Weekly Buzz: 24-30 October 2010

News and Resources from the Niger Delta Working Group

Weekly Buzz

24-30 October 2010

Deirdre LaPin

Constitutional amendments on April polls now passed to state assembies: minimum of one week expected for their approval.

On Wednesday, Nigeria's National Assembly agreed to go forward with a second set of constitutional amendments.  If ratified by two thirds of the 36 states, they will allow nationwide polls to be held in April instead of January. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) requested more time for a badly needed overhaul of voter lists. It is unclear that even the three-month delay will be long enough to allow INEC to overhaul the electoral roll riddled with false names and missing names of legitimate voters.

Jonathan denies bribing of delegates to party primaries

The website WorldTribune carried a report by a US private think tank Global Information System claiming “corruption of the Nigerian political process, now in full swing.” Specifically, GIS alleges that payments of $13,000 are being made using federal funds to PDP delegates in each state who will decide winning candidates in the 2011 party primaries. The Jonathan administration has vigorously rejected the claims in a press statement. According to the online newspaper Sahara Reporters, the GIS report is written by former US military analysts, who also endorse Aliyu Gusau as a well placed and experienced presidential aspirant.  SR speculates that old US-Nigerian military relationships may be in play.  

Grenades, explosives, mortars, rocket launchers, and more.

A tip-off by a disgruntled clearance agent on the day after the Nigeria @50 blasts led the SSS to investigate 13 shipping containers at Apapa Wharf, Lagos. Apart from a false manifest alleging they were carrying building materials (some cartons of fiberglass and marble tiles were indeed found) they were also missing key documentation.  The Everest, a cargo ship registered in the Marshall Islands, is owned by CMA-CGM, a shipping company based in France. The ship was said to have sailed July 10 to Lagos from India's Jawaharlal Nehru port near Mumbai in India, dropped its cargo and departed July 15. The containers have been awaiting customs clearance since. According to some reports, the clearing agent attempted to move the containers into a bonded warehouse in order to circumvent port scrutiny, and perhaps to later to re-export them for re-entry into Nigeria through a porous land border. Among the mysteries are: Who ordered the purchase and importation the consignment?  Who at the port authorized clearance of the cargo to proceed after port authorities ordered a halt and search?  At least two persons at the port have been arrested. Much speculation in the press. Huhuonline.com reported that an Iranian businessman is involved and has taken refuge in the Iranian embassy in Nigeria.  According to other reports, the containers originated in the “Middle East” and some accounts describe them as “like weapons used in Afghanistan.” An Israeli newspaper offered that the arms were shipped from Iran and destined for Gaza, but Hamas has denied any involvement.  Potential use in the 2011 election contests is a widespread concern. A red alert has been issued to secure national borders, ports, airports, and shipping lanes. President Jonathan’s campaign organization said the seizure had saved Nigeria from “mortal danger.”  Stay Tuned.

Cholera on the rise in Nigeria: Splitting hairs will not make it go away.

The UN has reported 1,553 deaths from 38,173 cases of cholera in Nigeria since January. While the world press and relief agencies have loudly agonized about Haiti’s toll, it is only 10% of the Nigerian numbers, which are clearly on the upsurge.  Because cholera is a water-borne pathogen, safe water supply is the first line of defense, but now available to under half the population.  The next step is mass education in the use of simple oral rehydration therapy in the form of water, salt and sugar to combat dehydration due to diarrhea. Chief Epidemiologist in the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Henry Akpan has taken issue with the UN figures, saying that only 1,434 deaths resulted from only 37,289 cases. “We base our figures on reports we get from the states and our partners who are working at the states,” the Guardian quoted him as saying.  In light of the cholera outbreak, some would argue that declaration of a “water emergency” perhaps more crucial to the national health and economy right now than the much-touted “power emergency.”  Thus far, little news about a robust response from the MOH.

A framework for Niger Delta development at last? 

Can it be true?  After requests from the Niger Delta Technical Committee, UNDP and other donors, and our own Niger Delta Working Group (see “About NDWG” tab above), Mr. Orubebe the Niger Delta Minister says he wants to fast-track the infrastructural transformation of the Niger Delta.  He has restated the FG commitment to collaborate with various international development partners to develop a framework that would facilitate a roadmap for coordinated and effective development of the region. This is good news, but one must remain cautiously optimistic in light of the numerous past pronouncements by the Minister which have not borne fruit.  For the sake of long suffering men and women on the Niger Delta, may he, and his development partners, deliver …. this time.

Agbo Folarin: A monumental artist passes on. 
We reflect on our loss this week of a great creative force in the modern life of Nigeria.  Many who live and work in the country have walked by or travelled through the prodigious productions of Agbo Folarin without knowing the hand behind them. His marvellous mosaics, sculptures, friezes, and paintings all carried the same message and goal – to stamp Nigeria’s modern environment with the beauty and energy of its visual tradition.  The marriage of art and architecture – most widely seen on the outer mosaic walls of the (former) Lagos International Airport – was his special passion. He was a professor emeritus from OAU University in Ife and also taught at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Agbo was from a noble Ibadan family line, and when he married into a family of English peerage his wife Dr. Margaret Cayley Oldfield Folarin often commented on their common predisposition that transcended the boundaries of culture. He was indeed a prince of a man who touched his public, friends, and students with his deep talent, humility, and kindness.

Cross River land dispute – cocoa, not oil.    

A weekend dispute over a cocoa plantation between the rival Boje and Nsadop communities in southeastern Cross River State led to 13 deaths and burning of dozens of houses and churches.  The state governor has reacted strongly, ordering the arrest of 10 chiefs from the aggressor Boje community.  A large number of villagers have been displaced.  Police and military have secured the area and imposed a curfew. 

Agip attack: just a local dispute?

Two Agip oil pipelines in Nigeria's Niger Delta were damaged Thursday with explosives by saboteurs, causing some 4,000 barrels of oil production to be shut in from the Osiama oil field near Brass in Bayelsa state. It was later reported that 60,000 bpd were shut in and that a disgruntled ex-militant had used explosives, causing an oil spill.  According to This Day the militant leader involved in the attack was said to have sent a message to Agip that the attack "is the beginning of a full scale war with the company and its operations in the area."

200,00 homeless in PHC. – Amensty International Report

Once again, Governor Amaechi’s planned urban renewal project at the Port Harcourt waterside has come under criticism.  Displaced residents have not been given alternative housing or compensation, says Amnesty.  The gross insensitivity of the process – which is never welcome -- contrasts with prior removals in Nigeria’s history, e.g. of Lagos residents in Isale Eko to the planned community of Suurulere (“patience is rewarded”) or the 1990s relocation of Finima residents to a new home on Bonny Island.

Jonathan’s visit to Bayelsa State

On 22 October President Jonathan made a two-day official visit to his home Bayelsa State under tight security. He visited local projects and promised to pursue infrastructure and people-oriented policies.  His warm welcome contrasted with the reception given to Governor Sylva, who was pelted with water – much to the President’s displeasure. 

Business, economy, and corruption

·         Doing business is still tough.  The World Bank report "Ease of Doing Business," which ranks 183 economies, puts Nigeria 5 points lower than last year, from 120 to 125.

·         Still on the $5m bond issue. Nigeria’s external debt is now “low” at $4.3 billion, says the finance minister, who supports a new bond issue, despite lack of enthusiasm in the House.

·         The Finance Minister is says that the new Fitch sovereign credit outlook for Nigeria of BB-, three notches below investment grade, was “unduly harsh.” Rivers State has fared better with Standard and Poors.

·         Nigeria’s corruption rating has slid to the world’s 44^th worst, according to Transparency International. It is now 134th out of the 178 countries assessed in the global Corruption Perception Index (CPI), scoring 2.4 out of a possible 10 points in terms of public opinion on corruption.  Ghana scored 4.1 and Botswana, the best in Africa, 5.7.

·         The EFCC fraud blacklist has gone from 50 to 100 persons, with 40 of the names posted on the EFCC website.  While the Commission is seeking to prevent names persons from competing in 2011 elections, it has no legal authority to prevent candidates from contesting until they are convicted of economic crimes.

Fresh outbreaks in Jos, Yobe

A so-called “warning” from a copycat MEND prior to the President’s visit to Zamfara State illustrated the unsettled character of the North.  Over the weekend persons believed linked to the Islamist Boko Haram firebombed a police station in Bara, Yobe State, leading to a gun fight in which at least one person was killed. The method resembled similar attacks in Borno and Bauchi States. The attackers fled and mobile police have been stationed in Bara and surrounding villages. Meanwhile, six persons were killed when suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked the village of Rawhiku.  Seven persons have been arrested, but an alleged prominent “sponsor” has not been apprehended. The conflict continues a persistent crisis in the Jos area that turns on competition for land, resources, and political power fueled by ethnic and religious divisions. 

Semantics and the Niger Delta Struggle

Following the flap over his apparent reinterpretation of “MEND,” the President continues to have problems with words.  Alhaji Dokubo Asari, a longstanding freedom fighter, has taken exception to the President’s remarks about the revolutionary hero Adaka Boro, naming him a “militant.” In addition, Progressive political forces in Nigeria and the Niger Delta have long agitated for a Sovereign National Conference to forge a common vision among Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities. Asari faults Jonathan’s assertion that the appropriate time for such a meeting would have been under Lord Lugard in 1914 and that today it is “irrelevant” and “not necessary.”