It is called the "paradox of plenty". Although it is the sixth-largest oil producer in the world, Nigeria has been hit regularly by fuel shortages over the past two decades. Corruption in the oil sector is seen as the culprit. Analysts point to mismanagement of the country’s four refineries, run by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
Nigeria’s police are cracking down on illegal firearms that, they say, are threatening Africa’s most populous country. Nigeria’s police chief issued an order to crackdown on the illicit firearms three weeks ago. Since then, large numbers of weapons have been retrieved and 105 suspects arrested.
The ruling People’s Democratic Party in Nigeria has won local elections in almost all the 31 states where polls were held this weekend — even as election-related violence claimed up to 50 lives. Low voter turnout signalled a lack of confidence in the electoral process.
Low voter turnout, boycotts and a lack of ballot papers in various wards have marred local government elections in Nigeria, which took place on Saturday in 31 of the country’s 36 states. About nine people were also reported to have been killed the day before the vote in Port Harcourt, eastern Nigeria, in what some viewed as a political attack.
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/ 12 February 2004
In the past two years, 800 policemen in Nigeria have been dismissed for extortion and another 65 have found themselves in court. But, the arrests and dismissals do not appear to be making a real dent in the levels of police corruption in Lagos, as far as extortion of money from motorists is concerned.
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/ 28 January 2004
Relatives of the more than 1 000 people who died during the 2002 explosions at a military barracks in Lagos, Nigeria, have boycotted a ceremony to commemorate the event on Tuesday — this to show their displeasure at the government’s treatment of blast survivors.
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/ 21 January 2004
A court of appeal in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, has ordered the Nigeria Labour Congress to suspend a proposed strike that had been scheduled to start on Wednesday. It has also ordered authorities to reverse the one cent petrol tax that is at the heart of the labour dispute.
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/ 7 November 2003
The government of Nigeria has rushed health workers to Daramba, a village on the border with Niger, following an outbreak of whooping cough — one of the six main killer diseases for children.