Apparently, nobody knows. Check this out: The Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has described the records of the country’s crude production and export as unclear, saying that after 58 years of oil production, the country does not know exactly the quantity it produces. Speaking at the presentation of a research report on the Nigeria… Read More »
Would ordinary Nigerians have felt Yar’Adua’s absence? Since the experience of the Nigerian state for most Nigerians is limited to demands for bribes by officials and policemen, the government and who is running it is of little consequence to them. Everything positive in their lives is achieved by themselves in spite of the ruling elite… Read More »
Liberal orthodoxy is avuncular and patronising and it bestows upon the “helpless” African a benevolent but malignant label – subhuman. It is malignant because most days these days we spend our waking hours trying to convince the other that well, we are human, just like them. Why do they see us differently from how we… Read More »
Sola Odunfa, Nigerian journalist, writes in an article on the BBC website: I often ask myself: Should Nigeria break up, how many countries will it produce? I am not aware that any three of its more than 200 ethnic groups sincerely agree so much as to come together in a peaceful independent state. There is… Read More »
1. Unmet promises tied to ebb of truce in Niger Delta – NYTimes 2. No. 1 above has led to attacks, which in turn have led to Shell announcing on Sunday that it had shut down three pumping stations in the region – Reuters 3. Gaddafi goes, Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi in, as AU… Read More »
1. Turns out Nigerian foreign minister knows the ‘visions’ of a president he hasn’t talked to in close to two months! (See this BBC Hardtalk excerpt). Hmm… maybe we really don’t need a president then. 2. Intelligent Life on online fashion shopping. 3. Haiti and the Catastrophic Role of the International Financial System by Saskia Sassen. HT @jranck… Read More »
1. Haiti Earthquake: Worldwide solidarity, a common humanity? 2. Paul Krugman writes, ‘Europe’s economic success should be obvious even without statistics’. Matt Welch responds. Megan MacArdle responds. Don’t forget to check out the comments. 3. Top 5 reasons why “Failed state” is a failed concept – Aid Watch 4. Is the Nigerian President a goner?… Read More »
In a group interview in September, 18 disgruntled truck drivers in Cotonou, Benin, vented their frustrations to two Trade Hub consultants: driving freely from Cotonou to Ouagadougou was impossible without harassment, they said. They sometimes spend three days at borders where customs officials hold up paper work when they refuse to pay bribes; meanwhile, their… Read More »
Ban the use of foreign products at official functions and in government offices: Nigeria’s Daily Champion -The Federal Government on Tuesday imposed a ban on the use of foreign beverages at official functions and in government offices. The ban covers tea, coffee, biscuits, fruit juices, water and soft drinks. President Umaru Yar’Adua gave the directive… Read More »
Remember this story about the Nigerian central bank taking over five Nigerian banks? Well, it seems that a result of that has been a sort of credit crunch in the country. From the BBC: Lagos-based manufacturing firm, supplying cables to Nigeria’s fledgling national grid. With more than 500 skilled staff, it is exactly the kind… Read More »