Nigeria at 50

Yvonne Ndege reports on Africa's most populous country on the 50th anniversary of her independence from Great Britain.

Lead Toxicity and Nigerian Gold

Yvonne Ndege reports on severe health effects due to lead exposure among villagers in Zamfara province, northern Nigeria. Six villages have been affected according to Marcel Lagenbach of Medecins Sans Frontieres. The villagers say they will continue to mine for gold despite lead in the dust that is killing their children. Critics accuse the government officials of turning a blind eye and focusing instead on signing lucrative mining deals with China.

Drug Mule Politician, Zuru Ayortor

Eme Zuru Ayortor, a candidate for the Edo state assembly, was arrested two weeks ago at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria. Mr. Ayortor, a pharmacist, was stopped while trying to board a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt after scanning equipment indicated that he had foreign material within his stomach cavity. While undergoing interrogation at the airport, he excreted 100 packets of cocaine weighing a total of 2.120 kilograms (4.4 lbs). According to Mr. Ayortor, the proceeds from his drug mule venture were going to help him finance his campaign for office.

Mr. Ayortor is in good company. The story in Compass by Juliana Francis and Biodun Komolafe reports previous drug smuggling arrests at the same airport have included a doctorate degree holder, an ex-councilor and a couple trying to use their children. The quantity that Ayortor ingested, however, is the record since January.

Yar'Adua, Nigeria's president



Both BBC and CNN as well as African news sources such as Next and AllAfrica reported the death of Umaru Musa Yar'Adua on Wednesday, May 5th. The president of Nigeria has been too ill to govern since last November, as reported in my blog dated January 12th. Vice president Goodluck Jonathan governed as best he could but had not formally succeeded Yar'Adua. According to the story in Next, Jonathan now automatically becomes the substantive president and will be sworn in tonight by Nigeria's chief justice.

The recent vacuum of leadership during Yar'Adua's prolonged illness has perplexed both Nigerian and foreign political analysts. I believe, however, that it can be traced to the regional divisions within Nigeria as a nation. In a post on February 12th, I suggested that Mr. Jonathan's Christian affiliation might have upset the balance between Islamic and Christian leadership in the government. As I now understand the situation, the problem centers on a "gentleman's agreement" of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) to choose a candidate alternately from "northern" and "southern" states. The regional division between north and south is both religious and ethnic, as astutely pointed out in the comment below by Solomonsydelle.

The coming period of transition in leadership in Nigeria promises to be a tense one. Mr. Jonathan is by no means guaranteed to be chosen as PDP candidate or, if chosen, to emerge victorious in the elections of 2011.

P.S. Ndesanjo Macha of Global Voices has aggregated recent blog postings about the president's death. Surprisingly, my comments above and exchange with Solomonsydelle and Imnakoya are prominently featured. Real Nigerians must be either immensely saddened or embarassed at the conclusion of this chapter of their recent history.

Yar'Adua 419
(from Nairaland's PrinceK12)

Dear Sir/Madam
I am sure that you have heard about the death of Nigeria's president Yar'adua, for it is the headline on every major news network in the world. Unfortunately, Mr. Yar'adua died without writing a will, and he is survived by his wife. His wife will inherit some of his property and wealth according to the laws of Nigeria. However, the manager of First Bank of Nigeria, PLC has just notified me that President Yar'adua has the equivalent of $50,000,000 (fifty million US Dollars) in his bank account, and that he did not list any next of kin. According to the laws of Nigeria, therefore, since he did not list any next of kin, the money will pass to his successor in interest.

I have talked to the Bank Manager and he told me that I am the successor in interest to any of President Yar'adua's assets, including financial assets, but that I have to sign several paperwork to expeditiously effectuate the transfer to me, the successor in interest. Please keep this matter confidential, for disclosing to any third party this information may affect the transfer of the funds to my bank account.

The manager has also informed that we need to some funds to effectuate this transfer, and therefore I need to remit to him as soon as possible the sum of $100,000 (one hundred thousand US dollars). Once you send me the $100,000, I will sign the necessary paperwork and transfer the money to your foreign account, whereupon you can deduct your $100,000 plus your $10,000,000 (ten million US dollars) which is your commission for being a partner.

Thank you very much. I hope that you will act swiftly within the next 24 hours, for every time wasted can severely jeopardize this transaction. The manger of First Bank of Nigeria, PLC will contact you insofar as needed to collect any relevant information that is pertinent to this transfer. Your full cooperation is required.

Sincerely,

Alhaji Al Rabin Tal Wa lal
Successor in interest to his excellency, President Musa Yar'adua

Iwu Out!

The acting president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, has sent Maurice Iwu on "pre-retirement leave" from his position as chairman of the Independent National Election Commission (INEC). The retirement is interpreted as a long overdue dismissal by most who know Nigerian politics, given that Iwu supervised the extremely corrupt and mismanaged elections of 2007.

"Iwu sacked" reads the story by Daniel Idonor in both Vanguard and AllAfrica. Funke Adetutu t the Daily Nation regards this as a welcome sacking, as does Bamidele Aturu in her letter to Sahara Reporters.

Lagos up close... and open to interpretation

Sokari Ekine, who blogs at Black Looks, has an interesting essay about Lagos up at the New Internationalist Blog. Sokari reviews a recent television program which focused on the resourcefulness of the poor in Lagos.

In spite of all the current interest, I know that Lagos remains a dangerous place to visit for foreigners traveling from overseas. In fact, I was just speaking with a colleague on the Chemistry faculty here at VSU. He regularly flies in and out of Lagos to visit family. I was telling him that if I traveled to Nigeria I would probably go by way of Abuja. Perhaps the security will improve soon, or perhaps I will make some friends and acquaintances who can meet me when I arrive.

Lagos-Benin Highway Bus Massacre

I am not going to post the picture here for show. If you have not found it yet, you can view it on the NIGERIA MASTERWEB page. I have also posted it to my Flickr account here.

The story is being covered ably by the BBC, but I am sure that there are good Nigerian journalists working on it as well. The incident actually during July of 2009, although it has garnered fresh media attention beginning a little over a week ago. The original story from the Nigerian Tribune, written at the time of the incident, has been reposted to Online Nigeria. The Nigerian Senate itself was quite confused as to the date and details when it took up the issue on Wednesday, March 3rd. The otherwise trustworthy online publications Next and All Africa both reported an incorrect date of February 23rd in stories widely circulated through the blogosphere.

UPDATES: (3/5) Imnakoya has a very thoughtful post about the incident with a tasteful link to the photograph at his Grandiose Parlor. His post already has four comments and promises to stimulate lively discussion.

(3/6) The Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, provided a full accounting of the incident to the Nigerian Senate on Thursday, March 4th. As quoted by Yemi Akinsuyi in This Day, Inspector Onovo related that -

On the 31st of July, 2009, a luxury bus belonging to Young Shall Grow Transport Company left Enugu for Lagos. On the way, the bus developed a fault, which was temporarily corrected. As it started moving again,
this time around, on a slow pace, some suspected armed robbers attacked the vehicle and ordered all the 41 passengers in the bus to alight. They were ordered to sit down right on the road. While the operation was going on, a heavy duty vehicle, on a high speed, which had lost control, ran over the people. Six females and 13 males lost their lives in the process, while the two drivers of the vehicles were arrested and taken to Shagamu Police Station, where the incident occurred.

Danger of a Single Story

Chimamanda Adichie delivered this talk to the TED global conference back in July of 2009. I was made aware of it only today by Nneoma, a Nigerian blogger who found it a bit pompous. I may be a bit too romantic, but I found the message quite inspiring. It was particularly welcome to hear about all of the things which Nigerians are good at during days when the news seems to be all about their bad deeds.

Cherchez La Femme?

First rumored on January 25th, the return of Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to Nigeria appears to have finally been accomplished at the behest of his wife, Turai. According to stories in All Africa, Next, and Elendu Reports, Mrs. Yar'Adua has instigated what may well be a coup d'etat by returning her husband to Nigeria in the early morning hours of Wednesday, March 24th, 2010. According to the story "Turai takes charge" published in the newspaper Next and authored by Tolu Ogunlesi, Terfa Tilley-Gyado and Elizabeth Archibong,

...the arrival of the President in the early hours of Wednesday was engineered to take place in utmost secrecy. Just before midnight on Tuesday, the military units sealed off the presidential wing of the airport and cordoned off the area, ordering all airport staff to move to the international wing. The airport was sealed off from journalists and other visitors who had begun to gather at the presidential wing. The air ambulance conveying the President finally landed at 1.45am in a remote section of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

Since the president's arrival, acting president Goodluck Jonathan has been sequestered and blocked from taking the symbolic "presidential seat" in Abuja. Mrs. Yar'Adua appears to have the support of a few generals and officials within the security and defense apparatus who were standing in opposition to Mr. Jonathan's installation as acting president. President Yar'Adua himself does not appear to be healthy enough to govern the country. He is reportedly being kept in a specially outfitted ambulance which brought him home from the airport.

This just in! - The United States State Department, represented in Abuja by Under Secretary of State Johnnie Carson, has issued a strongly worded statement of concern. As quoted in Next, the statement expresses our hope that “President Yar’Adua’s return to Nigeria is not an effort by his senior advisors to upset Nigeria’s stability and create renewed uncertainty in the democratic process.” The full text of Mr. Carson's statement is available at the webpage for the United States embassy in Abuja here.

MAKE CHARITY HISTORY!



Dambisa Moyo is interviewed by David Frost on his Al Jazeera program, Frost Over The World. Frost turns surly as he comes to the defense of Bob Geldof and other celebrities who promote charitable causes in the African subcontinent.

Nigeria's Failures



An eclectic panel of Nigerians discusses her political troubles on Al Jazeera. The impunity of military forces in committing extrajudicial killings is discussed at the outset. For some reason, a strong and unrestrained military is here discussed as characteristic of a "failed state." In Nigeria, however, military rule has been the mechanism through which the state reconstitutes herself when sectarian forces threaten to tear her apart.

The focus of the panel discussion then shifts to the recent transfer of power from Yar'Adua to Goodluck Jonathan. Some panelists appear to fear that if the acting president succeeds, his Christian affiliation may raise issues of the balance between Islamic and Christian leadership in the government.

My overall impression from the discussion is that the "failed state" concept is a rhetorical weapon wielded primarily by partisan players both inside and outside the country. Another common trope or rhetorical weapon used by members of the panel is the accusation of "corruption." Since Nigeria first gained independence from the colonial power, Nigerians have taken power through both electoral and military means. The state survives but her divisions persist.

Goodluck now governs

Nigeria’s National Assembly voted Tuesday to make Vice President Goodluck Jonathan the acting president.

In his first address to the nation as acting president, All Africa quotes Jonathan pledging to pacify the Niger Delta region and consolidate the gains of the amnesty offered to rebels there.

MEND ends ceasefire

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) announced on Saturday, January 30th that it would be ending the ceasefire which it declared last October. The first actual sabotage also occurred on Saturday against the TransRamos pipeline. Although MEND has denied that it is responsible for Saturday's sabotage, This Day reports that flow stations along the pipeline have been shut down by Royal Dutch Shell in order to control new leaks.

All Africa had the story of the ceasefire declaration last October while Saturday's resumption of armed conflict and sabotage was reported both by Sahara Reporters and UPI. Now that the rebels have in fact resumed their campaign of sabotage against the Nigerian people, it will be interesting to see what sort of response the federal government makes, if any. Vice President Goodluck Jonathan actually hails from part of the Niger Delta, although he has shown very little sympathy or patience with the local rebel movements.

Prison Time for American Crooks

Two disgraced former executives of the Willbros Group have been convicted in United States court of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by bribing Nigerian officials. Jim Bob Brown was sentenced in federal court in Houston to one year and one day in prison and fined $17,500 while Jason Edward Steph was sentenced to 15 months and fined $2,000, Further details of the story can be found at All Africa and in the FCPA Blog.

Jos Violence and Nigerian Security

An Al Jazeera piece by Andrew Simmons explaining the violence between Christian Birom people and Muslim Hausa in Plateau state. The Nigerian police and military may not be entirely blameless or effective in subduing the violence.

Return of Yar'Adua?

Elendu Reports discusses rumors that Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has returned or is returning sometime today from his convalescence overseas. Among the unknowns are whether he will appear first in Abuja, Lagos, or in home town Katsina.

A New York State of Mind

Omoyele Sowore of Sahara Reporters interviews Nigerian foreign minister Ojo Madueke at the United Nations in New York City. When pressed regarding the lingering absence of President Umaru Yar'Adua from his official duties, Mr. Madueke claims that his own authority is somehow independent of the president due to the manner in which ministerial duties are assigned in the Nigerian constitution. He observes that Mr. Yar'Adua is not a "micromanager" with respect to foreign affairs, although one might question whether there is management of any sort at the present time.

Obasanjo asks Yardy to resign

Speaking at a public lecture in Abuja, former Nigerian president Olesugun Obasanjo suggested that current president Umaru Yar'Adua may need to resign from office. Obasanjo, who himself chose Yar'Adua as a candidate to succeed him, still wields considerable power within the corrupt and bickering government.

According to the story in Sahara Reporters, Obasanjo's comment was delivered in response a member of the audience who accused him of being responsible for the present constitutional crisis by choosing a sick man to succeed him as president. “What I need to say is that nobody picked Yar’Adua so that he will not perform,” Obasanjo replied. “If I did that, God will punish me. There is no reason why I should do that.”

Day 9 of Nigeria's 7 Day Ultimatum!
The Nigerian Senate issued an "ultimatum" to the United States on Wednesday, January 6th, 2009. Counting that Wednesday itself, the seventh day of their ultimatum was Tuesday, January 12th. At the conclusion of the Nigerian ultimatum, the United States government had not made any moves toward rescinding its policy of intimidating Nigerians at U.S. airports.

On its first day back in session and at the conclusion of the seven day ultimatum, what action was taken up first by the Nigerian senate? According to the Nigerian newspaper Vanguard, the first order of business was "a motion seeking an investigation into the authenticity of the presidential assent of the 2009 N353 billion Supplementary Budget." This was somehow intended to challenge the Nigerian president, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, to resume his office and take on the issue of intimidation by Western governments of Nigerian citizens. That action appears to have had little impact either upon Mr. Yar'Adua or upon government officials here in the United States.

On Wednesday, January 13th the Nigerian Senate debated a motion to honor the father of the underwear bomber for reporting his son to the American embassy and the CIA. Again according to a story in Vanguard, a weak commendation was passed as opposed to a stronger award of "national honor." Regarding the central issue raised in the seven day ultimatum, the Committee on Foreign Relations led by Senator Jibril Aminu has been given a mandate "to work with the American Senate to extricate Nigeria from the watch list for terrorists." Good luck on that one!