and, say anti-trafficking agents, would have been "abused and molested".

Police found the children crammed into a 15-seat bus in the northern city of Kaduna on Thursday after the driver was stopped at a police checkpoint.

The children were piled on top of each other "like sardines" say officials.

Read the full story...

Unfortunately, the children would have probably been very easy to abduct. Some of their parents may have even allowed them to be taken. The children were being taken to a school in Niger to learn the Koran. The abducted children were found by police and other government agents and taken to a shelter where they received food, water, clothing, and medical care. The government is still trying to locate all of their parents. This instance shows that the Nigerian government is attempting to punish criminals and push the country in the right direction, but there are still major problems with the country.

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Bill Proposing High Level Pay Raises Passed by the Senate

A chart showing the exchange rate between the Naira and the British Pound

With the conclusion of work and passage of the Bill to amend the Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances) Act, by the Senate yesterday, a legal backing has now been given to the new pay packages for the President, his deputy and other senior officials of the Bench.

The President's salary, according to the Bill, has now been raised from N1,405,882.00 to N3,514,705.00 while that of the Vice President goes up to N3,031, 572.00 from N1,212,629.00. The Chief Justice will earn N3,363,972.00 while a Justice of the Supreme Court and the President of the Court of Appeal will take N2,477,110.00. A Justice of the Court of Appeal will get N1, 995, 430.00.

The decision to increase the salaries was taken after an exhaustive deliberation on a report presented to that effect by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Planning, Economic Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Senator Zainab Kure.According to her, the upward review was in harmony with submissions made by RMAFC. She pointed out that the issue of salaries was dynamic and as such it was supposed to be reviewed from time to time.

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The raise that was probably well merited, judging by the chart shown above. The chart show that more and more Naira are needed to make one pound, thus denoting inflation. To retain the same standar of living, salaries must be increases on a regular basis. This certainly does not explain all of the larger salary, though. The remaining amount of the more than doubled salaries may or may not be justified, and the ambiguous explanation does not shed any light on the matter.
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Militants Blackmail Nigerian Government

Militant groups in Nigeria’s Niger-Delta region are now demanding a payment of $3 million per any vandalised spot on the crude oil pipeline passing through the Chanomi creek channel before repair works should be carried out lest the efforts be frustrated aggressively.

It was gathered that there are about 23 vandalised spots on the pipeline and that the militants in the area are demanding the sum of $3 million per spot to be paid otherwise no repair work would be allowed to commence.

It was gathered that a contractor was granted access to the Chanomi Creek Channel in the first place because certain access fees were paid to the militants.

At a recently held oil and gas conference in the Nation’s capital city, Abuja, the immediate past boss of the state owned NNPC stated that he was having difficulties getting a contractor to go in and effect repairs on the pipeline in the Chanomi Creek channel.

Read more here. This story also directly relates to this one.

The fact that the Nigerian government is not able to fend of black mail like this and has fallen victim to similar schemes before does not bode well for its stability. This story reveals that freelance militant groups hald much power in Nigeria, and some hold more power than the government in some instances.
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Assessment Complete

The election petition tribunal sitting in Enugu on Friday removed Governor Sullivan Chime of the Peoples Democratic Party.

It also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a fresh election within three months starting from the day of the ruling. It said that the election that brought in was not conducted in accordance with the Electoral Act, 2006, and that majority of the electorate in the state were disenfranchised as they were not allowed to vote and exercise their constitutional right.

In the consolidated suit brought by the DPP and Egwonwu, the tribunal said that the petitioners were able to prove that majority of the electorate were not allowed to vote during the election. Ottah stated that the 17 witnesses - one from each of the 17 local government areas in the state - were able to prove that the election was “not substantially in compliance with the Electoral Act,” describing the witnesses as “witness of truth.”

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While Nigeria has had a successfull change in presidents, this story seems to indicate that Nigeria is not so politically stable after all. The amount of the electorate that were not allowed to vote indicates a large problem with the nigerian voting policy, at least in this area.

Pensions Paid to Nigerian Rebels

Former Biafran separatist leader Emeka Ojukwu was among those receiving the payments for retired soldiers at a ceremony in the capital, Abuja.

The government said the inclusion of 63 pardoned rebels in the payments showed the country had healed itself.

The eastern region tried to secede in 1967, sparking a bloody three-year war.

Some one million people died in the conflict, mostly from hunger and disease.

"Government has decided to fully integrate our compatriots who fought
on the other side of the unfortunate incidence of our civil war, it is the
culmination of the healing process that started the very moment the war
ended," said Defence Minister Mahmud Yayale Ahmed.

Read the full story...

Soldiers who fought for a separate state in 1967 are finally being given their promised pension. This fulfilled promise marks the beginning of a time of healing after years of conflict.

Nigeria's Port Harcourt Gang Rivalries

Port Harcourt is quiet again but no one thinks the peace is secure. Soldiers still patrol the town and its nearby creeks. Every rural area has a military monitor. An evening curfew has emptied bars and packs the streets at the end of the working day as people leave the town for the villages.

Though Nigeria's huge wealth springs out of the soil[of Port Harcourt] and the nearby seabed, the city's slums are overflowing, roads are rotten and jammed. Rural people complain of oil pollution and neglect from both government and oil companies. Protest movements, starting in the mid-1990s, were at first peaceful, then became violent. Recently, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) as become notorious for kidnapping foreign oil men and demanding ransom.

During elections in 2003 and 2007, violence erupted again. Celestine Omehia was sworn in as Rivers's governor in May; in August, rival gangs fought for patronage on Port Harcourt's streets. Accusations of favouring one cult over another were hurled at the governor, though he denied paying any thugs at all. Chief Edwin K. Clarke, a leader of the Ijaw people, says he has proof that the state paid militants as much as 100m naira a month.

This article from The Economist shows an interesting sitution between two rival gangs. It is interesting that the gangs have shown a lull in fighting. It elicits the question of why this is happening. The article suggest that it is because of increased military supervision and increased government legislation. If this is true, the problem need to be addressed more permenantly, so that similar conflicts can be solved in a similar manner.

Danger in the President

National Chairman and presidential candidate of the African Liberation Party (ALP), Emmanuel Okereke, has raised alarm over the "dangerous character" of the Umaru Yar’Adua presidency.

He warned that "President Yar’Adua may turn out to be more dangerous than former President Olusegun Obasanjo".

…

"And what is worse, he filled the panel with card-carrying members of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). You can quote me on that: almost all of them are PDP members. So the whole thing is not meant to serve any reformist purpose; it is not meant to reform anything, and that is why our party is not sending any memoranda to it. We do not believe in it and neither do we recognise it.

Read the full story here.

This article addresses the recent election of Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua. Emmanuel Okereke has questioned President Yar’Adua’s goals as president of Nigeria, and he has questioned his character. This is just the beginning of what could be a series of questions regarding President Yar’Adua and his policies. This questioning affects Nigeria’s legitimacy which can affect the people’s feelings that the government has a right to rule and implement legislation.

Nigeria's Economic Freedom

Nigeria's economy is 55.5 percent free, according to our 2008 assessment, which makes it the world's 105th freest economy. Its overall score is 0.5 percentage point lower than last year, reflecting worsened scores in two of the 10 economic freedoms. Nigeria is ranked 18th out of 40 countries in the sub-Saharan Africa region, and its overall score is slightly higher than the regional average.

Nigeria is above average only in labor freedom and fiscal freedom. Inflation is fairly high, but the government does not distort market prices with subsidies (except for rail transport). The labor market is fairly elastic.

Nigeria scores 10 percentage points below average in business freedom and financial freedom. Business licenses are subject to numerous delays, and similar regulatory excess hinders financial development. As a result, the economy is largely cash-based.

Read the full story here.

This article shows the various changes in Nigeria’s economy over the past years. This article compares Nigeria to both nations all over the world and to those in the sub-Saharan region Nigeria is located in. Nigeria is the 105th freest nation in the world, and it is the eighteenth freest nation out of forty in the sub-Saharan region. There are many things that have contributed to the lack of economic freedom that is evident in Nigeria, including tariffs, import and export taxes, and corruption.

This article also addresses the corruption that has consumed Nigeria for a long time. Corruption has consumed Nigeria to such a great extent that it is not perceived as a big deal. The government officials and leaders cannot be prosecuted for anything related to corruption while they are in office. This legislation is the reason that many former governors are being arrested now that they are no longer in office because of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s legislation to stamp out corruption in Nigeria.

Eighth Former Governor Arrested

An eighth former governor of Nigeria was arrested Wednesday, January 9, 2008, on account of President Yar'Adua's new policies regarding corruption. Lucky Igbinedion of Edo state was arrested after accusations that he stole more than $24 million through three front companies.

The other former governors who have been arrested are: Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu state, Segun Osaba of Ogun state, James Ibori of Delta state, Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state, Joseph Dariye of Plateau state, Dr. Orji Kalu of Abia state, and Saminu Turaki of Jigawa state.

Read the full story here.


This article shows the new policies that Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua has implemented. He has vowed to stamp out corruption in Nigeria and plans to do whatever it takes to make this happen. The implementation of these policies are applicable to everyone; no one is safe from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) including those who previously served in a leadership role in Nigeria.

The Good, the Bad, and the President

NIGERIANS are painfully aware of how much corruption has cost their
country—over $400 billion, according to official estimates. That is the
equivalent of about two-thirds of all the aid given to the whole of Africa since
the 1960s, and more than anything else explains why most people in this oil-rich
country still live in poverty.


Yet in recent years the government had started a belated fight against
corruption. And if one man has become the symbol of that campaign it is the
crusading young head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),
Nuhu Ribadu. Since 2003, Mr Ribadu has attained almost mythic status among his
countrymen by charging and prosecuting the politicians, and particularly the
state governors, who are responsible for most of the fraud and looting of public
funds. For the first time, he gave Nigerians hope that their country could
actually be different. So the news on December 27th that Mr Ribadu is being
forced to resign on a technicality has caused deep dismay among his supporters.
It is also very worrying for the future of Africa's most populous
country.



In short, Mr Ribadu finally got too close to the top. His anti-corruption
agency, once accused of prosecuting only the government's political foes, has
under the new president, Umaru Yar'Adua, been pursuing the former state
governors who lost their immunity from prosecution after leaving office last
May. He had some big successes. The EFCC has arrested seven governors, including
two of the most notorious, Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State and James Ibori of Delta
State, both of whom spent Christmas in prison. Another round of arrests was
planned for early January.

Read the full story...

Mr. Ribadu, the head of the Education and Financial Crimes Commission, was responsible for many of the arrests made in relation to governmental corruption. However, he had to give up his position in December due to government regulations. Without his guidance, the Nigerian government could return back to the state of corruption that plagued the country prior to Ribadu's reign.

Nigeria's Political Mess Will Keep Oil Prices Higher Than Ever

The state of political affairs in Africa’s most populated country has never been stable from the moment when Nigeria obtained sovereignty and became independent from Great Britain. The country was suffering from inter-tribal wars and conflicts between Muslims and Christians.

The military dictatorship that was set up in the country after the end of the British colonial ruling also failed to establish law and order in a large country. The oil business could only add more instability to the list of the above-mentioned problems.

Nigeria’s oil deposits are located in the delta of Niger, the home to a large and bellicose tribe called Ijaw. The tribe’s leaders claim their rights to own quite a big part of the oil profits. The military authorities of the country stand firmly against such an intention of the tribe: the illegal extraction and sales of fuel has become a lucrative business for them.

The governmental troops of Nigeria are waging war against the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). The army and the police use brutal measures in their struggle when they burn Ijaw’s whole villages to the ground for intimidation. The company Royal Dutch Shell, which owns most of the local oil business, suffers the largest losses because of the war.

Rebels attack oil pipelines, tankers and take company’s employees hostage. The shipments of Nigerian oil have dropped by 20 percent since the beginning of the year because of the acts of sabotage. It is worthy of note that Nigeria is included in the top ten list of the world's largest oil suppliers.

Read the full story...

Due to the corruption of the government and oil industry of Nigeria, oil prices
will continue to rise for consumers. Though Nigeria is one of the top ten
countries in regard to total oil supply, beaurocratic corruption has prevented
Nigerian citizens and international oil consumers from profiting from the
abundance of oil.

$10b was spent on power sector over 7 years with no results

"The Action Congress (AC) has said the shocking revelation by President Umaru Yar’Adua, that the Obasanjo Administration spent $10b on the power sector in 7 years without a commensurate result, has further justified the growing calls for the probe of the Obasanjo government.

AC wondered what the Obasanjo Administration did with $10 billion, an amount that represents about half of this year’s federal budget, when his government left the power sector worse than it met it in 1999.

Former President Yar'Adua

Meanwhile, the AC has said the target of 6,000mw of electricity generation for 2009, set by Yar‘Adua, has shown that his Administration does not appreciate the depth of the crisis in the sector and the urgency it deserves.

'We are aware that industrial analysts have said Nigeria needs to generate as much as 40,000mw of electricity to ensure an uninterrupted supply of electricity to its numerous people.'"

-My Naija News, a local Nigerian news company.

The fact that the same administration that pledged to reduce corruption also spent half of a years of the country's budget with no apperent result and likely used it to their own benefit is very disheartening. Any respect that Nigeria's anti-corruption agency had is now likely on shaky grounds.

Helpful Suggestions and Constructive Criticisms

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