Nigeria 2013-2017

[KingJaja]

KingJaja, do me a favour please... you are not speaking to a North American or a continental European... spare me the pretense of ignorance of the corruption levels in Nigeria (which are as out of control as some East European states).

Tranparency International finds Nigeria 144 of 177 on the corruption scale... that makes it highly corrupt.

Now here is the immediate cash for fund job creation - if it can ever be recovered:

President Goodluck Jonathan orders inquiry into Nigeria’s ‘missing’ $20bn of oil revenue

Then here is a what could have been statement of the obvious - which maybe you have missed:



Now given all that can you believe that both the US and UK give aid of around $250m each to Nigeria. Stupid is as stupid does.

No problem, I'm out of this discussion forum. It is a waste of my time.

[Stan]

No problem, I'm out of this discussion forum. It is a waste of my time.

Seems you do this an awful lot lately when faced with reality and skepticism from people who are well aware of African policy and leadership.

Better grow some thick skin as it is far from over.

The point being, Nigeria should be the flagship of a successful African nation. However, all most of us recall are the spamming emails about our dead uncles with cash in Nigeria.

Yes, it is a shame as there are literally 100s of thousands of Nigerians like you that go to work every day and deal with life there.

How many generations will it take to resolve the current impasse ?

[KingJaja]

Very sad news, site is about 15 minutes from central Abuja:

More than 70 people have been killed in two blasts that rocked a crowded bus station on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital, Abuja, officials say.

The blast happened as commuters were about to board buses and taxis to go to work in central Abuja, the BBC's Haruna Tangaza reports.

Eyewitnesses say there are dead bodies scattered around the area.

Suspicion immediately fell on the Boko Haram Islamist militant group, which has staged previous attacks in Abuja.

However, most of its attacks have been in the north-east of the country.

Abbas Idris, head of the Abuja Emergency Relief Agency, told the BBC that so far they have confirmed 71 people dead and 124 injured.

Police spokesman Frank Mba gave the same figures, adding that 16 luxury coaches and 24 minibuses had been destroyed.

Eyewitness Badamasi Nyanya said he had seen 40 bodies being evacuated; other eyewitnesses say they saw rescue workers and police gathering body parts.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27018751

[JMA]

While the TV news seems to be full of the abduction of 250 odd girls a few weeks ago it seems to have missed comment on SWC.

The US and Uk have promised to get involved:

U.S. to Send Team to Nigeria to Help Find Kidnapped Girls

The Obama administration is dispatching military officials and hostage negotiators to Nigeria to aid in the recovery efforts of more than 250 girls kidnapped by the militant group Boko Haram, whose leader recently boasted "I will sell them in the market"

Nigeria abductions: UK experts to provide advice

The UK is to send a small team of experts to Nigeria to help over the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls.

[omarali50]

I have a longish post about the broader implications of Boko Haram for "moderate Muslim" strategy and suchlike

http://brownpundits.blogspot.com/201....html?spref=tw

btw, Haramis means "bastards" in Urdu and related languages...

[ganulv]

Boko Haram is said to have exploited the efforts to recover the girls kidnapped from Chibok in their raid on the town of Gamboru Ngala. From the New York Times:

Dozens of militants wearing fatigues and wielding AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenade launchers descended on the town of Gamboru Ngala, chanting “Allahu akbar,” firing indiscriminately and torching houses. When it was over, at least 336 people had been killed and hundreds of houses and cars had been set on fire, said Waziri Hassan, who lives there, and Senator Ahmed Zanna. […] “Yesterday, people were still trying to pick up dead bodies,” Mr. Zanna said. “It’s really traumatizing.” The senator said the insurgents had used two armored personnel carriers stolen from the Nigerian military several months ago.

Two APCs stolen from the Nigerian military?

[davidbfpo]

Having watched some US news reporting on the external reaction to the kidnapping of the school girls, I looked for some enlightenment.

A short CTC commentary:http://tinyurl.com/kzxr9bd

A commentary from the Oxford Research Group (ORG), gives a good background:http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.u...ion_boko_haram

An African observer's comment http://muslimsinafrica.wordpress.com...ssein-solomon/ that ends:

Abuja needs to capitalize on this and reinvigorate the fight against the Islamists once and for all. Instead, as I sit watching my television screen, I am filled with dismay as the Nigerian government offers to negotiate with Boko Haram. This constitutes a dereliction of duty – a betrayal of national trust – on the part of the Jonathan government.

I fear the girls are a "lost cause", after all they were kidnapped on the 14th April 2014. Western help, however discrete in country, I suspect will enhance Boko Harem's message. When will such help leave, or as ORG fear see mission creep or are the girls just pawns?

[davidbfpo]

In a somewhat unusual format of a cell-phone screen; the article starts with:

Was the Nigerian Military Complicit in the Chibok Abductions?
Experts on Boko Haram suggest that the kidnap of over 200 schoolgirls in northern Nigeria could not have been carried out without some degree of police or military cooperation.

Link:http://m.thinkafricapress.com/?url=h...m%3Demail#2672