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Published 12th September 2014

Vol 55 No 18

Nigeria

How terror twists the vote

MAIDUGURI: JTC Youth Vigilante Group member during a patrol through the deserted outskirts of Maiduguri. The civilian civil defence group are armed with old hunting rifles and homemade weapons to try and defend themselves against attacks by Boko Haram. Credit: Sven Torfinn / Panos
MAIDUGURI: JTC Youth Vigilante Group member during a patrol through the deserted outskirts of Maiduguri. The civilian civil defence group are armed with old hunting rifles and homemade weapons to try and defend themselves against attacks by Boko Haram. Credit: Sven Torfinn / Panos

Image courtesy of Panos Pictures

Accusations that a former state governor and army chief have been sponsoring the Islamist insurgents have fired up the election campaign

Almost in concert with the political parties' calendar for choosing their presidential candidates, the Jama'atu Ahlus Sunnah Lidda'awati wal Jihad, widely known as Boko Haram, is stepping up its military campaign in the north-east and threatening to disrupt next February's elections. Politicians have vacillated between trying to ignore Boko Haram's Islamist insurgency and using it against their rivals. With Boko Haram fighters seizing several towns and villages in north-east Nigeria and credibly threatening to attack Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, it is clear that the insurgency will be a critical electoral issue.

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Bickering over Boko Haram

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The political class falls out over the Islamists while the military claims a 'stinging setback' against them

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Popping the gas balloon

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Opacity and mismanagement in the oil and gas sector have turned financial problems into a much deeper economic crisis

Fixing the worsening crisis in the oil, gas and electricity industries is a key issue in this month's finance negotiations with investors and the International Monetary Fund. Not...

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THE INSIDE VIEW

If there are any positive side-effects from the Ebola outbreak that has already cost more than 2,300 lives in West Africa, it may be to highlight the short-sightedness of funding cuts to international health agencies. Margaret Chan, the Director General of the United Nations' World Health Organisation, says the ability of the agency to respond to health emergencies has been badly undermined. After its total budget was cut by US$500 million to $4...

If there are any positive side-effects from the Ebola outbreak that has already cost more than 2,300 lives in West Africa, it may be to highlight the short-sightedness of funding cuts to international health agencies. Margaret Chan, the Director General of the United Nations' World Health Organisation, says the ability of the agency to respond to health emergencies has been badly undermined. After its total budget was cut by US$500 million to $4 billion, the WHO reduced allocations for responding to health crises by over 50% to about $115 mn. a year.

The WHO reckons it will cost at least $600 mn. to deal with the Ebola outbreak, although the financial losses caused by the disease may run into several billion dollars. But the race to raise emergency funds is proving a great distraction from galvanising action for a regional plan to stop the outbreak.

This comes as United States officials have assessed the Ebola outbreak to be out of control in Liberia and Sierra Leone and estimate that as many as 20,000 could die before its spread is stopped. Concerned by the withdrawal of several voluntary agencies from the Ebola-hit countries, the US is sending in new teams of specialists from the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security. But Washington has its own economic hurdles, and President Barack Obama has had to urge Congress to fast-track an appropriation of $58 mn. to speed up production of Zmapp, a drug that could help people infected with Ebola.

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Reports of his death… the UPDATE

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Pointers

Turbo-charged competition

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Another warning

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