Nigerian leader promises transformation

President Goodluck Jonathan addressed thousands of supporters Saturday, just two weeks before polls open for the presidential election. The leader pledged change for the continents most populous nation, which is also Africa's leading oil producer. This rally, held at the capitol of the country, is the conclusion of a nation-wide tour begun in February

In the speech, the candidate commended the recent violence that has rocked the country; numbers bombing and killings over the last few months. He also vowed to fight corruption, as well as improve infrastructure and education in Nigeria.


The rally was held at Eagle Square in Abuja; heavy security was in place. At the same location in October, two car bombs went off killing 12 as the county celebrated it's 50th year of independence. 


Jonathan is the clear-front runner for the election, which will take place on April 9. He rules the People's Democratic Party, which has won every election since 1999. His major contender is ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari. Jonathan sits at 60%, compared to Buhari's 22%.


This rally shows that the Nigerian presidential campaigning system appears very similar to ours. The promises made by candidates also parallels what ours tend to do. It will be interesting to see if the winner, likely Jonathan, follows through on at least some of the pledges he's made. Exploring the campaigning process and how people come to power is a crucial part of our class, and an interesting transformation to observe in many different countries. 

President Goodluck Jonathan Discusses New Plan to Raise Minimum Wage

Recently the Minister of Labor, Emeka Wogu, told the public that President Goodluck Jonathan is in full support of the plan to raise minimum wage. He explained that the reason their has been a delay in signing the bill is due to various administrative processes. Although President Goodluck Jonathan is saying this is the only reason behind the bill not being passed yet, many are beginning to believe that he is just waiting to be re-elected in the election coming up on April 2nd. By letting the public know about the makings of this new bill, President Goodluck Jonathan is more likely to win over support and votes from those in trade and labor unions. This also proves to these unions that he is listening to what they want, and is trying to make positive changes not only to Nigeria's economy, but also for the people of Nigeria. By passing this New Minimum Wage Bill, Jonathan and his administrators are hoping it will begin to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.

This relates back to class using the systems theory. The inputs would be the trade and labor unions asking for a raise in minimum wage. The process would be the bill being formed. The outputs would be the actual bill. Finally the feedback would be all the extra support President Goodluck Jonathan is receiving from the fact that he is showing the people that he is actually listening to them.

Two Dead After Bombing

This past Sunday, two people were killed near a church in Jos, Nigeria, after an attempted bombing that went awry. The bombing comes at a critical juncture in the history of Nigeria; two weeks prior to the presidential elections that could potential cause great upheaval in an already divided country. The bombing also coincided with a discovery by Nigerian soldiers who some time earlier found a truck loaded with explosives, detonators, and 33,000 pounds of ammunition which are believed to be part of a plan for more bombings. Officials say that the bomb detonated while two people were passing by on a motorcycle and that there were no other casualties in the surrounding area although several nearby shops and businesses were destroyed or damaged. Police commissioner Abdurrahman Akanu said that, "the two of them died and burned down beyond recognition." The commissioner said that they would continue to investigate the attack but that, at the moment, they have no plausible attempted target for the attack. After the attack, people began grabbing possessions and fleeing the area. Journalists were blocked from the scene.

At its root, this event illustrates the volatile cleavages present in Nigeria between the Muslim North and Christian South. The two groups who have historically butted heads in this region and elsewhere seem to be becoming even more enraged as the upcoming elections draw near. Furthermore, it shows a distinct type of political participation wrought with violence. People are engaging in political violence on both sides of the party lines, evident in the fact that some 200 people have, according the Human Rights Watch, died in the city of Jos since December alone. It will be interesting to see what effect the outcome of the election in April has on the intensity of the cleavages in Nigeria and whether political violence will increase as rapidly as one would expect it to.

Army Steps in to Shut Down Illegal Refineries

Nigerian soldiers were sent in under government order to shut down nearly 500 illegal oil refineries in the Niger Delta region. Gun-boats and helicopters were sent in to stop the smuggling of oil refined in make-shift equipment; old metal drums connected by pipes and heated for days to create either petrol or diesel. The military commander in charge of the mission, Jafaru Ibrahim, said that no arrests were made during the raid but that, "this exercise is going to continue as often as possible so that [the bunkerers] do not have freedom of action to continues [these] illegal activities" which account for some 300,00 stolen barrels of crude oil every day. As oil prices rise not only in the United States, but also globally, smuggling of oil has increased (the price of oil per liter in Nigeria has increased by $0.98 over the past three months) the demand on the black market for oil in Nigeria has increased substantially. These actions in combination with the horrible environmental degradation have led to what is known as the "resource curse" of the Gulf of Guinea in which officials from such companies as the Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, and Agip claim almost the entirety of the wealth leaving little of the money to spread out to the surrounding communities where most people live on $2 a day or less. The smuggled oil is used primarily to heat homes in the surrounding region and because of the high petrol content of the gas there have been many explosions. President Goodluck Jonathan has promised to aid the Niger Delta region (where he is from) if he wins the upcoming election. In addition, the oil minister has said that their are reforms developing in parliament that, if passed, would supply some $600 million in dividends annually to the region to help protect and develop.

We talk frequently about how America and other democracies expect lesser developed countries to develop democratic institutions in two years rather than two centuries. Although it is apparent that Nigeria, a country that developed "democracy" only twelve years ago, has a long list of issues to deal with including regional cleavages, violence caused by religion, and the "resource curse" it is also encouraging to see the government take action to step in to protect it's citizens from the possible consequences of the selling of illegal oil and stop the prevalent smuggling in the oil industry. It also is a testament to the government of Nigeria's (possible) willingness to set aside millions in order to develop some of their most desperate regions. Yet again (sorry) much of the outcome of this issue will only be seen after the presidential elections in April because, according to Jonathan, he will take efforts to protect the Niger Delta which demonstrates the link between economic and political change.

Majority of drug traffickers in West Africa Nigerian

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released a report stating that Nigeria serves as the hub for heroin and cocaine trafficking in Western Africa. This report also stated that 95% of arrests made by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency were related to the transportation and sale of these two drugs. These Nigeriaan traffickers account for 57% of all West African drug traffickers, and their numbers are rapidly increasing.


The UNODC of Nigeria is currently working with the European Union and the NDLEA to help prevent and control the drug situation, and increase law enforcement capacity. Meanwhile, the International Narcotics Control Boar has stated that drug smuggling in Africa is increasing. After two years of slowing growth of the industry, in 2010 illicit trade shot up.


A section of the report included:
"Corruption is one of the underlying factors that makes drug trafficking possible. The vast profits generated in the drug markets often exceed the financial resources of state institutions," it said, adding that "Police and justice officials often face tremendous pressure from organized crime when working to stop drug trafficking. Preventing corruption must be a higher priority." 


This situation shows how weak and ineffective the government of Nigeria is in regards to controlling this problem. Corruption is rampant in the country, as the above quote shows. Nigeria has no hope of reform and peace until some of the underling issues of the country can be addressed, such as drug trafficking. It is no surprise that the nation can not hold a non-violent election when more than half of the drug trade for a portion of the continent is based there.

Shell Seeks Buyer for Nigerian Oil Properties

With the violence in Nigeria progressively getting worse and worse since 2006, Royal Dutch Shell has slowly been selling their oil blocks away. This past week Shell announced they are ready to sell another four oil blocks, and they would like to do this as soon as possible. Each of these oil blocks are expected to sell for $1 billion, and are expected to close within a few days. Shells decision to sell these four oil blocks was influenced by all the recent violence in the country, which has cut the company's output since 2006. With the oil industry suffering the way it is right now, many companies are eager to try to purchase these oil blocks because many are saying this is their best time to buy. For one of the first times ever, there is a chance that a local Nigerian company could possibly buy and take control of one of the oil blocks. Also in the group of bidders is the Chinese owned company, Addax Petroleum. Each of these oil blocks are located in the western swamps of the Niger Delta, and have been slowly producing less and less barrels of oil daily. Everyone is hoping that when these new companies step in, they can bring production back up to where it used to be.

This relates to class discussion because it demonstrates how Nigeria's internal problems, with religious cleavages and other things, are beginning to affect their global economy. With Shell slowly beginning to move out of Nigeria and establish different oil blocks in other locations, shows the different chances being taken away from Nigeria. Also, with China being one of the top competitors for these oil blocks, shows what we have been discussing in class about the way China does business in Africa. It proves that they do not care about the violence and are taking no actions to stop the violence, but instead go about their own business.