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/ 23 March 2005

Universities that aren’t worth the name

"Glorified secondary schools" is the derisive term coined by Nigerians to describe their country’s universities. Classrooms are overcrowded, with students sitting on the floor during lectures. Libraries lack books, and laboratories are ill-equipped to conduct experiments. And, just as facilities are decaying, so is the quality of education being received by students.

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/ 20 July 2004

Activists target Nigeria’s ‘kill and go’ police

"Kill and go": this is the nickname that has been given to Nigeria’s mobile police unit. Its members have an alleged propensity to gun down people at the slightest provocation, then walk away unconcerned. The reputation of other police units is scarcely better. Nigerians often hear reports of people shot dead either by the mobile or regular police.

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/ 25 February 2004

419 scam going from strength to strength

The growth of information technology, however, that has been identified as possibly the biggest factor behind the 419 email scams’ expansion. It’s estimated that the public is duped into sending them hundreds of millions of dollars each year, with the United States and Western Europe worst affected. But despite these efforts, it appears the scam is going from strength to strength.