Nigeria: In Defense of the Reputation
I sometimes wonder what nerve gets plucked that causes a government with as many problems as that in Nigeria to want to joust at windmills. I mean they only have an insurgency that is holding them back from truly using their oil resources, a corruption problem that sets regional if not world standards, and let us not forget, the art of the credit card-email scan. In the very best hotel in Abuja, one had to be financially suicidal to even flash a piece of plastic.
But here ya go: Nigeria is insulted by a South African horror film about aliens in Jo Burg makes ganster cannibals from Nigeria look bad.
Lord I miss Warren Zevon...
Tom
Quote:
Nigeria Wants Apology for Country's Depiction in 'District 9'
ABUJA, Nigeria — One of the summer's biggest blockbusters — a sci-fi morality tale about aliens and apartheid — is not welcome in Nigeria because of its portrayal of Nigerians as gangsters and cannibals, Nigeria's information minister said Saturday.
Nigerians seek opportunity
The desire to reach Nigeria from Chad is also seen in the apparently relentless flow of Nigerians to South Africa - seen as a land of opportunity. The TV documentaries I've seen, most recently on C4, were of Nigerians in downtown Jo'burg, in Hillbrow - a once risque area, now "off limits". See Google: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=hil...ne-navbar&cd=1
The South African sci-fi film 'District 9' has some content that has upset the Nigerians, I suspect some comparisons are made between Nigerians and the newcomers. Check the BBC story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8264180.stm and this is a UK review of the film: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/f...-9-review.html
davidbfpo
Nigeria's Missing President?
In a BBC report on Nigeria and the Xmas bomber is a relevant sentence:
Quote:
President Umaru Yar'Adua is in hospital in Saudi Arabia with a serious heart compliant.
Link:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8436497.stm
Background to the President:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6187249.stm and includes:
Quote:
In the past three years he has twice been flown to Germany for emergency treatment and visited hospitals in Saudi Arabia twice.
Nigeria's Missing President?
Nigeria's President Umaru Yar'Adua has been missing altogether from the political scene in the country for well over two months, due to an illness which he has been seeking attention for in Saudi Arabia. His absence has created much speculation about Yar'Adua's medical state, including rumors in the Nigerian media that he is brain dead, among others. However all of this it appears if I am stating correctly have created much political and even some religious tension and even the possibility of a potential power vacuum in Nigeria due to the President of Nigeria's absence from the country.
Nigerian communal violence
I am sure the inter-religious communal violence in Nigeria featured in SWJ Blog news summaries; it certainly appeared in the BBC and the odd newspaper report like in The Spectator recently:http://newstaging.spectator.widearea...ill-kill.thtml
This is a rather pessimistic overview:http://www.opendemocracy.net/martin-...cs-of-massacre
The author is:
Quote:
Martin Shaw is a historical sociologist of war and global politics, and professor of international relations and politics at the University of Sussex.
He ends with:
Quote:
The repeated massacres of hundreds of people are a challenge not only to Nigeria but to the world.
I fear that real politics mean that this 'challenge' is far from any agenda in the 'world' let alone the sometimes interventionist West, nor more locally. Yes, Hollywood had a role with a Bruce Willis film set in Nigeria and a US SOF intervention against orders; 'Tears of the Sun' see:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tears_of_the_Sun
Now, would AFRICOM be watching such developments - in a country where the USA has a strategic interest and to my limited knowledge no large presence of US citizens?
Breaking-Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua dead at age 58
Earlier yesterday it was learned that the President of Nigeria Umaru Yar'Adua who has been ill for sometime, has died at age 58.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa...ent/index.html
It will be interesting to see what events if any transpire due to his death, and how this affects the state of affairs in Nigeria even though Vice President Goodluck Johnathan has been de facto President for a while now along with several other figures including the late President's wife.