Vol 49 No 17 | NIGERIA Wasteful wars, foreign friends 22nd August 2008 A long history of failure does not discourage Western leaders who believe their intervention can improve conditions in the oil-rich Niger Delta. Yet judging from recent history, the capacity of outside intervention to make things even worse in the Delta looks assured. After the United States' stalled efforts at training Nigeria's military and Royal Dutch Shell's attempts at corporate responsibility, Britain and France have offered military assistance to tackle continuing violence in the Delta. Offering military assistance to a country that did not request it is extremely bad manners, responded a seasoned Nigerian analyst after French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British...
Vol 49 No 17 | NIGERIA Delta forces 22nd August 2008 Nigerian suspicion of foreign military support creates opportunities for the security professionals, some of whom are looking for business openings since an agreement between the United States and...
Vol 49 No 17 | NIGERIA Service shuffle 22nd August 2008 President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's appointment of new service chiefs and a new Chief of Defence Staff on 20 August will further reduce the political power of former President...
Vol 49 No 16 | NIGERIA Yar'Adua's judges on trial 1st August 2008 Justice and politics are uneasy bedfellows under the hesitant President's new regime Since President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua came to power after a widely-criticised election and started extolling the rule of law much has changed. Yar Adua's own electoral case will...
Vol 49 No 16 | CAMEROONNIGERIA Bogged down 1st August 2008 Cameroonian security forces in the disputed oil-rich Bakassi peninsula are on maximum alert after fatal attacks by the Niger Delta Defence and Security Council. The NDDSC, a little-known,...
Vol 49 No 13 | CAMEROONNIGERIA Slaughter on the border 20th June 2008 More gruesome killings raise doubts about the August handover of the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula Troops from Nigeria and Cameroon were put on high alert in the Bakassi Peninsula, following the unexplained slaughter of five Cameroonian soldiers and a local government official on...
Vol 49 No 13 | NIGERIA Yar'Adua boosts oil production 20th June 2008 Nigeria is determined to raise its oil production capacity to four million barrels per day by 2010, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua told Africa Confidential in Paris on 13...
Vol 49 No 13 | NIGERIA The Ibori test 20th June 2008 Former Delta State Governor James Ibori faces charges of fraud and corruption in the Kaduna High Court and his wife Theresa faces money laundering charges in Britain, where...
Vol 49 No 12 | NIGERIA Quiet President, worried country 6th June 2008 Umaru Yar’Adua is short on leadership – just when Nigeria needs it There was little fanfare for Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s first anniversary as Nigeria’s President on 29 May. His quiet leadership infuriates his opponents and bewilders those accustomed to rulers...
Vol 49 No 11 | NIGERIABRITAIN London's laundries 23rd May 2008 British banks could face awkward questions after police in London charged Theresa Nkoyo Ibori, wife of former Delta State Governor James Ibori, with money laundering on 20 May....