# data[].attributes.body
Nigeria trade with countries around the world. The Export trade is very important for Nigeria, its increases its revenue base. And it also helps for the economic development. The trade also increases lower world prices, this are benefits for the Nigerian population, because the most of them have not much money.

# data[].attributes.body
-Transparency's International's flagship research
-2020 Rank: 149/180
-2020 Score: 25/100

# data[].attributes.body
Oil was discovered in 1956 in the Niger Delta. In the late 1950s they stared with production. They produced over two million barrels oil per day (one barrel is 159 liter).The average production costs per barrel are $3.5. Nigeria is the main oil producer and second largest reserve for Africa. Today the country is the eleventh largest oil producer worldwide. The oil industry creates over 65000 direct jobs and more than 250000 jobs in non-direct employment. Nigeria's economy and budget has been largely supported from income and revenues generated from the petroleum industry since the 1960.

# data[].attributes.headline
Proved crude oil reserves in Africa in 2020

# data[].attributes.subject
Proved crude oil reserves in Africa in 2020

# data[].attributes.headline
Distribution of oil reserves worldwide in 2020

# data[].attributes.subject
Distribution of oil reserves worldwide in 2020

# data[].attributes.body
• Nigeria was a largely agricultural country -> farmers grew a big variety of crops (yams, corn, nuts, beans and rice)
• Agriculture, animal breeding and trade were the main sectors of the nigerian economy until the 1400s

# data[].attributes.body
• after Britain annexed Nigeria they recognized that slaves can be used for their benefits
• The British mainly focused on export, slave trade and inexpensive workers (especially for producing the growing number of export goods)
-> over 3.5 million slaves were shipped overseas in 30 years
• The Nigerian economy became based on the export of cash crops
• produced export goods were traded for guns or other merchandise ( Handelswaren)
• The British economic policy shaped Nigeria’s economy sustainable but during the colonial era Nigeria remained as an agricultural country

# data[].attributes.body
The majority of Nigerian oil is located in close to 250 small fields in the Niger Delta with less than 50 million barrels per field. The local companies are very small, so the international companies are the big ones. The major companies are for example Total,Shell and Chevron.​ Nigeria doesn't have the infrastructure to refine its own crude oil, so these international companies sell it abroad. Afterwards Nigeria has to import billions of dollars worth of refined oil back in.

# data[].attributes.body
Worksheets from week 1 -> 19.09.2021, 12:00

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Africa/Nigeria-OVERVIEW-OF-ECONOMY.html -> 19.09.2021, 12:30

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.legit.ng/1130136-list-oil-gas-companies-nigeria-websites.html -> 16.09.2021, 10:00 Uhr

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Africa/Nigeria-OVERVIEW-OF-ECONOMY.html -> 20.09.2021, 14:30

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.statista.com/topics/6914/oil-industry-in-nigeria/
-> 14.09.2021 16:30 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Between January and March 2020, average daily oil production in Nigeria was 1.81 million barrels. In 2020, production decreased due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the subsequent lower demand. According to estimations from April 2020, Nigeria's daily oil production would have reached 2.1 million barrels per day in a scenario without COVID-19. The low demand for oil during the first half of 2020 lead to a sharp fall in prices. The biggest drop in gasoline prices was recorded in April 2020, when the average price decreased by ten percent compared to the previous month. Nevertheless, in July 2020 gasoline prices increased again, reaching roughly 144 Naira per liter, which is about 0.37 U.S. dollars. Diesel prices in Nigeria dropped by over two percent in May 2020, this being the most significant monthly drop in 2020. As of July 2020, the price of diesel in Nigeria was 224,43 Naira, roughly 0.58 U.S. dollars per liter.

Since the early 1970s, Nigeria is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The organization's members are mainly from the Middle East and Africa, with Venezuela being the only South America member and founder. OPEC has the purpose to unify and coordinate the oil market. Nigeria is the ninth largest oil exporter in the world in terms of value. For the country, this means that about 94 percent of export value is generated by mineral fuels, oils, and distillation products. The main destination area of crude oil from Nigeria is Europe, followed by Asia and Africa. Exports to Europe were worth 3.3 billion U.S. dollars only between January and March 2020, whereas exports of oil products other than crude oil recorded the highest value in the Asian market, with roughly 655 million U.S. dollars.

Most of the largest oil companies operating in Nigeria are from the United States and Europe. For instance, the multinational oil and gas producer ExxonMobil produced 191 thousand barrels of liquids per day in Nigeria in 2019. Similarly, the daily crude oil and natural gas liquids production in Nigeria by another American oil giant, Chevron, amounted to 173 thousand barrels in 2019. Approximately nine percent of the total net liquids production of crude oil and natural gas of this company comes from Nigeria. During the same year, the British-Dutch multinational Royal Dutch Shell produced almost 57 million barrels in Nigeria. The oil industry value generated by foreign companies represents an important source of income for the Nigerian government. In 2019, the Norwegian company Equinor paid 427 million U.S. dollars to the Nigerian government for extractive activities, of which the largest amount was derived from taxes. However, despite the oil industry being the main source of income in Nigeria, the wealth generated by oil reaches only a small share of the population.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Between January and March 2020, average daily oil production in Nigeria was 1.81 million barrels. In 2020, production decreased due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the subsequent lower demand. According to estimations from April 2020, Nigeria's daily oil production would have reached 2.1 million barrels per day in a scenario without COVID-19.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnqLPSCWads -> 20.09.2021, 15:00 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nigerian Oil and the Disappearing Money | Start Here

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.subsahara-afrika-ihk.de/blog/2018/02/26/sourcing-in-afrika-cash-crops-fuer-die-genussmittelindustrie/ -> 20.09.2021, 15:30

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.yieldgap.org/nigeria -> 20.09.2021, 16:00

# data[].attributes.body
https://nigerianfinder.com/economic-history-of-nigeria/ -> 20.09.2021, 16:30

# data[].attributes.body
- Oil & Mineral Fuels (87,0%)
- Ships & Boats (5,9%)
- Base Metal Articles (3,9%)
- Cocoa (0,6%)
- Oil Seeds (0,6%)
- Fruit & Nuts (0,6)

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.cgdev.org/sites/default/files/dapel-nigeria-poverty-figure-3.png -> 20.09.2021, 18:30

# data[].attributes.body
https://wirtschaftslexikon.gabler.de/definition/cash-crops-53686 -> 20.09.2021, 18:45

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nigeria/publication/nigeria-economic-update-resilience-through-reforms -> 20.09.2021, 19:15

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.britannica.com/place/Nigeria/Economy -> 20.09.2021, 20:00

# data[].attributes.body
https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/nigeria/tradestats -> 21.09.2021, 10:00 Uhr

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/167.htm -> 21.09.2021, 16:00

# data[].attributes.body
Definition:
Cash Crops are agricultural products made for selling on the market. They stand in contrast to self-sufficient products.

# data[].attributes.body
• after Nigeria became independent it’s economy was based on the petroleum sector -> oil price increased since 1973, lead to a huge economic growth
Problem: a huge number of the rural population moved to cities which lead to a stagnation in the agriculture sector -> Nigeria became dependent on it’s oil production
• during the 1980s the falling oil prices lead to an economic crisis in Nigeria (GNP decreased by 4,8% yearly)
•1990 the oil prices began to rise again

# data[].attributes.body
• Nigeria’s economy shrank by 1.8% in 2020 due to the economic slowdown during the COVID-19 crisis
• the Nigerian economy is expected to grow again because of the recovering oil prices and domestic demand
Predictions for the future:
•Nigeria’s recovery is lover than those of other oil producing countries
• by the end of 2021 Nigeria’s GDP is should be up to the 2010 level
• GDP per capita (pro Kopf) is continuing to decline because the economy is growing slower than the population

# data[].attributes.body
- Industrial Machinery (18,9%)
- Oil & Mineral Fuels (15,6%)
- Motor Vehicles & Parts (11,9%)
- Electrical Machinery (7,8%)
- Plastics (3,2%)
- Glassware (3,2%)

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Africa/Nigeria-INTERNATIONAL-TRADE.html, 21.09.2021, 16:30 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nigeria International trade, Information about International trade in Nigeria

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Nigeria exports primarily petroleum and other raw materials such as cocoa, rubber, palm kernels, organic oils, and fats. It imports secondary products such as chemicals, machinery, transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, and animals. The dependence on oil and a few other commodities for export caused Nigeria to become especially vulnerable to world oil price fluctuations.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp73Xm7EtRA
22.09.21, 15:00

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why Corruption In Nigeria Is Getting Worse - Analyst

# data[].attributes.body
-embezzlement of state funds
-clientelism
-neoptism
-fraud
-bribery

# data[].attributes.body
In 2020: 24.14% of Nigeria’s GDP came from the agriculture sector, 28.22% from the industry sector and 46.39% from the services sector.

# data[].attributes.headline
Distribution of Nigeria’s GDP across the economic sectors from 2010-2020:

# data[].attributes.subject
Distribution of Nigeria’s GDP across the economic sectors from 2010-2020:

# data[].attributes.body
Natural recourses are raw materials occurring in the nature that can be used for economic production or consumption.

# data[].attributes.body
Nigeria possesses a lot of natural recourses but most of these recourses have not yet being tapped or even used.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.unodc.org/nigeria/en/corruption.html
22.09.21, 20 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Corruption remains a priority concerns to the Nigerian Government and People. Corruption affects all aspects of public life, continues to undermine the social, economic and political development of the country and is a major obstacle to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Nigeria is a State party to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) which guides UNODC's work in this area, and as such, an active member of the Implementation Review Mechanism, a peer review process that assists States parties to effectively implement the Convention. UNCAC provides an extensive range of measures on corruption from asset recovery, criminalization and enforcement on different classes of crimes, to preventive measures on corruption as well as enhancing international cooperation on issues of corruption between member states.
Our work
Since 2001, UNODC has been working with the Federal Government, its specialized agencies, the judiciary, as well as select State Governments, civil society and the private sector on a wide range of projects aimed at preventing corruption, strengthening integrity, accountability and transparency, enhancing the legal framework against corruption, improving capacity of and coordination amongst various anti-corruption bodies, the recovery and return of the proceeds of corruption as well as international cooperation.
Our partners
Key partners for UNODC's work in this area include, among others, the Attorney General's Office, the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), the Independent Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) , the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Technical Unit on Governance & Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR), the Nigerian judiciary, civil society as well as the private sector.
Our projects
Within the framework of the Global Programme to prevent and combat corruption through effective implementation of United Nations Convention against Corruption in support of Sustainable Development Goal 16 (GLOZ99), UNODC with the support of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) of the US Department of State, assisted EFCC in the conduct of a Continuous Improvement Self-Assessment (methodology developed by UK College of Police).

With the funding of the UK Department for International Development (DFID), UNODC supported the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in the conduct of the Second Survey on Corruption in Nigeria. Following the 2017 Corruption in Nigeria Survey, this second survey will help to further improve the understanding of the nature, scope, cost, location and trends of corruption in Nigeria.

Support to Anti-corruption in Nigeria funded by the European Union under the 10th European Development Fund (2012 - 2017)

Support to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Nigerian Judiciary funded by the European Union under the 9th European Development Fund (2006 - 2010)

Promoting Ethics and Transparency in Business Transactions in Nigeria funded by the Government of the Netherlands (2008 - 2010)
Recent stories
26/03/2021 - Tackling Corruption in Illegal Wildlife Trade in Nigeria

09/12/2020 - Op-ed: Are women less corrupt than men?

13/11/2020 - UNODC Hosts Anti-Corruption Workshop for NASS Members

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
un un united united nations nations office on drugs and crime office on drugs and crime

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Corruption remains a priority concerns to the Nigerian Government and People. Corruption affects all aspects of public life, continues to undermine the social, economic and political development of the country and is a major obstacle to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.statista.com/statistics/382311/nigeria-gdp-distribution-across-economic-sectors/
22.09.2021, 20:40

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.kas.de/en/web/auslandsinformationen/artikel/detail/-/content/nigeria-s-hopeless-fight-against-corruption
22.09.21, 21 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Immense Herausforderungen in Nigeria

Mit knapp 200 Millionen Einwohnern ist Nigeria heute das bevölkerungsreichste Land Afrikas. Nigeria zählt darüber hinaus zu den größten Erdölexporteuren der Welt und ist seit einigen Jahren die größte Volk﻿swirtschaft des Kontinents. Dennoch steht das Land vor immensen Herausforderungen. Heute leben in Nigeria etwa 87 Millionen Menschen von weniger als 1,90 US-Dollar am Ta﻿g. Somit ist Nigeria weltweit das Land, in dem die meisten Menschen in extremer Armut leben. Erschwerend kommt hinzu, dass sich die Wirtschaft des Landes nur langsam von einer schweren Krise erholt, die im Jahre 2014 begann und ihren Tiefpunkt 2016 erreichte. Die Arbeitslosenzahl stieg seit Beginn der Wirtschaftskrise jährlich an und erreichte mit 23,2 Prozent ihren vorläufigen Höchstwert im dritten Quartal des Jahres 2018. Die Dunkelziffer dürfte jedoch weitaus größer sein. Außerdem liegt die Geburtenrate des Landes bei etwa 5,2 Kindern pro Frau﻿, und das rasante Bevölkerungswachstum der letzten Jahrzehnte wird sich in Zukunft fortsetzen. Eigentlich bräuchte das Land ein zweistelliges Wirtschaftswachstum, um seinen Einwohnern eine Perspektive zu bieten und sich zu entwickeln.

Weitere Kennzahlen, die ein Licht auf die schwierige Lage in Nigeria werfen, sind zum Beispiel die etwa 60 Prozent der Bevölkerung, die nicht an das Stromnetz angeschlossen sind, ﻿die 13,5 Millionen Kinder, die keine Schule besuchen, oder ﻿﻿auch der Umstand, dass die﻿ Weltgesundheitsorganisation nach letzten Schätzungen im Jahre 2015 davon ausgeht, dass jährlich etwa 58.000 Frauen bei der Geburt sterben﻿﻿.﻿ Die Stromversorgung und das Bildungssystem sind genauso unterentwickelt wie das Gesundheitssystem. Die Straßen sind zudem marode und dringend sanierungsbedürftig.

Hinzu kommt, dass sich in der letzten Dekade die Sicherheitslage im gesamten Land deutlich verschlechtert hat. Die islami﻿stische Terrormiliz Boko Haram und inzwischen ﻿auch die Splitterfraktion Islamic State West Africa Province destabilisieren den Nordosten seit nunmehr zehn Jahren. In Zentralnigeria eskaliert ein um Landnutzung geführter tödlicher Konflikt zwischen ethnisch gemischten, aber überwiegend christlichen Bauern und muslimischen Fulani-Hirten. Organisiertes Banditentum im Nordwesten und im ölreichen Süden sowie tägliche Entführungen und Raub im ganzen Land tragen zur Verschärfung der Sicherheitslage bei. Die Konflikte fordern jedes Jahr ﻿Tausende Tote und haben über zwei Millionen Menschen in die Flucht getrieben.

Schuld am gegenwärtigen Zustand Nigerias ist zu großen Teilen ein Ausmaß an Korruption, das dem Land seit Jahrzehnten wichtiges Entwicklungskapital entzieht. Die Korruption durchzieht die gesamte Gesellschaft, wird von führenden Eliten systematisch betrieben und kennt viele Gesichter: Veruntreuung von Staatsgeldern, Klientelismus und Nepotismus, Betrug, Bestechung und als Folge Geldwäsche im großen Stil im In- und Ausland. Hohe politische Amtsträger, Beamte, Sicherheitskräfte, Unternehmer und selbst die Ärmsten des Landes, also alle Schichten, beteiligen sich an korrupten Praktiken. Es darf daher nicht verwundern, dass Nigeria seit ﻿Langem im ﻿„Korruptionswahrnehmungsindex﻿" von Transparency International im unteren Viertel rangiert. Im Jahr 2018 belegte das Land gemeinsam mit Staaten wie den Komoren, Kenia und Mauretanien Rang 144 von 180.

Verlässliche Daten zum Schaden, den korrupte Praktiken in Nigeria anrichten, existieren nicht. Experten schätzen jedoch, dass seit der Unabhängigkeit des Landes im Jahre 1960 bis zum Ende der Militärdiktatur Sani Abachas im Jahre 199﻿9 über 400 Milliarden US-Dollar an Staatsgeldern illegal entwendet worden sind und dass in den Jahren 2005 bis 2014 weitere 182 Milliarden US-Dollar das Land illegal verlassen haben sollen. Bei einem Treffen des African Union High Level ﻿Panel on Illicit Financial Flows in Abuja im Oktober 2018 erklärte der ehemalige Präsident Südafrikas und Vorsitzender des Panels, Thabo Mbeki, dass sich der illegale Geldabfluss aus Afrika von 50 Milliarden US-Dollar im Jahre 2015 auf 80 Milliarden US-Dollar pro Jahr erhöht habe und dass der Anteil nigerianischer Gelder mit Abstand der höchste sei.
Das Ausmaß der Korruption in Nigeria ist weitreichend und durchzieht die gesamte Gesellschaft.
An systematischem Betrug, Bestechung und dem illegalen Abfluss von Geldern ins Ausland sind auch multinationale Unternehmen, vor allem die Öl- und Gasindustrie sowie Banken und Finanzdienstleister, schuld. Ein Fall, der seit Jahren die Gerichte in Europa beschäftigt und deshalb immer wieder international für Aufsehen sorgt, gibt einen Einblick in die Größenordnung, die korrupte Machenschaften und Netzwerke erreichen können. In Mailand, London und bald wohl auch in den Niederlanden müssen sich Royal Dutch Shell PLC gemeinsam mit dem italienischen Unternehmen Eni S.p.A. wegen korrupter Vergehen in Nigeria vor Gericht verantworten. Mit Wissen ﻿führender Manager sollen beide Unternehmen im Jahre 2011 Bestechungsgelder in Höhe von etwa einer Milliarde US-Dollar gezahlt haben, um eine ertragreiche Offshore-Ölförderlizenz für den Golf von Guinea zu erwerben. Dabei, so der Vorwurf der nigerianischen Regierung in den Anklageschriften, sollen nicht nur handelnde Personen auf nigerianischer Seite bis hin zum damaligen Präsidenten Goodluck Jonathan von den Zahlungen direkt oder indirekt profitiert haben, sondern auch leitende Manager der beiden Großkonzerne. ﻿Die US-Großbank JPMorgan soll an der illegalen Transaktion der Bestechungsgelder maßgeblich beteiligt gewesen sein.

Hoffnungsträger Buhari

Mit der Wahl von Muhammadu Buhari zum Präsidenten im Jahre 2015 verbanden große Teile der Bevölkerung die Hoffnung auf einen Wendepunkt im Kampf gegen die endemische Korruption im Land. Buhari, ein ehemaliger General und Muslim aus dem Norden, der nach einem Militärputsch die Regierungsgeschäfte bereits von 1983 bis 1985 führte, wurde im Vorfeld der Wahlen von den Medien als „integer" gefeiert. Er versprach in seinem Wahlkampf nicht nur﻿, Boko Haram in kurzer Zeit zu besiegen und die Wirtschaftskonjunktur schnell anzukurbeln, sondern auch entschlossen gegen die Korruption im Land vorzugehen.

Die Wahl Buharis war insofern historisch, als zum ersten Mal seit der Unabhängigkeit des Landes ﻿ein Oppositionspolitiker auf demokratische Weise einen Machtwechsel herbeiführen konnte. Der deutsche Nigeriaexperte Heinrich Bergstresser merkt jedoch zu Recht an, dass sich die große Mehrheit der Wähler nicht für den ehemaligen Juntachef, sondern gegen Präsident ﻿Jonathan und die People's Democratic Party (PDP) an der Wahlurne ausgesprochen hatte. Die PDP hatte das Land seit seiner Re-Demokratisierung im Jahre 1999 ununterbrochen bis dato regiert und es letztlich in der fünfjährigen Ära Jonathans an den Rand des Ruins geführt.

Als Jonathan die Regierungsgeschäfte abgab, kontrollierten die Terroristen von Boko Haram weite Teile des Nordostens, die Wirtschaft befand sich auf dem Weg in eine tiefe Rezession und die Korruption hatte ein ungekanntes Ausmaß erreicht. Jonathans Wiederwahl scheiterte unter anderem auch deshalb entscheidend an einem Korruptionsskandal, der wegen seiner Größenordnung viel Aufsehen erregte. Etwa ein Jahr vor der Präsidentschaftswahl warf der damalige Chef der Zentralbank, Lamido Sanusi, den Verantwortlichen der Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), also der staatlichen Erdölgesellschaft, öffentlich vor, dass sie den Staat in den Jahren 2012 und 2013 um etwa 20 Milliarden US-Dollar betrogen ﻿hätten. Sanusi wurde daraufhin von Jonathan seines Postens enthoben, doch die vorgebrachten Indizien wogen sichtlich schwer.

Erst im Jahre 2015, also nach der Wahl Buharis, wurde die unter Jonathan verantwortliche Ölministerin und ehemalige Präsidentin der OPEC, Diezan Alison-Madueke, wegen Betrugs in London verhaftet. Im Jahr 2017 ordnete ein nigerianisches Gericht die Beschlagnahmung von 21 Millionen US-Dollar von ihren Konten und 56 ihrer Häuser mit einem Gesamtwert von neun Millionen US-Dollar an. Bereits vorher hatte die nigerianische Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), die nationale Anti-Korruptionsbehörde, erfolgreich Grundstücke und Immobilien der ehemaligen Ministerin im Wert von 44 Millionen US-Dollar beschlagnahmt, die sie mit veruntreutem Geld erworben haben soll. Sanusi wiederum - heute bekleidet er die Position des Emirs von Kano - sieht sich inzwischen selbst mit schweren Korruptionsvorwürfen konfrontiert.

Zweifel an Buharis Anti-Korruptionskampagne

Buharis Administration und speziell die EFCC haben sich bemüht, viele Politiker und einflussreiche Eliten des Landes der Korruption zu überführen. Der Fall Alison-Madueke ist ﻿allerdings eine von wenigen Erfolgsgeschichten im Kampf gegen Korruption. Viele, gegen die ermittelt wurde, gehörten zudem zum Regierungszirkel von Ex-Präsident Jonathan oder ﻿waren Mitglied der PDP. Buhari musste sich deshalb des Vorwurfs erwehren, ﻿seine Anti-Korruptionskampagne ﻿sei nur ein Feldzug gegen die Mitglieder der ehemaligen Regierungsparte﻿i.

Dieser Eindruck verstärkte sich weiter im Vorfeld der letzten Präsidentschafts- und Parlamentswahlen, die im Februar 2019 stattfanden. Buhari trat erneut für seine Partei, den All Progressives Congress (APC), als Präsidentschaftskandidat an und konnte sich in den Wahlen gegen seinen schärfsten Konkurrenten Atiku Abubakar, einen ehemaligen Vizepräsidenten des Landes und Kandidat der PDP, durchsetzen. Im Vorfeld der Wahlen herrschte ein reger Betrieb an Parteiübertritten von der APC zur PDP und umgekehrt. ﻿Diese sind darauf zurückführen, dass sich die beiden großen Parteien Nigerias ideologisch kaum voneinander abgrenzen und deshalb als „Plattformen" für Politikkarrieren austauschbar sind. Die Übertritte waren deshalb auch weniger ideologisch motiviert, sondern überwiegend eine Folge ﻿persönlicher Differenzen innerhalb der Parteien und oft mit der Hoffnung verbunden, bei politischen Ämtern in der nächsten Legislaturperiode bedacht zu werden. Der Vorsitzende der APC, Adams Oshiomhole, ein ehemaliger Gouverneur des Staates Edo, der sich bereits selbst schwerwiegender Korruptionsvorwürfe erwehren musste, wollte aus der Ideologielosigkeit Kapital für seine Partei schlagen, indem er wechselwilligen PDP-Mitgliedern zwar indirekt, aber doch öffentlich und sehr offensichtlich Straffreiheit für illegale Vergehen anbot.
﻿Auch im Kabinett﻿ Buhari﻿s finden sich﻿ Politiker, die der Korruption verdächtigt ﻿wurden und werden.
Ein weiteres Indiz, dass die Entschlossenheit des Buhari-Regimes, Korruption konsequent zu bekämpfen, in Frage stellt, ist die Zusammenstellung des neuen Kabinetts. Unter den erst kürzlich ernannten Ministern befinden sich mindesten drei, die unter dem Verdacht stehen oder standen, sich korrupter Vergehen schuldig gemacht zu haben. Unter ihnen ist zum Beispiel Godswill Akpabio, der zum Minister für Angelegenheiten des ölreichen Nigerdeltas ernannt wurde. Er regierte als Gouverneur für die PDP den Staat Akwa Ibom im Nigerdelta von 2007 bis 2015 und führte für die PDP in der letzten Legislaturperiode als Senator die Minderheitsparteien im Senat an. Im August 2018 verließ er die PDP und schloss sich öffentlichkeitswirksam der APC an. Auf Presseanfragen zu laufenden Korruptionsermittlungen gegen ihn und seine ﻿Ehefrau wollte sich die EFCC kurz vor Bekanntgabe seiner Nominierung nicht mehr äußern.

Korruption in Nigeria - Ein historischer Entwicklungspfad

Korruption ist gewiss kein neues Phänomen der letzten zehn Jahre in Nigeria, sondern schon sehr lange ein fester Bestandteil des gesellschaftlichen Lebens. Der US-amerikanische Anthropologe Daniel Jordan Smith argumentiert sogar, dass Korruption in Nigeria kulturell gebilligt sei, wenn im Sinne einer Transferleistung Familienmitglieder, der Stamm oder die ethnischen Angehörigen von illegalen Vorteilnahmen Einzelner profitieren. Die Wurzeln der kulturellen Akzeptanz für korrupte Praktiken führen viele Experten wie Smith auf die vorkoloniale Zeit des Landes zurück. Sie verweisen auf den alten Brauch, herrschenden Eliten Geschenke zu machen, die oft mit der Erwartung auf eine Gegenleistung oder Gunst verbunden waren. Diese Transaktionsbeziehung beschreibt Smith als ein Patronats-Klientel-Verhältnis, das bis heute für die Politik und Wirtschaft des Landes prägend ist und sich entlang familiärer, ethnischer und religiöser Grenzen bewegt.

Erste Ansätze einer extremen Korruption haben sich allerdings unter den ersten Militärdiktatoren entwickelt, die das Land nach der Unabhängigkeit regierten. Diese neue Form der Korruption bezeichnete der US-amerikanische Politikwissenschaftler Richard Joseph in den späten 1980er Jahren als Prebendalism. Der Begriff steht in Anlehnung an die mittelalterliche Präbende der katholischen Kirche in Europa für eine weitverbreitete Selbstbedienungsmentalität und meint das Verhalten ﻿führender Politiker und Beamten, die es als ihr Recht ansehen, Staatseinnahmen, die sie verantworten, für sich selbst und für Personen und Gruppen zu veruntreuen, die ihnen nahestehen. Dieses Verhalten wurde vor allem durch eine unvollendete Modernisierung des Staates unter britischer Hegemonie befördert. Diese hatte die Entstehung ﻿schwacher Institutionen und unzureichend﻿er Kontrollmechanismen zur Folge.

Ihre extreme und zügellose Form nahm Korruption in Nigeria jedoch erst mit den beiden fast nahtlos aufeinanderfolgenden Militärregimen von General Ibrahim Babangida und General Sani Abacha in den Jahren von 1985 bis 1998 an. Diese Periode in der Geschichte Nigerias war besonders von Klientelismus, Nepotismus und skrupelloser Selbstbereicherung auf Kosten des Staates und seiner Menschen geprägt. Babangida begnadigte gleich zu Beginn seiner Amtszeit eine Reihe von Korruptionssündern, die von der ersten Buhari-Regierung in den Jahren zuvor überführt worden waren. Unter Abacha setzte sich außerdem die von Babangida begonnene Deregulierung des Ölgeschäfts, der Telekommunikation und der Medienbranche fort. Lizenzen, die es erlaubten, an den Geschäften ﻿staatsnaher ﻿sowie -fern﻿er Unternehmen mitzuverdienen, wurden unter loyalen Gefolgsleuten verteilt. Abacha selbst, der seine Macht von 1993 bis zu seinem Tod im Jahre 1998 auf ein Gewaltregime stützte und einen luxuriösen Lebensstil pflegte, bediente sich hemmungslos an den staatseigenen Gütern und Geldern. Es wird geschätzt, dass er und sein engster Kreis in nur fünf Jahren zwischen drei und fünf Milliarden US-Dollar illegal außer Landes geschafft haben sollen.

Politik als demokratisch-legitimiertes Businessmodell

Nach einer fast 20-jährigen Periode der Diktatur wurde Nigeria im Jahre 1999 re-demokratisiert. Die erste Präsidentschafts- und Parlamentswahl konnte Olusegun Obasanjo, auch ein ehemaliger General, der das Land bereits in den 1970er Jahren als Juntachef regierte und unter Abacha im Gefängnis saß, für sich und die damals neu gegründete PDP entscheiden. Zum Vizepräsident wurde Atiku Abubakar ernannt, ein ehemaliger hoher nigerianischer Zollbeamter, der mit Geschäften im Logistik- und Ölsektor reich geworden war﻿ und im Jahre 2019 Buharis Gegenkandidat wurde.
Politische ﻿Ämter sind﻿ finanziell reizvoll, ﻿weil sie Möglichkeiten der Selbstbereicherung ﻿bieten﻿.
Unter Obasanjo und Abubakar wurden viele Praktiken sowie der Klientelismus und die Vetternwirtschaft der Vorjahre fortgesetzt. Diese Praktiken, alte Seilschaften und vor allem das gegenseitige Zuspielen ﻿einflussreicher Positionen und geldwert﻿er Vorteil﻿e kam nun allerdings im Deckmantel demokratischer Legitimation daher. Der politisch-demokratische Betrieb wurde in ein Businessmodell transformiert. Dieses Modell gibt heute nicht nur Angehörigen der Streit- und Sicherheitskräfte, ernannten Amtsträgern und hohen Beamten, sondern nun auch gewählten Volksvertretern die Möglichkeit, sich an den Staatskassen zu bereichern, die eigentlich der parlamentarischen Kontrolle unterliegen sollten. Die hohen Gehälter und Zuschüsse, die Abgeordnete erhalten - sie sollen zu den höchsten der Welt zählen -, stellen kein moralisches Hindernis dar.

Eine Folge der monetären Anreize parlamentarischer Arbeit in Nigeria ist unter anderem die bewusst herbeigeführte hohe Fluktuation von Abgeordneten. Etwa 60 ﻿bis 70 Prozent der Mandatsträger auf nationaler Ebene und bis zu 90 Prozent auf Landesebene treten bei Neuwahlen nicht mehr an. Anstelle der alten Abgeordneten nominieren einflussreiche Persönlichkeiten in den Parteien neue Kandidaten ohne Parlamentserfahrung. Diese Praxis garantiert eine Rotation von Machtpositionen und Zugängen zu staatlichen Geldern von einer Person, und damit oft von einer sozialen, ethnischen oder religiösen Gruppe, zur nächsten. Dieses Prinzip, das Nigerianer Zoning nennen, soll den Anspruch bedienen, dass im multiethnischen und multireligiösen Nigeria diejenigen zum Zuge kommen müssen, die noch nicht an der Reihe waren. Es wird jedoch auch dazu benutzt, Gefälligkeiten zu begleichen und Loyalitäten zu erkaufen. Des Weiteren ist anzunehmen, dass die hohe Fluktuation von Abgeordneten im Eigeninteresse der herrschenden Elite ist. Denn der Austausch großer Teile der Abgeordneten stellt sicher, dass mit dem Ende einer Legislaturperiode Erfahrung und Wissen verloren gehen sowie die Kontinuität parlamentarische﻿r Arbeit unterbrochen wird. Die mit unerfahrenen Abgeordneten neu zusammengesetzten Parlamente brauchen in der Regel viel Zeit, bis sie wieder arbeitsfähig werden. Damit werden die Parlamente und ihre Kontrollfunktion entscheidend geschwächt.

Die monetären Anreize politischer Mandate erklären auch, weshalb der Wahlkampf in Nigeria so unerbittlich geführt wird. Die Wahlen seit der Re-Demokratisierung des Landes im Jahre 1999 waren außerdem stets von Gewalt und extremen Formen des Wahlbetrugs überschattet. Das entscheidende Prinzip heißt hier: The winner takes it all. Gefolgsleute und ethnische Angehörige sind deshalb bereit, Vieles zu riskieren, darunter auch oft Illegales, um den Wahlerfolg eines Einzelnen zu garantieren. Für ihre Bemühungen erwarten sie freilich eine Gegenleistung in Form einer erweiterten Beteiligung an den legalen und womöglich illegalen Einkünften des gewählten Mandatsträgers.

Korruption gefährdet die nationale Sicherheit

Unter ﻿Obasanjo und Abubakar entwickelten sich darüber hinaus ﻿die Security Votes zu einem zentralen Instrument des Machterhalts. Hierbei handelt es sich um staatliche Auszahlungen an politische Entscheidungsträger, mit denen sie eigentlich Maßnahmen gegen unerwartete Sicherheitsbedrohungen ergreifen sollen. Der US-amerikanische Nigeriaexperte Matthew Page schätzt in einer Studie für Transparency International, dass jährlich insgesamt 670 Millionen US-Dollar als Security Votes ausgezahlt werden. Der Studie zufolge sei dieser Betrag das Neunfache dessen, was die USA seit 2012 als Unterstützung für den Sicherheitssektor in Nigeria gezahlt haben soll (etwa 68,6 Millionen US-Dollar), und das Zwölffache der Beihilfen Großbritanniens im Kampf gegen Boko Haram (etwa 53,5 Millionen US-Dollar). Der Betrag soll etwa 70 Prozent des kumulierten Etats der chronisch unterfinanzierten nigerianischen Polizei, der Armee, der Navy und der Luftwaffe entsprechen. Problematisch an Security Votes ist allerdings, dass ihre Zuweisung in der Regel in bar erfolgt und dass der Empfänger keine Rechenschaft über die Verwendung der Mittel ablegen muss. Letzteres wird unter anderem damit begründet, dass Maßnahmen im Sicherheitssektor besonders sensibel seien und daher der Geheimhaltung unterliegen müssten. In der Folge besteht jedoch ein hoher Anreiz, die zugewiesenen Mittel zweckfremd zu nutzen.
Security Votes werden als ﻿korruptionsverdächtig wahrgenommen, da die Verwendung dieser für akute Sicherheitsbedrohungen gedachten Gelder nicht nachgewiesen werden﻿ muss﻿.
S ecurity Votes, die heute in Nigeria von der Bevölkerung weitläufig mit Korruption assoziiert werden, sind ein Relikt aus der Zeit der zahlreichen Militärdiktaturen Nigerias. Der erste Militärdiktator, der von ihnen Gebrauch machte, war General Yakubu Gowon. Er stellte Ende der 1960er Jahre seinen militärischen Verwaltern im ganzen Land kleine Budgets zur Verfügung, für die sie keine Rechenschaft ablegen mussten und mit denen sie sich die Loyalität ziviler Eliten erkaufen konnten. Die Regime vor Babangida und Abacha missbrauchten die Security Votes zwar bereits als Instrument der Selbstbereicherung, doch unter den beiden letztgenannten Diktatoren erfuhr die Praxis eine neue Dimension. Als Obasanjo die Macht im Jahre 1999 übernahm, sorgte er dafür, dass die Praxis über den militärischen Sektor hinaus auf den staatlich-zivilen ausgeweitet wurde. Die Hauptempfänger von Security Votes sind seitdem vor allem die Gouverneure der Bundestaaten. Sie nutzen die staatlichen Zuweisungen nicht nur, um sich selbst zu bereichern oder ihre eigene Machtposition zu stärken. Gerade im Vorfeld von Wahlen spielen Security Votes eine entscheidende Rolle. Mit ihnen werden Wahlkämpfe finanziert und Wahlen manipuliert. Von dieser Praxis soll zuletzt auch Buharis Partei ﻿womöglich Gebrauch gemacht haben. Im Jahre 2018, also nur ein Jahr vor den diesjährigen Präsidentschafts-, Parlaments- und Gouverneurswahlen, wurde die Zahl gezahlter Security Votes erheblich ausgeweitet.

Die Security Votes sind jedoch nur eine Form, mit der dem Sicherheitssektor die dringend benötigten Mittel für Reformen und den Kampf gegen Terrorismus und organisierte Kriminalität entzogen werden. Im Zuge der Bedrohung durch Boko Haram und des Anstiegs der organisierten Kriminalität im Land sind die staatlichen Ausgaben für Sicherheit und damit die Etats der Sicherheitsorgane deutlich gewachsen. In der letzten Dekade hat sich deshalb die Beschaffung und Auftragsvergabe an die Sicherheitskräfte zu einem ertragreichen Betätigungsfeld für Kriminelle entwickelt. Zwei unabhängige Kommissionen, die von Buhari eingesetzt wurden und auch Korruptionsdelikte im Sicherheitssektor untersucht haben, deckten auf, dass in nur sieben ﻿Jahren - überwiegend in der Amtszeit Präsident Jonathans - knapp neun Milliarden US-Dollar verschwunden sein sollen. Buharis Initiative, die korrupten Praktiken der Jonathan-Regierung aufzudecken und die Verantwortlichen zur Rechenschafft zu ziehen, hat jedoch am Ausmaß der Veruntreuung von Geldern im Sicherheitsbereich nicht viel geändert. Erst im April 2019 veröffentlichte das renommierte Chatham House eine Analyse zur Sicherheitssektorreform in Nigeria. Dort heißt es, dass auch nach der Machtergreifung Buharis das größte Problem des Sicherheitssektors die systematische, illegale Entwendung von Finanzmitteln sei.

Fazit

Mit den milliardenschweren Staatseinnahmen aus dem Öl- und Gasgeschäft könnte Nigeria seine gravierenden Entwicklungsprobleme vermutlich in absehbarer Zeit lösen. Doch Nigeria wird seit Jahrzehnten von korrupten Eliten regiert, die dem Land das Kapital dafür entziehen. Präsident Buhari, der sich in den Wahlen von 2015 spektakulär gegen seinen Vorgänger durchsetzen konnte und in diesem Jahr wiedergewählt wurde, hatte versprochen, entschlossen gegen Korruption vorzugehen. Doch selbst er, der bis heute auch von internationalen Medien als „integer" bezeichnet wird, muss sich offenbar den Mechanismen des korrupten Systems beugen, um an der Macht zu bleiben. Jahrzehntelanger Klientelismus, alte Seilschaften, schwache Institutionen und intransparente Praktiken, die von der herrschenden Elite gestützt werden, haben ein Umfeld für massive Korruption kreiert. Das Land blutet langsam aber sicher weiter aus.

An Vorschlägen, wie man der grassierenden Korruption in Nigeria entgegenwirken kann, besteht kein Mangel. Da wäre zum Beispiel die Forderung, transparente Vergaberegeln für staatliche Aufträge einzuführen und eine unabhängige Kommission einzurichten, die die Einhaltung der Regeln überwacht. Es wird außerdem gefordert, dass Gesetzeslücken geschlossen und die nationalen Antikorruptionsbehörden mit Personal verstärkt werden. Eine ﻿weitere, seit Jahren vorgebrachte Forderung ist die Abschaffung von Budgets wie d﻿en Security Votes, für deren Verwendung keine Rechenschaft abzulegen ist. Auch die zu geringe Anzahl an Personen, gegen die ermittelt wird oder die verurteilt werden, steht seit ﻿Langem in der Kritik. Diese Zahl müsste durch ein konsequenteres Vorgehen der Behörden deutlich gesteigert werden. Viele, die beschuldigt werden und sich vermutlich auch schuldig gemacht haben, scheinen jedoch über dem Gesetz zu stehen. Das liegt auch daran, dass sich Behörden und Gerichte bestechen lassen oder den Weisungen politischer Eliten folgen. Auch diese Institutionen müssten sich einem Reinigungsprozess unterziehen und interne Kontrollmechanismen entwickeln.

Es besteht kein Zweifel, dass viele dieser Forderungen richtig sind. Denn die meisten zielen darauf ab, Institutionen aufzubauen und zu stärken, die Korruption langfristig bekämpfen können. Doch es gibt ein Grundproblem: Nigeria benötigt den politischen Willen, nicht selektiv, sondern umfänglich gegen korrupte Kräfte in den eigenen Reihen, der Regierung, den Parlamenten, im Sicherheitssektor und in der Wirtschaft vorzugehen. Und selbst dann wäre es ein langer Weg, bis sich die teilweise kulturell geprägten Einstellungen zu korrupten Praktiken ändern. Eine Aussicht, dass sich dahingehend etwas zum Guten wenden könnte, ist zudem nicht absehbar. Die politische Elite, die heute das Land regiert und sehr wahrscheinlich auch morgen regieren wird, ist die politische Elite von gestern. Sie ist entlang eines historischen Entwicklungspfads der Korruption sozialisiert worden. Ein ernsthaftes Interesse, mit der Vergangenheit resolut zu brechen, ist deshalb von dieser Elite nicht zu erwarten. Dafür ist der Politikbetrieb ein zu lukratives Geschäft in einem Land, das seinen Menschen ansonsten nur wenig Perspektive auf Wohlstand bietet.

Dr. Vladimir Kreck ist Leiter des Auslandsbüros der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Nigeria﻿.

Für eine vollständige Version dieses Beitrags inkl. Quellenverweisen wählen Sie bitte das PDF-Format.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nigerias aussichtsloser Kampf gegen Korruption

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Immense Herausforderungen in Nigeria Mit knapp 200 Millionen Einwohnern ist Nigeria heute das bevölkerungsreichste Land Afrikas. Nigeria zählt darüber hinaus zu den größten Erdölexporteuren der Welt und ist seit einigen Jahren die größte Volk﻿swirtschaft des Kontinents. Dennoch steht das Land vor immensen Herausforderungen.

# data[].attributes.body
-early state of demographic transition
-extreme population growth --> 5,2 children per woman
-population in 1950: 37,9 million people
-population in 2021: 212 million people
-around 58,000 women die in childbirth every year (WHO, 2015)

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/nigeria/population
22.09.21, 21 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Nigeria Population reached 206.1 million people in Dec 2020, compared with the previously reported figure of 201.0 million people in Dec 2019.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/nigeria-population/
22.09.21, 21 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The current population of Nigeria is 226,179,203 as of Tuesday, December 12, 2023, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data ¹.

Nigeria 2023 population is estimated at 223,804,632 people at mid year.

Nigeria population is equivalent to 2.78% of the total world population.

Nigeria ranks number 6 in the list of countries (and dependencies) by population.

The population density in Nigeria is 246 per Km² (636 people per mi²).

The total land area is 910,770 Km2 (351,650 sq. miles)

53.9 % of the population is urban (120,696,717 people in 2023)

The median age in Nigeria is 17.2 years.

1. Updated on July 16, 2023 with the latest July 2023-July 2024 estimates from the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Population Prospects: The 2022 Revision. (Medium-fertility variant).

-59,996

Notes

The Nigeria Population (Live) counter shows a continuously updated estimate of the current population of Nigeria delivered by Worldometer's RTS algorithm, which processes data collected from the United Nations Population Division.

The Population of Nigeria (1950 - 2023) chart plots the total population count as of July 1 of each year, from 1950 to 2023.

The Yearly Population Growth Rate chart plots the annual percentage changes in population registered on July 1 of each year, from 1951 to 2023. This value can differ from the Yearly % Change shown in the historical table, which shows the last year equivalent percentage change assuming homogeneous change in the preceding five year period.

Definitions

Year: as of July 1 of the year indicated.

Population: Overall total population (both sexes and all ages) in the country as of July 1 of the year indicated, as estimated by the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Population Prospects: The 2022 Revision . For forecasted years, the U.N. medium-fertility variant is used.

Read More Definitions...

Yearly % Change: For 2023: percentage change in total population over the last year (from July 1, 2022 to June 30 2023). For all other years: latest year annual percentage change equivalent assuming homogeneous change in the preceding five year period, calculated through reverse compounding.

Yearly Change: For 2023: absolute change in total population (increase or decrease in number of people) over the last year (from July 1, 2022 to June 30 2023). For all other years: average annual numerical change over the preceding five year period.

Migrants (net): The average annual number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants over the preceding five year period (running from July 1 to June 30 of the initial and final years), or subsequent five year period (for 2016 data). A negative number means that there are more emigrants than immigrants.

Median Age: age that divides the population into two numerically equal groups: half of the people are older than the median age indicated and half are younger. This parameter provides an indication of age distribution.

Fertility Rate: (Total Fertility Rate, or TFR), it is expressed as children per woman. It is calculated as the average number of children an average woman will have during her reproductive period (15 to 49 years old) based on the current fertility rates of every age group in the country, and assuming she is not subject to mortality.

Density (P/Km²): (Population Density) Population per square Kilometer (Km²).

Urban Pop % : Urban population as a percentage of total population.

Urban Population: Population living in areas classified as urban according to the criteria used by each country.

Country's Share of World Pop: Total population in the country as a percentage of total World Population as of July 1 of the year indicated.

World Population: Total World Population as of July 1 of the year indicated.

Global Rank: Position held by Nigeria in the list of all countries worldwide ranked by population (from the highest population to the lowest population) as of July 1 of the year indicated.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Population of Nigeria: current, historical, and projected population, growth rate, immigration, median age, total fertility rate (TFR), population density, urbanization, urban population, country's share of world population, and global rank. Data tables, maps, charts, and live population clock

# data[].attributes.body
https://qz.com/africa/999641/the-unemployment-rate-in-nigeria-has-climbed-for-nine-consecutive-quarters/
22.09.21, 21 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Published This article is more than 2 years old.

Nigeria's struggle to create jobs is getting worse.

New data published by Nigeria's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) pegs the unemployment rate at 14.2% in the last quarter of 2016, up from 13.9% in the preceding quarter. It's the ninth consecutive quarter that the unemployment rate in Nigeria has increased.

Employment has faltered as businesses struggle amid Nigeria's first recession in two decades. Those companies dependent on foreign transactions are also suffering due to a critical shortage of dollars.

The aviation industry is particularly hard hit. In February, debt-ridden Arik Air, Nigeria's largest airline, was taken over by government to save it from collapse. Arik Air accounts for 55% of Nigeria's passenger traffic. In September 2016, Aero Contractors, Nigeria's oldest working airline at the time, suspended operations citing grave economic challenges.

International airlines have also slashed operations. Last October, Emirates, one of the world's richest airlines, reduced daily flights to Lagos and Abuja and earlier, in May 2016, United Airlines shut down its Nigeria operations.

The government has tried to boost employment, mainly by threatening businesses that cut jobs as well as trying to find work for those who are laid off. Local banks were threatened with a possible withdrawal of their licenses for sacking workers. Meanwhile, the government has sought to employ as many as possible through large-scale recruitment exercises.

The latter effort hasn't made much of dent as demand for jobs far outstrips supply. Last November, the federal tax agency received 700,000 applications for 500 advertised positions. In May 2016, nearly a million people applied for 10,000 listed positions in the Nigerian Police Force.

Nigeria's youth-a majority in the country where the median age is 21-are the most affected. Fraudulent ponzi schemes have thrived with millions looking to make a quick buck in the absence of gainful employment.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nigeria's unemployment problem is showing no signs of slowing down

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Published This article is more than 2 years old. Nigeria's struggle to create jobs is getting worse. New data published by Nigeria's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) pegs the unemployment rate at 14.2% in the last quarter of 2016, up from 13.9% in the preceding quarter.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.dw.com/de/viele-todesopfer-bei-angriff-von-boko-haram/a-55762360
22.09.21, 21 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Viele Todesopfer bei Angriff von Boko Haram – DW – 29.11.2020

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Seit Jahren terrorisieren Boko-Haram-Kämpfer den Nordosten Nigerias. Blutige Anschläge und Überfälle gehören fast zur traurigen Tagesordnung. Beim jüngsten Angriff bei Maiduguri wurden zahlreiche Menschen getötet.

# data[].attributes.body
-founded by Mohammed Yusuf in the early 2000s
-goal: introduce Sharia law across its territory
-many victims over the years
-latest news: their leader Shekau died in June
--> as a consequence, many ex-fighters hand in their weapons

# data[].attributes.body
The export is important for Nigeria. In 2000, Nigeria had an revenue of 27 billion USD.  As early as 2019, Nigeria had a revenue of 54 billion USD. Imports of goods amount to 47 billion USD. So they have a profit of 7 billion USD. This growth clearly shows the importance for Nigeria and its economy.  In addition, foreign trade creates more jobs, which is also a benefit for Nigeria’s population.

# data[].attributes.body
-Nigeria is a State party to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC)
-the Obasanjo administration hosted an anti-corruption campaign from 1999-2007
-current president Buhari promised his electorates to fight corruption when he's president

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.ascleiden.nl/publications/anti-corruption-campaign-nigeria-1999-2007-politics-failed-reform
23.09.21, 10 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Abstract

After completing a transition from military to civilian rule in 1999, Nigeria began to implement comprehensive reforms aimed at routing out corruption. These reforms included the establishment of new anti-corruption agencies, comprehensive reform of the public sector, including the judiciary, as well as a global search for looted funds hidden away in foreign banks. This study highlights the major steps taken by the Obasanjo administration (1999-2007) to combat corruption. Focusing on activities at the federal level, it also gives insights from the state and local government levels. The book shows that despite being unprecedented in many ways, the impact of these policies has been hard to see. Even as their implementation accelerated over the years, corruption remained intractable, while the commitment of the reformists became increasingly politicized. Among the most obvious challenges that emerged were the obstacles faced by some of the major institutions charged with the implementation of the reforms: lack of finance, limited human resources, legal lacunas, an ineffective criminal justice system and constitutional immunity granted to key officials. To this was added the weakness of civil society and non-engagement of subnational authorities, all of which suggest a glaring absence of a political coalition against corruption.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Anti-corruption campaign in Nigeria (1999-2007) : the politics of a failed reform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Abstract After completing a transition from military to civilian rule in 1999, Nigeria began to implement comprehensive reforms aimed at routing out corruption. These reforms included the establishment of new anti-corruption agencies, comprehensive reform of the public sector, including the judiciary, as well as a global search for looted funds hidden away in foreign banks.

# data[].attributes.body
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammadu_Buhari
23.09.21, 10 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician who has been president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Major General of the Nigerian Army and served as military head of state from 1983 to 1985, after taking power in a military coup d'état.

The term Buharism is ascribed to the right-wing policies of his military regime. Buhari has said that he takes responsibility for anything over which he presided during his military rule, and that he cannot change the past. He has described himself as a "converted democrat".

Buhari ran for president of Nigeria in 2003, 2007, and 2011. In December 2014, he emerged as the nominee of the All Progressives Congress for the 2015 general election. Buhari won the election, defeating incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. This was the first time in the history of Nigeria that an incumbent president lost a general election. He was sworn in on 29 May 2015. In February 2019, Buhari was reelected, defeating his closest rival former Vice President Atiku Abubakar by over 3 million votes.

Buhari was born to a Fulani family on 17 December 1942, in Daura, Katsina State, to his father Mallam Hardo Adamu, a Fulani chieftain, and his mother Zulaihat. He is the twenty-third child of his father. Buhari was raised by his mother, after his father died when he was about four years old. He attended primary school in Daura and Mai'adua, in 1953, Katsina Middle School, and attended Katsina Provincial Secondary School from 1956 to 1961.

Military career

Buhari enrolled at age 19 in the Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC) in 1962. In February 1964, the college was upgraded to an officer commissioning unit of the Nigerian Army and renamed the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) (prior to 1964, the Nigerian government sent cadets who had completed their NMTC preliminary training to mostly Commonwealth military academies for officer cadet training).

From 1962 to 1963, Buhari underwent officer cadet training at Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot in England. In January 1963, at age 20, Buhari was commissioned a second lieutenant and appointed Platoon Commander of the Second Infantry Battalion in Abeokuta, Nigeria. From November 1963 to January 1964, Buhari attended the Platoon Commanders' Course at the Nigerian Military Training College, Kaduna. In 1964, he facilitated his military training by attending the Mechanical Transport Officer's Course at the Army Mechanical Transport School in Borden, United Kingdom.

From 1965 to 1967, Buhari served as commander of the Second Infantry Battalion and appointed brigade major, Second Sector, First Infantry Division, April 1967 to July 1967. Following the bloody 1966 Nigerian coup d'état, which resulted in the death of Premier Ahmadu Bello. Lieutenant Buhari alongside several young officers from Northern Nigeria, took part in the July counter-coup which ousted General Aguiyi Ironsi replacing him with General Yakubu Gowon.

Buhari was assigned to the 1st Division under the command of Lt. Col Mohammed Shuwa, the division had temporarily moved from Kaduna to Makurdi at the onset of the Nigerian Civil War. The 1st division was divided into sectors and then battalions with Shuwa assisted by sector commanders Martin Adamu and Sule Apollo who was later replaced by Theophilus Danjuma. Buhari's initial assignment was as Adjutant and Company Commander 2 battalion unit, Second Sector Infantry of the 1st Division. The 2 battalion was one of the units that participated in the first actions of the war, they started from Gakem near Afikpo and moved towards Ogoja with support from Gado Nasko's artillery squad. They reached and captured Ogoja within a week with the intention of advancing through the flanks to Enugu, the rebel capital. Buhari was briefly the 2 battalion's Commander and led the battalion to Afikpo to link with the 3rd Marine Commando and advance towards Enugu through Nkalagu and Abakaliki. However, before the move to Enugu, he was posted to Nsukka as Brigade Major of the 3rd Infantry Brigade under Joshua Gin who would later become battle fatigued and replaced by Isa Bukar. Buhari stayed with the infantry for a few months as the Nigerian army began to adjust tactics learnt from early battle experiences. Instead of swift advances, the new tactics involved securing and holding on to the lines of communications and using captured towns as training ground to train new recruits brought in from the army depots in Abeokuta and Zaria. In 1968, he was posted to the 4 Sector also called the Awka sector which was charged to take over the capture of Onitsha from Division 2. The sector's operations was within the Awka- Abagana-Onitsha region which was important to Biafran forces because it was a major source of food supply. It was in the sector that Buhari's group suffered a lot of casualties trying to protect food supplies route of the rebels along Oji River and Abagana.

After the war

Military-political appointments

In the 1975 military coup d'état, Lieutenant Colonel Buhari was among a group of officers that brought General Murtala Mohammed to power. He was later appointed Governor of the North-Eastern State from 1 August 1975 to 3 February 1976, to oversee social, economic and political improvements in the state. On 3 February 1976, the North Eastern State was divided into three states Bauchi, Borno and Gongola. Buhari then became the first Governor of Borno State from 3 February 1976 to 15 March 1976.

In March 1976, following the botched 1976 military coup d'état attempt which led to the assassination of General Murtala Mohammed, his deputy General Olusegun Obasanjo became the military head of state and appointed Colonel Buhari as the Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources (now minister). In 1977, when the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was created, Buhari was appointed as its Chairman, a position he held until 1978.

During his tenure as the Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources, the government invested in pipelines and petroleum storage infrastructures. The government built about 21 petroleum storage depots all over the country from Lagos to Maiduguri and from Calabar to Gusau; the administration constructed a pipeline network that connected Bonny terminal and the Port Harcourt refinery to the depots. Also, the administration signed the contract for the construction of a refinery in Kaduna and an oil pipeline that will connect the Escravos oil terminal to Warri Refinery and the proposed Kaduna refinery.

From 1978 to 1979, he was Military Secretary at the Army Headquarters and was a member of the Supreme Military Council from 1978 to 1979. From 1979 to 1980, at the rank of colonel, Buhari (class of 1980) attended the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in the United States, and gained a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies. Upon completion of the on-campus full-time resident program lasting ten months and the two-year-long, distance learning program, the United States Army War College (USAWC) college awards its graduate officers a master's degree in Strategic Studies.

Divisional commands held in the Nigerian Army:

Head of State (1983-85)

1983 military coup d'état

Major-General Buhari was one of the leaders of the military coup of December 1983 that overthrew the democratically elected government of President Shehu Shagari. At the time of the coup plot, Buhari was the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Third Armoured Division of Jos. With the successful execution of the coup by General Buhari, Tunde Idiagbon was appointed Chief of General Staff (the de facto No. 2 in the administration). The coup ended Nigeria's short-lived Second Republic, a period of multi-party democracy started in 1979.

According to The New York Times, the officers who took power argued that "a flawed democracy was worse than no democracy at all". Buhari justified the military's seizure of power by castigating the civilian government as hopelessly corrupt and promptly suspended the constitution. Another rationale for the coup was to correct economic decline in Nigeria. Sani Abacha in the military's first broadcast after the coup linked ' an inept and corrupt leadership' with general economic decline. In Buhari's New Year day speech, he too mentioned the corrupt class of the Second Republic but also as the cause of a general decline in morality in the society.

Consolidation of power

The structure of the new military leadership which was also the fifth in Nigeria since independence resembled the last military regime, the Obasanjo/Yaradua administration. The new regime established a Supreme Military Council, a Federal Executive Council and a Council of States. The number of ministries was trimmed to 18 while the administration carried out a retrenchment exercise among the senior ranks of the civil service and police. It retired 17 permanent secretaries and some senior police and naval officers. In addition, the new military administration promulgated new laws to achieve its aim. These laws included the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Decree for the prosecution of armed robbery cases, the State Security (Detention of Person) Decree which gave powers to the military to detain individuals suspected of jeopardizing state security or causing economic adversity. Other decrees included the Civil Service Commission and Public Offenders Decree which constituted the legal and administrative basis to conduct a purge in the civil service.

According to Decree Number 2 of 1984, the state security and the chief of staff were given the power to detain, without charges, individuals deemed to be a security risk to the state for up to three months. Strikes and popular demonstrations were banned and Nigeria's security agency, the National Security Organization (NSO) was entrusted with unprecedented powers. The NSO played a wide role in the cracking down of public dissent by intimidating, harassing and jailing individuals who broke the interdiction on strikes. By October 1984, about 200,000 civil servants were retrenched. Buhari mounted an offensive against entrenched interests. In 20 months as Head of State, about 500 politicians, officials and businessmen were jailed for corruption during his stewardship. Detainees were released after releasing sums to the government and agreeing to meet certain conditions. The regime also jailed its critics, including Fela Kuti. He was arrested on 4 September 1984 at the airport as he was about to embark on an American tour. Amnesty International described the charges brought against him for illegally exporting foreign currency as "spurious". Using the wide powers bestowed upon it by Decree Number 2, the government sentenced Fela to five years in prison. He was released after 18 months, when the Buhari regime was overthrown.

In 1984, Buhari passed Decree Number 4, the Protection Against False Accusations Decree, considered by scholars as the most repressive press law ever enacted in Nigeria.[citation needed ] Section 1 of the law provided that "Any person who publishes in any form, whether written or otherwise, any message, rumour, report or statement [...] which is false in any material particular or which brings or is calculated to bring the Federal Military Government or the Government of a state or public officer to ridicule or disrepute, shall be guilty of an offense under this Decree". The law further stated that offending journalists and publishers will be tried by an open military tribunal, whose ruling would be final and unappealable in any court and those found guilty would be eligible for a fine not less than 10,000 naira and a jail sentence of up to two years.

In order to reform the economy, as Head of State, Buhari started to rebuild the nation's social-political and economic systems, along the realities of Nigeria's austere economic conditions. The rebuilding included removing or cutting back the excesses in national expenditure, obliterating or removing completely, corruption from the nation's social ethics, shifting from mainly public sector employment to self-employment. Buhari also encouraged import substitution industrialisation based to a great extent on the use of local materials. However, tightening of imports led to reduction in raw materials for industries causing many industries to operate below capacity, reduction of workers and in some cases business closure.

On 7 May 1984, Buhari announced the country's 1984 National Budget. The budget came with a series of complementary measures:

A temporary ban on recruiting federal public sector workers

Raising of Interest rates

Halting Capital Projects

Prohibition of borrowing by State governments

15 percent cut from Shagari's 1983 Budget

Realignment of import duties

Reducing the balance of payment deficit by cutting imports

It also gave priority to the importation of raw materials and spare parts that were needed for agriculture and industry.

Other economic measures by Buhari took the form of counter trade, currency change, price reduction of goods and services. His economic policies did not earn him the legitimacy of the masses due to the rise in inflation and the use of military might to continue to push many policies blamed for the rise in food prices.

War Against Indiscipline

Buhari's administration enacted three decrees to investigate corruption and control foreign exchange. The Banking (Freezing of Accounts) Decree of 1984, allotted to the Federal Military Government the power to freeze bank accounts of persons suspected to have committed fraud. The Recovery of Public Property (Special Military Tribunals) Decree permitted the government to investigate the assets of public officials linked with corruption and constitute a military tribunal to try such persons. The Exchange Control (Anti-Sabotage) Decree stated penalties for violators of foreign exchange laws.

Decree 20 on illegal ship bunkering and drug trafficking was another example of Buhari's tough approach to crime. Section 3 (2) (K) provided that "any person who, without lawful authority deals in, sells, smokes or inhales the drug known as cocaine or other similar drugs, shall be guilty under section 6 (3) (K) of an offence and liable on conviction to suffer death sentence by firing squad." In the case of Bernard Ogedengebe, the Decree was applied retroactively. He was executed even if at the time of his arrest the crime did not mandate the capital punishment, but had carried a sentence of six months imprisonment. In another prominent case of April 1985, six Nigerians were condemned to death under the same decree: Sidikatu Tairi, Sola Oguntayo, Oladele Omosebi, Lasunkanmi Awolola, Jimi Adebayo and Gladys Iyamah.

In 1985, prompted by economic uncertainties and a rising crime rate, the government of Buhari opened the borders (closed since April 1984) with Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon to speed up the expulsion of 700,000 illegal foreigners and illegal migrant workers. Buhari is today known for this crisis; there even is a famine in the east of Niger that have been named "El Buhari". His regime drew criticism from many, including Nigeria's first Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka, who, in 2007, wrote a piece called "The Crimes of Buhari" which outlined many of the abuses conducted under his military rule.

Ahead of the 2015 general election, Buhari responded to his human rights criticism by saying that if elected, he would follow the rule of law, and that there would be access to justice for all Nigerians and respect for fundamental human rights of Nigerians.

Overthrow, detention and civilian life

1985 Nigerian coup d'etat

In August 1985, Major General Buhari was overthrown in a coup led by General Ibrahim Babangida and other members of the ruling Supreme Military Council (SMC). Babangida brought many of Buhari's most vocal critics into his administration, including Fela Kuti's brother Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, a doctor who had led a strike against Buhari to protest declining health care services. Buhari was then detained in Benin City until 1988.

Buhari's admirers believe that he was overthrown by corrupt elements in his government who were afraid of being brought to justice as his policies were beginning to yield tangible dividends in terms of public discipline, curbing corruption, lowering inflation, enhancing workforce and improving productivity. Ibrahim Babangida justified his by saying that Buhari failed to deal with the country's economic problems and promised "to rejuvenate the economy ravaged by decades of government mismanagement and corruption".

Detention and release

Buhari spent three years of detention in a small guarded bungalow in Benin. He had access to television that showed two channels and members of his family were allowed to visit him on the authorization of Babangida.

In December 1988, after his mother's death he was released and retired to his residence in Daura. While in detention, his farm was managed by his relatives. He divorced his first wife in 1988 and married Aisha Halilu. In Katsina, he became the pioneer chairman of Katsina Foundation that was founded to encourage social and economic development in Katsina State.

Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund

Buhari served as the Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), a body created by the government of General Sani Abacha, and funded from the revenue generated by the increase in price of petroleum products, to pursue developmental projects around the country. A 1998 report in New African praised the PTF under Buhari for its transparency, calling it a rare "success story".

Presidential campaigns and elections

2003 presidential election

In 2003, Buhari ran for office in the presidential election as the candidate of the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP). He was defeated by the People's Democratic Party incumbent, President Olusẹgun Ọbasanjọ, by more than 11 million votes.

2007 presidential election

On 18 December 2006, Buhari was nominated as the consensus candidate of the All Nigeria People's Party. His main challenger in the April 2007 polls was the ruling PDP candidate, Umaru Yar'Adua, who hailed from the same home state of Katsina. Buhari officially took 18% of the vote to Yar'Adua's 70%, but Buhari rejected these results. After Yar'Adua took office, he called for a government of national unity to bring on board aggrieved opposition members. The ANPP joined the government with appointment of its national chairman as a member of Yar'Adua's cabinet, but Buhari denounced this agreement.

2011 presidential election

Buhari was the CPC Presidential candidate in the 2011 election, running against incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and Ibrahim Shekarau of ANPP. They were the major contenders among 20 candidates. Buhari campaigned on an anti-corruption platform and pledged to remove immunity protections from government officials. He also gave support to enforcement of Sharia law in Nigeria's northern states, which had previously caused him political difficulties among Christian voters in the country's south.

The elections were marred by widespread sectarian violence, which claimed the lives of 800 people across the country, as Buhari's supporters attacked Christian settlements in the country's central region. The three-day uprising was blamed in part on Buhari's inflammatory comments. In spite of assurances from Human Rights Watch, which had judged the elections "among the fairest in Nigeria's history", Buhari claimed that the vote was flawed and warned that "If what happened in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood".

2015 presidential election

In May 2014, in the wake of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping, Buhari strongly denounced the Boko Haram insurgency. He "urged Nigerians to put aside religion, politics and all other divisions to crush the insurgency he said is fanned by mindless bigots masquerading as Muslims". In July 2014, Buhari escaped a bomb attack on his life by Boko Haram in Kaduna, 82 people were killed. In December 2014, Buhari pledged to enhance security in Nigeria if elected president. After this announcement, Buhari's approval ratings skyrocketed, largely due to Jonathan's apparent inability to fight Boko Haram. Buhari made internal security and wiping out the militant group one of the key pillars of his campaign. In January 2015, the insurgent group "The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta" (MEND) endorsed Buhari.

On 31 March, Jonathan called Buhari to concede and congratulate him on his election as president. Buhari was sworn in on 29 May 2015 in a ceremony attended by at least 23 heads of state and government.

2019 presidential election

On 24 January 2018, former president Obasanjo wrote Buhari a letter accusing his government of nepotism, while commending his war against corruption and lauding his achievements on Boko Haram. Obasanjo's letter also included an appeal to Buhari not to run for reelection in 2019 but to "join the stock of Nigerian leaders whose experience, influence, wisdom, and outreach can be deployed on the sideline for the good of the country".

During a national executive council meeting on April 9, 2018, Buhari declared his intention seek a second term in office. This came after much speculation by political players and members of the public about whether he would run, especially considering his rather late timing. Reactions to his announcement were mixed, as many thought this put his integrity in question. Buhari said during the 2011 presidential campaign under the CPC banner that he would not seek reelection should he ever become president.

On 26 February 2019, Buhari was elected to a second term, defeating People's Democratic Party nominee Atiku Abubakar.

INEC issued the certificate of return to Buhari and Osinbajo on February 27, 2019. On May 29, 2019, Buhari took his oath of office for a second term.

While the country commemorated Democracy Day on May 29, in remembrance of May 29, 1999, when democracy was restored after a long term of military rule, Buhari changed it to June 12 to remember MKO Abiola, who won the June 12, 1993 election. The maiden commemoration was on June 12, 2019. Buhari hosted the principal officers of the National Assembly to dinner at the state house on July 11, 2019.

Presidency (2015-present)

Buhari's key advisers include: his nephew Mamman Daura, businessman Ismaila Isa Funtua, political operator Baba Gana Kingibe, Abba Kyari the Chief of Staff to the President; and from the late stages of his first term, Boss Mustapha the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Empowering his kitchen cabinet after his second inauguration, Buhari has stated his preference for cabinet members seeking meetings or consultation to direct such requests through the chief of staff or through the government secretary.

In August 2019, the president named his cabinet of predominantly male members with an average years of 60 and dominated by political actors or those close to the president. The cabinet include two wealthy former governors from the Niger Delta, Timipre Sylva and Godswill Akpabio who were originally members of the opposition party PDP and fourteen retained ministers some of whom critics alleged had performed poorly or having a close relationship with a corrupt past Head of State.

In May 2016, Buhari cancelled a two-day visit to Lagos to inaugurate projects in the state but he was represented by the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo after citing an "ear infection" suspected to be Ménière's disease. On 6 June, Buhari travelled to the United Kingdom to seek medical attention. This happened days after the Presidential Spokesman Femi Adesina was quoted as saying Buhari was "as fit as fiddle" and "hale and hearty", to much discontent and criticism from political analysts and followers. In February 2017, following what were described as "routine medical check-ups" in the UK, Buhari asked parliament to extend his medical leave to await test results. His office did not give any further details on his health condition nor the expected date of his return. On 8 February, President Buhari personally signed a letter addressed to the President of the Senate of Nigeria alerting him of a further extension to his annual leave, leaving his Vice President in charge. Following an absence of 51 days from office, President Buhari returned to Nigeria. He arrived at Kaduna Airport in the morning of March 10. Although information was limited during his stay in London, he was pictured on March 9 meeting the most senior cleric of the world Anglican congregation, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Vice President Yemi Osibanjo remained in charge as acting President, while the President continued to recover in Abuja. The President has missed major official and public appearances just two months following his return to office from England. Most recently he was absent from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, the worker's day event held at the Eagle Square in Abuja on May Day 2017. Speculations about the President's health circulated in the public sphere in the days following President Buhari's wishes to "work from home". Some prominent Nigerian figures urged the President to take a long-term medical leave, citing his failure to make any public appearances over a two-week period.

President Buhari again left Nigeria for a reported health check-up in London on 7 May 2017. President Buhari returned to Nigeria from his medical leave in the United Kingdom 104 days after leaving, on August 19, 2017. On 8 May, Buhari left Nigeria to London for medical check up, upon arrival from USA; and he returned on Friday 11 May 2018.

In the first year of the administration, Naira, the currency of Nigeria depreciated in the black market leading to a gulf between the official exchange rate and the black-market rate. A resulting shortage in foreign exchange hit various businesses including petroleum marketers. However, the gulf between the official rates and the black market rates opened up the opportunity for well connected individuals to engage in arbitrage, making a mockery of the president's anti-corruption image. In May, 2016, the government announced a rise in the official pump price of petroleum to curtail shortfall in the commodity as a result of foreign exchange shortages.

Since an upturn in economic growth from the decline of 2016, a slow pace of recovery has the country behind many of its continental neighbors in GDP growth. Unemployment levels remain high and any effort to increase non-oil revenues has not improved while government deficit spending include a significant portion of its yearly budget dedicated to service debts.

Buhari with the support of the Central Bank chief initiated policies to improve agriculture production through lobbying private banks to lend to the sector and restriction of foreign exchange at official rates for importation of food product that are grown locally. In his second tern, the budget minister, Udo Udoma and trade minister, Enemalah both of whom favored liberalisation were not returned.

Social welfare

In 2016, Buhari launched the National Social Investment Program, a national social welfare program.The Program was created to ensure a more equitable distribution of resources to vulnerable populations, including children, youth, and women. There are four programs which address poverty, unemployment and help increase economic development:

The N-Power program provides young Nigerians with job training and education, as well as a monthly stipend of 30,000 Nigerian naira (USD $83.33).

The Conditional Cash Transfer Program (CCTP) directly supports the most vulnerable by providing cash to those in the lowest income group, helping reduce poverty, improve nutrition and self-sustainability, and supporting development through increased consumption.

The Government Enterprise and Empowerment Program (GEEP) is a micro-lending entrepreneurship program targeting farmers, petty traders and market women with a focus. This program provides no-cost loans to its beneficiaries, helping reduce the start-up costs of business ventures in Nigeria. The programs include: TraderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni.

The National Home Grown School Feeding Program (NHGSF) is attempting to increase school enrollment by providing free meals to schoolchildren, particularly those in poor and food-insecure regions. The program works with local farmers and empowers women as cooks, building the community and sustaining economic growth from farm to table.

Anti-corruption

The $2 billion arms deal was exposed following the interim report of Buhari's investigations committee on arms procurement under the Goodluck Jonathan administration. The committee report showed extra-budgetary spending to the tune of N643.8 billion and additional spending of about $2.2 billion in the foreign currency component under the Goodluck Jonathan's watch. Preliminary investigation suggested that about $2 billion may have been disbursed for the procurement of arms to fight against Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. The investigative report indicated that a total sum of $2.2 billion was inexplicably disbursed into the office of the National Security Adviser in procurement of arms to fight against insurgency, but was not spent for the purpose for which the money was disbursed. Investigations on this illegal deal led to the arrest of Sambo Dasuki, the former National Security Adviser who later mentioned prominent Nigerians involved in the deal. Those who were mentioned and arrested includes Raymond Dokpesi, the Chair Emeritus of DAAR Communications Plc, Attahiru Bafarawa, the former Governor of Sokoto State, and Bashir Yuguda, the former Minister of State for Finance, Azubuike Ihejirika, the Chief of Army Staff, Adesola Nunayon Amosu, the former Chief of the Air Staff, Alex Badeh and several other politicians were mentioned.

On 21 December 2016, the government's Federal Ministry of Finance announced a whistle-blowing policy with a 2.5%-5% reward. The aim is to obtain relevant data or information regarding:

the violation of financial regulations

the mismanagement of public funds and assets

financial malpractice

fraud

theft

In May 2018, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria's anti-corruption agency, announced that 603 Nigerian figures had been convicted on corruption charges since Buhari took office in 2015. The EFCC also announced that for the first time in Nigeria's history, judges and top military officers including retired service chiefs are being prosecuted for corruption. The successful prosecutions were also credited to Buhari's EFCC head Ibrahim Magu. Under Buhari, Chief Justice of the Nigerian Court Walter Onnoghen was convicted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal on April 18, 2019 for false assets declaration. In December 2019, Mohammed Bello Adoke, the former Attorney General of the Federation, was extradited to Nigeria to stand trial on corruption charges. In January 2020, however, Transparency International still gave Nigeria a low performance in its corruption perception index.

In July 2020, Ibrahim Magu the EFCC chairman was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) over damaging security reports concerning his activities as the Buhari administration's leading anti-corruption figure and alleged financial irregularities, he was later replaced by Mohammed Umar.

Security issues

Niger Delta

Nigeria has the second-largest reserves of crude oil in Africa, reserves largely found in the Niger Delta region of the country. Years of oil production have resulted negative impact on farming and fishery by oil spillage. The government initiated Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to help clean up Ogoniland while other state governors within the region want a similar setup. HYREP was initiated in 2005 but has been slow to commence remediation works in Ogoniland.

Shia Muslims

The Islamic Movement of Nigeria led by Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky is one of the country's leading organization of Shia Muslims. Nigeria's Muslim population is mainly Sunni while the Shia population have gone through sporadic persecution by governments. After the Islamic movement was accused of an attack against Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai in December 2015, Zakzaky's base was shelled causing hundreds of fatalities while Zakzaky was arrested.

Biafra separatists

A separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra and led by Nnamdi Kanu became high profile in 2015 for advocating independence for a separate nation of Biafra. A breakaway Biafra republic was briefly formed during Nigeria's Civil War. The group agitating for a resurgence of Biafra, a republic not constrained by dis-empowerment of Igbos gradually founded favor among many economically and politically dis-empowered youths in Southeastern Nigeria. In October 2015 Kanu was arrested on allegation of treason, his arrest was followed by protest against his detention across many Southeastern states.

Boko Haram

Since 2015, the fight against the extremists has taken a new dimension, internally the groups have splintered into the traditional Boko Haram sect controlled by Abubakar Shekau and the Islamic State in West Africa Province controlled by Abu Musab al-Barnawi. Other groups supported by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb such as Ansaru, who were driven from Mali due to the French-led Operation Serval have surfaced and co-operated with Boko Haram despite being its rival. This was mostly out of necessity, as the two factions could not risk to weaken themselves by fighting each other. In February 2020, over two hundred and fifty Ansaru members were killed in a police raid in Birnin Gwari.

In October 2016, the government negotiated a deal with the terrorist group, Boko Haram which secured the release of 21 Chibok girls. By December 2016, the government had recovered much of the territories previously held by Boko Haram and after the capture of Sambisa Forest, Buhari announced that Boko Haram has been technically defeated. The insurgency displaced about 2 million people from their homes and the recapture of the towns now present humanitarian challenges in health, education and nutrition. On 6 May 2017, Buhari's government secured a further release of 82 out of 276 girls kidnapped in 2014, in exchange of five Boko Haram leaders. On 7 May 2017, President Buhari met with the 82 released Chibok girls, before departing to London, UK, for a follow up treatment for an undisclosed illness.

Farmer-Herder violence

The Middle-Belt region of Nigeria has been vulnerable to clashes between farmers and cattle herders, two groups trying to secure arable land for grazing or farming and access to water. The intensity and politicization of the conflict along ethnic and religious divide increased during the administration of Buhari as instances of conflicts flared in parts of Southern Nigeria. About 300 civilians were killed in a village in Benue State, Middle-Belt of the country and about 40 civilians were killed in Enugu in Southeastern Nigeria. The violence has displaced upwards of 250,000 villagers who migrate to cities ill-prepared to handle the influx of migrants. The conflict between farmers many of whom are largely Christians and herders who are predominantly Muslims has stoked religious tension not helped when the president sent in military troops disarm ethnic Christian militias while critics allege of his lukewarm towards armed cattle herders.

The administration's effort to solve the conflict led to the National Livestock Transformation Plan to modernise cattle grazing and stabilize the Middle Belt region. In 2017, RUGA, an acronym for Rural Grazing Area but also a word meaning settlement in Fulani was a proposed solution that came from deliberations of the transformation plan. RUGA was to set aside grazing areas for herders as they migrate south, however, many Southern states opposed any involuntary acquisition of land for RUGA and the plan was suspended

Banditry in Northern Nigeria

Since 2015, the Buhari administration has suffered with an increased spate of banditry-related activities in Northern Nigeria. The Abuja- Kaduna highway has been termed the "highway of kidnapping", due to the rampant atrocities committed by bandits. In February 2020, the Northern Elders Forum, a socio-political organisation, said the administration has failed Nigerians in terms of security.

National issues

Ruga policy

The Buhari administration introduced the controversial Ruga policy (human settlement policy), aimed at resolving the conflict between nomadic Fulani herdsmen and sedentary farmers. The policy, which is currently suspended, would "create reserved communities where herders will live, grow and tend their cattle, produce milk and undertake other activities associated with the cattle business without having to move around in search of grazing land for their cows."

Alleged militarization

Buhari has faced a lot of criticism in office. In 2019 his government came under widespread criticism over the unfair treatment of US-based Social Activist Sowore during his trial, despite the court granting him bail. This move was largely condemned, with Sowore himself stating that Buhari had violated his civic space. In December 2019, Nigeria's Newspaper Giants: PUNCH stated that henceforth they would addressed Buhari's administration as a "regime" and subsequently address him as "General Buhari" as his military-like administration was a far cry from democracy. They insisted that he was a 'military dictator', a move that was greeted with mixed receptions on Social Media.

COVID-19 pandemic

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, Buhari established a Presidential Task Force for the control of the virus in the country. On 23 March, Buhari's chief of staff Abba Kyari tested positive for COVID-19 sparking fears that Buhari may have been infected, it was later revealed that Buhari tested negative. On 30 March, Buhari announced a two-week lockdown on major cities Abuja, Lagos and Ogun.

On 14 October, the presidential task force on COVID-19 warned about a potential second wave "if the guidelines and protocols are not adhered to strictly".

End SARS protests

In October 2020, protests against alleged police brutality of a special police unit of the Nigerian Police Force the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) erupted in Lagos and other major cities. The End SARS movement with no centralised leadership beyond the small assembly that organized the initial protests, share similarities with the 2012 Occupy movement.

On 12 October, a day after demonstrators declared their demands Buhari announced the disbandment of SARS and promised "extensive police reforms". Since independence in 1960, the Nigerian Police Force has been at the forefront of tackling organised crime in Nigeria with the recent spate of banditry, cultism, drug trafficking, fraud and kidnapping drastically affecting its personnel capacity, leaving a vacuum for SARS members to exploit and commit extrajudicial killings.

On 13 October, Mohammed Adamu the Inspector General of Police announced the creation of a new unit the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) to take over the duties of SARS. This move did not satisfy most demonstrators, who expected a substantial overhaul of the police structure. On 14 October, the demonstrations continued with at least ten protestors being killed, and violent clashes occurring between pro-SARS and anti-SARS protesters with the elite Presidential Guard Brigade intervening in the federal capital.

Foreign policy

Buhari described the military crackdown by the Myanmar Army and police on Rohingya Muslims as ethnic cleansing and warned of a disaster like the Rwandan genocide.

Nigeria and South Africa between them share about 50% of Africa's economic output but both countries macroeconomic structure is hampered by high poverty rates, youth unemployment and decline in capital investment. About 600,000 Nigerians have emigrated to South Africa to seek out better economic opportunities and like in Nigeria, it is an economy struggling with its own high unemployment rates. Tensions between migrants and the local populace have occasionally flared up, in 2008, 2015 and in 2019. The last resulted in the violence between migrants including Nigerians and black South Africans. The leaders of both countries met in early October 2019, to discuss measures to improve the relationship between both countries which has been affected not only by anti-migrant violence in South Africa both issues about profit repatriation by South African firms operating in Nigeria.

Controversies

US$2.8 billion NNPC scandal

During his tenure as Federal Commissioner of Petroleum and Natural Resources, US$2.8 billion allegedly went missing from the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Midlands Bank in the United Kingdom. General Ibrahim Babangida later allegedly accused Buhari of being responsible for this fraud.

However, in the conclusion of the Crude Oil Sales Tribunal of Inquiry headed by Justice Ayo Irikefe to investigate allegations of 2.8 billion Dollars misappropriation from the NNPC account, the tribunal found no truth in the allegations even though it noticed some lapses in the NNPC accounts.

Chadian military affair

Umaru Dikko affair

The Umaru Dikko Affair was another defining moment in Buhari's military government. Umaru Dikko, a former Minister of Transportation under the previous civilian administration of President Shagari who fled the country shortly after the coup, was accused of embezzling $1 billion in oil profits. With the help of an alleged former Mossad agent, the NSO traced him to London, where operatives from Nigeria and Israel drugged and kidnapped him. They placed him in a plastic bag, which was subsequently hidden inside a crate labelled as "Diplomatic Baggage". The purpose of this secret operation was to ship Dikko off to Nigeria on an empty Nigerian Airways Boeing 707, to stand trial for embezzlement. The plot was foiled by British airport officers.

53 suitcases saga

PTF allocation to the military

Sharia in Nigeria

Previously, Buhari gave his support for the total implementation of Sharia in the country. He was quoted in 2001 as saying, "I will continue to show openly and inside me the total commitment to the Sharia movement that is sweeping all over Nigeria", he then added: "God willing, we will not stop the agitation for the total implementation of the Sharia in the country." Buhari has denied all allegations that he has a radical Islamist agenda. On 6 January 2015, Buhari said: "Because they can't attack our record, they accuse me falsely of ethnic jingoism; they accuse me falsely of religious fundamentalism. Because they cannot attack our record, they accuse us falsely of calling for election violence - when we have only insisted on peace. Even as Head of State, we never imposed Sha'riah."

Mediation with Boko Haram

In 2012, Buhari's name was included on a list published by Boko Haram of individuals it would trust to mediate between the group and the Federal Government. However, Buhari strongly objected and declined to mediate between the government and Boko Haram. In 2013, Muhammadu Buhari made a series of statements, when he asked the Federal Government to stop the killing of Boko Haram members and blamed the rise of the terrorist group on the prevalence of Niger Delta militants in the South. Buhari stated that "what is responsible for the security situation in the country is caused by the activities of Niger Delta militants [...] The Niger Delta militants started it all". He also questioned the special treatment including close to $500 million a year paid to 30,000 militants under the amnesty programme since 2013 by the Federal Government and deplored the fact that Boko Haram members were killed and their houses destroyed.

Abolishing the office of the first lady

On his visit to the Germany's Angela Merkel - the World's most powerful woman, Buhari reiterated "I don't know which party my wife belongs to, but she belongs to my kitchen and my living room and the other room" after his wife had earlier advised him to step up his leadership.

Plagiarism scandal

In September 2016, President Buhari came under heavy criticism after a newspaper report found him using plagiarized speech during the launching of a national re-orientation campaign tagged "Change begins with me". The speech was later found to be lifted from the 2008 inaugural speech of former US President Barack Obama. The presidency later apologized and says the blunder was caused by "overzealous staff" and "Those responsible" will be sanctioned. However, one week later, a deputy director in the State House linked to the speech was redeployed and presidency assured Nigerian public that it has taken steps to avoid a repeat of such an embarrassing occurrence by implementing digital tools that detect plagiarism.

Personal life

In 1971, Buhari married his first wife, Safinatu (née Yusuf). They had five children together, four girls and one boy. Their first daughter, Zulaihat (Zulai) was named after Buhari's mother. Their other children are Fatima, Musa (deceased son), Hadiza, and Safinatu. On 14 January 2006, Safinatu, the former first lady, died from complications of diabetes. In November 2012, Buhari's first daughter, Zulaihat (née Buhari) Junaid died from sickle cell anaemia, two days after having a baby at a hospital in Kaduna.

In 2015, Buhari declared US$150,000 cash; in addition to five homes and two mud houses as well as farms, an orchard and a ranch of 270 head of cattle, 25 sheep, five horses and a variety of birds, shares in three firms, two undeveloped plots of land, and two cars bought from his savings.

National honours

Foreign honours

Traditional titles

In 2017, the South-East council of traditional rulers honoured President Buhari with the chieftaincy titles of the Enyioma I of Ebonyi and the Ochioha I of Igboland. At the time of his investiture, the president had already held a title - that of the Ogbuagu I of Igboland - in the Nigerian chieftaincy system. He was later awarded another one, Ikeogu I of Igboland, in the following year.

References

1. Paden, John (2016). Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria. Roaring Forties Press. ISBN 978-1-938901-64-5.

2. ^ Agbese, Dan (2012). Ibrahim Babangida: The Military, Power and Politics. Adonis & Abbey Publishers, 2012. pp. 48-49. ISBN 978-1-906704-96-4.

3. ^ The Times, "US overtakes Britain at educating leaders" (September 5, 2019), pg. 19

4. ^ Alapiki, Henry; E (2005). "State Creation in Nigeria: Failed Approaches to National Integration and Local Autonomy". African Studies Review. 48 (3): 49-65. doi:10.1353/arw.2006.0003. JSTOR 20065139. S2CID 146571948.

5. "Nigeria's Oil Production on Increase." ^ Afro-American (1893-1988): 16. 16 December 1978.

6. ^ The Source Magazine Online Archived 23 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Thesourceng.com. Retrieved on 4 November 2016.

7. Matthews, Martin P. ^ Nigeria: current issues and historical background. p. 121.

8. "Fela Kuti, PoC, Nigeria" (PDF). amnesty.org. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 April 2015. On numerous occasions he was detained and harassed by the authorities

9. ^ Ogbondah, Chris (1991). "Origins and Interpretation of Nigerian Press Laws" (PDF). Africa Media Review.

10. ^ Vreeland, James Raymond (19 December 2006). The International Monetary Fund: Politics of Conditional Lending. Routledge. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-415-37463-7. Buhari proved his independence by pushing through economic austerity so severe it went beyond what many advised - all the while he refused IMF assistance.

11. ^ Mathews, Martin P. (1 May 2002). Nigeria: Current Issues and Historical Background. Nova Science Publishers, Inc. p. 122. ISBN 978-1-59033-316-7.

12. Larry Diamond, "Nigeria Update," ^ Foreign Affairs (Winter 1985/86) 63#2 pp 326-336. DOI: 10.2307/20042576 online

13. Felix Onuah and Camillus Eboh, ^ "Nigerian president picks ministers", Reuters (IOL), 4 July 2007.

14. ^ "Summary of the 2011 Presidential election results". Archived from the original on 29 May 2011.

15. ^ Soyombo, Fisayo (31 December 2014). "Opinion Will Muhammadu Buhari be Nigeria's next president?". aljazeera.com. In 2011, Buhari was accused of inciting the violence that followed his loss to Jonathan. The following year, he said "the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood" should the 2015 election be rigged. Buhari has shed blood before for his presidential ambition, some people believe. And they think he would do it again. Such a man, they reason, should never taste power.

16. Muhammed, Garba. (24 July 2014) ^ Suicide bombs in Nigeria's Kaduna kill 82, ex-leader Buhari targeted Reuters. Uk.reuters.com. Retrieved on 2016-11-04.

17. ^ Obadare, Ebenezer (2019). "Introduction: Nigeria - Twenty years of civil rule". African Affairs. doi:10.1093/afraf/adz004.

18. Ismail Mudashir, ^ "I won't return until doctors are satisfied - Buhari" Archived 12 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Daily Trust, 12 February 2017.

19. ^ "XCLUSIVE: I won't return until doctors are satisfied - Buhari", Premium Times, 11 February 2017.

20. ^ "Federal Ministry of Finance introduces new whistleblowing initiative". Archived from the original on 6 February 2017.

21. ^ https://allafrica.com/stories/201805290530.html

22. ^ Nwachukwu, John Owen (13 July 2020). "EFCC: Ibrahim Magu opens up on 'N550b missing interest'". Daily Post Nigeria.

23. "The oil clean-up that didn't?". 13 September 2019. "The oil clean-up that didn't?". Africa Confidential. 13 September 2019.

24. ^ "Nigeria's security under Buhari". Strategic Comments. 22 (6): iii-v. 2 July 2016. doi:10.1080/13567888.2016.1229389. S2CID 219693136.

25. ^ Attiah, Karen. "Opinion | For the sake of democracy, Nigeria's #EndSars campaign against police brutality must prevail". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.

26. ^ Makwembere, S (31 December 2015). "Hallmarks of irresponsible and unresponsive governance: Internal xenophobic attacks in South Africa's municipalities". The Journal for Trans-disciplinary Research in Southern Africa. 11 (4). doi:10.4102/td.v11i4.47. ISSN 2415-2005.

27. ^ Uko, Ndaeyo (December 2003). Romancing the Gun: The Press as Promoter of Military Rule. Africa World Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-59221-189-0. Buhari's Decree 4, which led to his overthrow, was seen by Nigerians as an attempt to prevent the press from digging into a scandal which he was supposed to have known something about: the mysterious disappearance of the huge sum of N2.8 billion from the NNPC while it was under his supervision.

28. ^ Frynas, Jedrzej Georg (1 April 2000). Oil in Nigeria (Politics and Economics in Africa). Lit Verlag. p. 41. ISBN 978-3-8258-3921-5. This followed evidence from an US accountancy firm that some 2.8 billion Naira (roughly US $4 billion) had not been accounted for by the bank records of the NNPC. The Irikife Tribunal, which investigated the matter, even failed to summon Generals Buhari and Obsanjo who were responsible for supervising the NNPC and controlled oil sales during the period in question.

29. Akinsanya, Adeoye A. (2013). An Introduction to Political Science in Nigeria. John Adebunmi Ayoade. p. 272. ISBN 978-0-7618-5743-3.

30. Akhaine, Saxone (27 August 2001) ^ Nigeria: Buhari Calls for Sharia in All States Archived 23 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine. allafrica.com

External links

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician who has been president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Major General of the Nigerian Army and served as military head of state from 1983 to 1985, after taking power in a military coup d'état.

# data[].attributes.headline
doubts about Buhari's anti-corruption campaign

# data[].attributes.subject
doubts about Buhari's anti-corruption campaign

# data[].attributes.body
-corruption reached a very bad state under the former president Goodluck Jonathan
-after Buhari's election, Jonathan's oil minister and former OPEC president Alison-Madueke was arrested on charges of fraud
-reasons for doubting Buhari's anti-corruption campaign:
--> few successes
--> there are people who are or were suspected of corruption in Buhari's cabinet

# data[].attributes.body
-some believe the roots lie in the country's pre-colonial period
-late 1980s: new form of corruption called "prebendalism"
-1985-1998: most extreme and rampant under General Ibrahim Babangida and General Sani Abacha between 1985 and 1998
-between 1960 and 2005, 20 trillion US dollars were stolen from the treasury by public office holders

# data[].attributes.body
https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/
23.09.21, 10 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Oxford Languages and Google - English | Oxford Languages

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Google's English dictionary is provided by Oxford Languages. Oxford Languages is the world's leading dictionary publisher, with over 150 years of experience creating and delivering authoritative dictionaries globally in more than 50 languages.

# data[].attributes.body
https://cepr.org/content/fraud-bribery-corruption
23.09.21, 10 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A pdf copy of this policy can be downloaded here

This policy applies to CEPR's President and Board of Trustees, Research Director, Policy Director and CEO and all other staff and any researchers using their CEPR affiliation to participate in externally-funded research projects.

The Centre's policy is that:

There will be maximum deterrence of fraud.

Fraud which cannot be deterred will be prevented.

There will be prompt detection of fraud which cannot be prevented.

There will be professional investigation of detected fraud.

Effective sanctions will be taken against people committing fraud.

Redress will be sought in respect of money defrauded.

Its staff, Trustees and affiliated researchers will conduct any business through the Centre in an honest and ethical manner while maintaining its independent, non-partisan stance

There is a zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption and all staff, Trustees and affiliated researchers are committed to acting professionally, fairly and with integrity in any business dealings and relationships pursued on the Centre's behalf

All laws will be upheld relevant to countering bribery and corruption

It recognises that its staff, Trustees and affiliated researchers remain bound by the laws of the UK, including the Bribery Act 2010, in respect of any activities they may undertake on the Centre's behalf whether within the UK, the European Union and in the rest of the world.

Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy Statement

Introduction

The Centre requires all staff at all times to act honestly and with integrity and to safeguard the resources for which they are responsible. The Centre's policy is that:

any level of fraud or corruption in or against the Centre will not be tolerated;

every attempt will be made to deter and prevent fraud;

opportunities for fraud, bribery and corruption will be reduced to the lowest possible level of risk;

staff will be made aware of the obligation to report suspicions of fraud;

mechanisms will be in place for staff to report fraud;

any suspicion of fraud will be thoroughly investigated and dealt with appropriately;

any evidence of criminal activity will be reported to the Police; and

mechanisms will be in place for seeking redress in respect of money defrauded.

The Centre also expects that individual researchers affiliated to other organisations (e.g. universities and/or research institutions as well as any suppliers, contractors and service providers) that it interacts with will act towards the Centre with integrity and without thought or actions involving fraud. Where relevant the Centre will include appropriate clauses in its contracts about the consequences of fraud, bribery and corruption; evidence of such acts is likely to lead to a termination of the particular contract or termination of an individual's affiliation to the Centre and may lead to prosecution.

What is fraud?

The Fraud Act 2006 created a new general offence of fraud with three possible ways of committing it.

Fraud by false representation, i.e. if an individual dishonestly makes a false representation and intends by making the representation to make gain for himself or another, or to cause loss to another or expose another to risk of loss;

Fraud by failing to disclose information, i.e. if an individual dishonestly fails to disclose to another person information which he is under a legal duty to disclose and intends, by means of abuse of that position, to make a gain for himself or another, or to cause loss to another or expose another to risk of loss; and

Fraud by abuse of position, i.e. if an individual occupies a position in which he is expected to safeguard, or not to act against, the financial interests of another person, and he dishonestly abuses that position, and intends, by means of the abuse of that position, to make a gain for himself or another, or to cause loss to another or expose another to a risk of loss.

Avenues for reporting fraud

The Centre provides staff with ways in which they may report any suspicions of fraud. Staff and individual researchers should report such suspicions to the CEO; whereas any Trustee or other Director shall be expected to raise any issue directly with the Chair of the Board of Trustees or the President of the Centre.
All matters will be dealt with in confidence and in strict accordance with UK legislation in order that the legitimate personal interests of staff are upheld and protected. Vigorous and prompt investigations will be carried out into all cases or actual or suspected fraud discovered or reported.

What is bribery?

A bribe is an inducement or reward offered, promised or provided in order to gain any improper commercial, contractual, regulatory or personal advantage.
It is an offence for a person to offer, promise or give a financial or other advantage to another person in one of two cases:

Where the person intends the advantage to bring about the improper performance by another person of a relevant function or activity or to reward such improper performance;

Where the person knows or believes that the acceptance of the advantage offered, promised or given in itself constitutes the improper performance of a relevant function or activity.

Before any worker offers or accepts any inducement or reward to or from any supplier or customer he or she should ask him or herself:

Whether the person receiving the benefit would be happy for his/her employers and/or shareholders/trustees/governors to have knowledge of the arrangements; and

Whether the interests of the person receiving the benefit are, as a result of so receiving, in conflict with the interests of the organisation that he or she represents or works for; and

Whether a reasonable person having knowledge of the arrangements would consider that the benefit was offered or provided to induce a person towards improper conduct such as committing a breach of trust or acting in bad faith or showing bias when there is a duty to be impartial.

If the person receiving the benefit would rather keep the arrangements secret from his or her employer, and/or his or her interests have diverged from his or her employers and/or an ordinary reasonable person would consider the benefit given or received as inducement or reward for improper conduct - then the activity is likely to amount to a bribe.

Gifts, hospitality and gratuities

Staff in the course of providing services to clients, or in their dealings with suppliers on the Centre's behalf should, under no circumstances, accept in a personal capacity any money, gifts or other forms of reward.
Staff must immediately report in writing to the CEO any offer by clients, suppliers, distributors and other such persons having a similar connection with the Centre any offer of gifts or services. Staff must not accept or agree to accept such offers without prior agreement from the CEO. This applies to any gifts or services directly or indirectly from any person, firm or charity with whom the Centre conducts business or may conduct business.
The giving or receipt of gifts to individuals is not prohibited, if the following requirements are met:

It is not made with the intention of influencing a third party to obtain or retain business or a business advantage, or to reward the provision or retention of business or a business advantage, or in explicit or implicit exchange for favours or benefits;

It complies with local law;

It is only given in the Centre's name;

It does not include cash or a cash equivalent (such as gift certificates or vouchers);

It is appropriate in the circumstances. For example, in the UK it is customary for small gifts to be given at Christmas time;

Taking into account the reason for the gift, it is of an appropriate type and value and given at an appropriate time;

It is given in good faith, openly and not secretly; and

Gifts should not be offered to, or accepted from, government officials or representatives, or politicians or political parties, without the prior approval of the CEO.

We appreciate that the practice of giving business gifts varies between countries and regions and what may be normal and acceptable in one region may not be in another. The test to be applied is whether in all the circumstances the gift or hospitality is reasonable and justifiable. The intention behind the gift should always be considered.

What is not acceptable?

It is not acceptable for you (or someone on your behalf) to:

Give, promise to give, or offer, a payment, gift or hospitality to an individual with the expectation or hope that a business advantage will be received, or to reward a business advantage already given;

Give, promise to give, or offer, a payment, gift or hospitality to a government official, agent or representative to "facilitate" or expedite a routine procedure;

Accept payment from a third party that you know or suspect is offered with the expectation that it will obtain a business advantage for them;

Accept a gift or hospitality from a third party if you know or suspect that it is offered or provided with an expectation that a business advantage will be provided by us in return;

Threaten or retaliate against another worker who has refused to commit a bribery offence or who has raised concerns under this policy; or

Engage in any activity that might lead to a breach of this policy.

CEPR's Fraud and Corruption Response Plan

The Centre has a Fraud Response Plan that sets out, for example, how to report suspicions of fraud, how the fraud will be investigated and by whom, what experts to contact for advice. The Plan forms part of the Centre's anti-fraud policy.

Measures to minimise the risk of fraud

In order to maintain CEPR's high standards, procedures and controls have been established to provide an environment which will minimise the opportunity for fraud. These procedures and controls help CEPR conduct its business in a manner beyond reproach. They establish the rules to which directors, affiliated researchers and employees must adhere and are supported, as necessary, by detailed procedure manuals that have been prepared for the key functions of CEPR. It is the responsibility of Directors and Managers to operate internal systems to ensure that high standards are applied and brought to the attention of their employees. Procedures are operated throughout CEPR to ensure:

an adequate separation of duties (more than one employee is involved in key tasks);

proper authorisation procedures (transactions must be approved);

independent monitoring and checking of data and documentation (checks and balances)

compliance with the financial and auditing regulations of any external party providing financial assistance for a project .

CEPR has a rigorous audit process which monitors compliance with regulations and undertakes a rolling programme of checks to detect, deter and prevent fraud and corruption. The work closely with Managers, monitoring their systems and procedures, to ensure that they are fully operated and remain appropriate.

Procedures when a Fraud is suspected

CEPR requires suspected irregularities to be referred to the CEO in the first instance. All reported irregularities will be thoroughly investigated. The normal sequence of events, should an irregularity be suspected, will be as follows:

If employees suspect an irregularity has occurred, or is likely to occur, they should normally report this to their line Manager who will in turn inform the CEO (unless the concerns relate to that officer, in which case employees should have regard to the alternative mechanisms outlined below).

Should preliminary investigations suggest the suspicion is reasonable, the CEO should be informed, without delay.

If the suspicions stem from an audit including that of an externally-funded project, the Chief Finance Officer will inform the CEO.

Any external party providing funding to or collaborating with CEPR in any other capacity will be encouraged to raise concerns directly with the CEO.

Where further investigations indicate an offence may have occurred, the CEO will consult with the President, both of whom may choose to escalate the investigation and submit it to the Board of Trustees. This will normally result in a decision to handle the matter according to CEPR's Disciplinary Procedures and to involve the Police.

Where financial impropriety is suspected, the grant awarding body responsible for the funding of the activity will be informed; for any other instances, the Police will normally be informed.

Procedures when bribery and other forms of corruption are suspected

The prevention, detection and reporting of bribery and other forms of corruption are the responsibility of all CEPR staff, Trustees and any researchers using their affiliation to CEPR for externally-funded activities. All are required to avoid any activity that might lead to, or suggest, a breach of this policy.
You must notify the CEO as soon as possible if you believe or suspect that a conflict with this policy has occurred, or may occur in the future. For example, if a client or potential client offers you something to gain a pecuniary or commercial advantage with CEPR, or indicates to you that a gift or payment is required to secure their services or assistance.
Any employee who breaches this policy will face disciplinary action, which could result in dismissal for gross misconduct. CEPR reserves its right to terminate the contract of employment of any employee in breach of this policy.

Record keeping

All employees must keep financial records and CEPR has appropriate internal controls in place which will provide evidence for making payments to or any other dealings with third parties. Employees and any Trustees and researchers using their CEPR affiliation in any capacity must declare and keep a written record of all hospitality or gifts accepted or offered, which will be subject to review by the CEO. Employees must also ensure all expenses claims relating to hospitality, gifts or expenses incurred to third parties are submitted in accordance with CEPR's expenses policy and specifically record the reason for the expenditure.
All accounts, invoices, memoranda and other documents and records relating to dealings with third parties, such as clients, suppliers and business contacts, should be prepared and maintained with strict accuracy and completeness. No accounts must be kept "off-book" to facilitate or conceal improper payments.

How to raise a concern

Employees are encouraged to raise concerns about any issue or suspicion of malpractice at the earliest possible stage. In the event that an employee is unsure whether a particular act constitutes bribery or corruption, these should be raised with the CEO.

What to do if you are a victim of bribery or corruption

It is important that employees, and any Trustees and researchers using their CEPR affiliation in any capacity must inform the CEO as soon as possible if they are offered a bribe by a third party, are asked to make one, suspect that this may happen in the future, or believe that they are a victim of another form of unlawful activity.

Mechanisms for Employees to Voice Concerns

Employees are vital to the successful implementation of measures against fraud. CEPR, therefore, encourages employees to report any concerns they have, without fear of being penalised. Normally, employees should raise such concerns with their line Managers, who have a responsibility to investigate and keep their Directors fully informed. However, other routes are available and employees are free to discuss the matter with any of the following:

the President;

the CEO;

the Chair of the Board of Trustees.

All concerns reported will be treated in confidence and fully investigated. If anonymity is requested, every effort will be made to ensure such confidentiality.

The Manager (or CEO) to whom the concerns are expressed will take prompt action and the employee will be notified quickly of any action taken. Where action is not considered appropriate, the employee will also be given a prompt and thorough explanation of the reasons for this. In the event of a disagreement, the employee will be advised how to pursue the matter formally.

Employees should be aware that, if a suspicion is reported and results in a prosecution or disciplinary hearing, their involvement as a witness in those processes may be necessary, unless other substantial reliable evidence is available.

There is also a need to ensure that the investigative process is not misused. Therefore any abuse, such as raising unfounded or malicious allegations, may be dealt with as a disciplinary matter in itself. This should not deter employees from raising genuine concerns (even if subsequently unfounded but made with good intent), as, in so doing, they will be supported in every possible way.

Review of Fraud and Corruption Response Plan

The Plan will be reviewed annually or following an incident of fraud or corruption, to ensure that it reflects changes, which may be necessary to strengthen future responses to fraud. Changes to the Fraud and Corruption Response Plan will be the responsibility of the Centre.

Monitoring and Review

The CEO will monitor the effectiveness and review the implementation of this policy, regularly considering its suitability, adequacy and effectiveness. Any improvements identified will be made as soon as possible. Internal control systems and procedures will be subject to regular audits to provide assurance that they are effective in countering bribery and corruption.

All workers are responsible for the success of this policy and should ensure they use it to disclose any suspected danger or wrongdoing.

This policy does not form part of any employee's contract of employment and it may be amended at any time.

Associated issues for staff consideration

Betting, gambling, touting and money lending

Staff are strictly prohibited from betting, gambling, selling goods, touting and lending money on the Centre's premises. Any breach of this rule will render the individual subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.

Statements to the press

Under no circumstances may employees make any statement or comment to the press or media on matters which involve the Centre without the express approval of the CEO.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy for the Centre for Economic Policy Research ("The Centre" or "CEPR") A pdf copy of this policy can be downloaded here This policy applies to CEPR's President and Board of Trustees, Research Director, Policy Director and CEO and all other staff and any researchers using their CEPR affiliation to participate in externally-funded research

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/afrika/nigeria-boko-haram-anfuehrer-tod-101.html
23.09.21, 11 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Der Anführer der Terrormiliz Boko Haram, Shekau, war für seine Brutalität berüchtigt. Nun hat die Islamistengruppe seinen Tod bestätigt. Laut Shekaus Nachfolger soll er bei Kämpfen mit rivalisierenden Dschihadisten ums Leben gekommen sein.
Die nigerianische Islamistengruppe Boko Haram hat den Tod ihres Anführers Abubakar Shekau bestätigt. In einem Video, das der Nachrichtenagentur AFP zugeleitet wurde, sagte der mutmaßliche neue Chef der Terrormiliz, Bakura Modu, Shekau sei als "Märtyrer" gestorben. Er warf der rivalisierenden Dschihadistenmiliz "Islamischer Staat Provinz Westafrika" (Iswap) vor, Shekau getötet zu haben.

In dem kurzen, undatierten Video präsentierte sich Bakura als neuer Anführer von Boko Haram. Er rief seine Kommandeure dazu auf, trotz des Todes von Shekau der Miliz die Treue zu halten. Sie dürften ihre "Entschlossenheit für den Dschihad" nicht aufgeben.

276 Schülerinnen entführt

Iswap-Chef Abu Musab Al-Barnawi hatte Anfang des Monats in einer Audiobotschaft mitgeteilt, dass Shekau tot sei. Nach Darstellung Al-Barnawis beging Shekau auf der Flucht vor Iswap-Kämpfern Suizid. Er habe sich bei Kämpfen in einem Wald im Bundesstaat Borno in die Luft gesprengt.

Nach den ersten Berichten über den Tod Shekaus hatten die Kämpfe zwischen den beiden rivalisierenden Dschihadistengruppen zugenommen. Nach Angaben aus Geheimdienstkreisen gingen Iswap-Kämpfer gegen Boko-Haram-Kommandeure vor, die sich weigerten, sich zu ergeben oder zu ihnen überzulaufen.

Shekau war in der Vergangenheit mehrfach für tot erklärt worden. Er hatte die Führung der Islamistengruppe übernommen, nachdem deren Gründer Mohammed Yusuf 2009 vom Militär getötet worden war. Unter seiner Führung hatte Boko Haram 276 Schülerinnen in Chibok im Jahr 2014 entführt. Der Vorfall sorgte weltweit für Empörung.

Zwei Millionen Menschen geflüchtet

Wegen seiner extremen Brutalität hatten sich selbst radikale Islamisten von Shekau distanziert. Iswap spaltete sich 2016 von Boko Haram ab. Die seither mit Boko Haram rivalisierende Gruppe kritisierte Shekau dafür, dass er muslimische Zivilisten angreifen ließ und Frauen als Selbstmordattentäterin einsetzte. Iswap-Kämpfer übernahmen Sicherheitskreisen zufolge inzwischen die Kontrolle über den Sambisa-Wald, eine einstige Hochburg Shekaus.

Boko Haram ist dagegen vorrangig im weiter nördlich gelegenen Grenzgebiet zum Tschad und zum Niger aktiv. Boko Haram kämpft seit 2009 gewaltsam für einen islamistischen Staat im Nordosten Nigerias. Durch die Angriffe der Milizen und ihre Kämpfe mit der Armee wurden in den vergangenen Jahren mehr als 40.000 Menschen getötet, zwei Millionen weitere ergriffen die Flucht.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Terrorgruppe in Nigeria: Boko Haram bestätigt Tod ihres Anführers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Der Anführer der Terrormiliz Boko Haram, Shekau, war für seine Brutalität berüchtigt. Nun hat die Islamistengruppe seinen Tod bestätigt. Laut Shekaus Nachfolger soll er bei Kämpfen mit rivalisierenden Dschihadisten ums Leben gekommen sein. Die nigerianische Islamistengruppe Boko Haram hat den Tod ihres Anführers Abubakar Shekau bestätigt.

# data[].attributes.headline
Oil production in Nigeria between 1965 and 2017

# data[].attributes.subject
Oil production in Nigeria between 1965 and 2017

# data[].attributes.body
The economic development in Nigeria has been determined since the 1970s by the oil industry. The revenue from the oil export amount ca. 80%.

# data[].attributes.headline
Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)

# data[].attributes.subject
Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)

# data[].attributes.body
NNPC is a state-owned petroleum company of the Nigerian government. This company controls the oil industry in Nigeria.
Nigeria has the capacity to produce 2.5 million barrel per day, but they produce only a small proportion of about 1. 7 million barrel per day. This is controlled by the NNPC and is caused by the disruption of oil production due to violent conflicts as well as sabotage and kidnappings in some oil-producing areas.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/480550-investigation-inside-nigerias-cholera-deaths-why-disease-is-rampant-in-country.html
23.09.21, 11 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
David Adachi, a farmer and resident of Amachi-Igwebuike village, Agba, in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, lost his father, mother and brother to cholera within a few hours.

The 50-year-old man watched helplessly as six members of the family started stooling and vomiting in the dead of the night.

According to him, the family had eaten a dinner of rice and stew before going to bed on the night of July 6.

"At midnight, my parents complained of stomach ache, then my elder brother, his two daughters and wife also woke up writhing in pain as their stomachs rumbled.

"My parents and my brother died before daybreak," Mr Adachi told PREMIUM TIMES, sobbing.

Two days later, the Ebonyi State Government confirmed cholera as the cause of death.

They were among about 1,000 people who have died of cholera in Nigeria this year.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said 31,425 suspected cases had been recorded in 22 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as of August 1.

But the official data appears to understate the realities PREMIUM TIMES found in states visited by its reporters.

Blaming the deceased

Richard Nwabu was acting health commissioner in Ebonyi State where Mr Adachi's family suffered its calamity. He said 12 cases were recorded in Mr Adachi's village, telling the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the patients had refused to go to the hospital.

Mr Nwabu's claim was angrily refuted by the bereaved family. Mr Adachi said the short time between the manifestation of the symptoms and their death means they could not have been taken to the nearest hospital about 14 kilometres away.

Mr Adachi said Agba general hospital, the only health facility in the area, is a 25-minute journey by motorcycle and 55 minutes by car, due to the poor state of the road.

He said the community residents helped in evacuating the three members of the family who survived the attack to the hospital in the morning, where he said they received treatment and were discharged a few days later.

He had administered local herbs to his parents and brother in their desperation. "But there was no relief until they passed away painfully."

A commercial motorcyclist, Sunday Aroh, who took PREMIUM TIMES' reporter on a 25-minute journey from Nteji junction at Agba community to Amachi-Igwebuike, said he was one of those who took the survivors to the hospital.

"The village does not have a good road," Mr Aroh said.

And just as he said, it was a tortuous journey along the bushy, narrow path.

The chairman of the village's association, who resides in a neighbouring village, Peter Agunkwo, also confirmed the incident.

He said state health officials visited the village after the incident to sensitise the people on the need to keep the environment clean to avoid contracting diseases.

But Elizabeth Adachi, the wife of Mr Adachi's late brother, blamed the government for her becoming a widow overnight because of lack of access to potable water.

She said she cooked the deadly rice meal eaten by the family with rainwater she had collected through the roof of their house.

"During the rainy season, that is how we source water because the only other sources here are the streams. So I cooked with the rainwater, and that was all," she said.

Mr Adachi said politicians always promise to provide amenities such as potable water when they visit the village to canvas for votes but forget the promises as soon as elections are over.

Hospital confirms more cases

Meanwhile, a health official at the Agba general hospital, who asked not to be named because only the state's health ministry could give an official response, said many cases from four other villages in the area were presented at the hospital.

State confirms more cases

When contacted, the then acting health commissioner directed our reporter to his successor, Daniel Umezurike.

But Mr Umezurike hung up on our reporter as soon as he introduced himself and his inquiries on the phone. The new commissioner did not pick subsequent calls or reply to short messages sent.

However, on August 10, Mr Umezurike confirmed another round of cholera outbreaks in Onweonwiya and Mgbalukwu communities in Izzi Local Government Area of the state.

He said those affected were taken to the general hospital in Iboko, Izzi council headquarters.

"No record of deaths has been reported in the area," he said.

Like Ebonyi like Enugu

A few days after Ebonyi State confirmed the cholera outbreak, the capital of nearby Enugu State was hit by the epidemic with health officials confirming 14 deaths within three days.

The outbreak was recorded at the densely populated and filthy New Artisan Market, close to Goshen Estate in Independent Layout along the Enugu-Port/Harcourt expressway.

Traders in livestock and other dairy products dominate the market, but many other businesses, such as beer parlours, brothels and batcher houses are also in various corners.

On July 18, the Enugu State Commissioner for Health, Emmanuel Obi, who announced the outbreak, said seven people died and 19 persons had "presented with sudden onset of passage of loose stool and vomiting."

Eyesore

On July 20, a witness and patent medicine shop owner at the market, Augustine Uzoigwe, told PREMIUM TIMES how he had received many customers complaining of running stools and vomiting on the evening of July 16.

Mr Uzoigwe said he suspected cholera and simply referred them to hospitals after recommending Oral Rehydration Salt (ORS) as a stop-gap remedy.

"The ORS pack is sold for N100, so I gave each of them to mix in a bottle of clean water, and told them to visit the hospital in the morning," he told PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Uzoigwe, who had operated in the market for over a decade, said the complaints were not surprising to him because of the filthiness of the environment.

The market is a slum beside a trapped pool of floodwater near a large canal demarcating the market from a residential area.

Septic pipes from public toilets near the market's mosque at the east end of the neighbourhood are channelled into the canal.

"Everything is channelled into that canal. When they kill animals they pour the blood and other contents into the drench. They still bathe in that same water and some even drink it," Mr Uzoigwe said.

Our reporter captured a man taking his bath in the floodwater.

Heaps of garbage also littered the residential area of the neighbourhood while animal dung and remains litter the squalid livestock market area.

Officials speak

The director, public health and disease control at the state's ministry of health, Boniface Okolo, told this newspaper that as of July 19, more than 80 cases had been recorded and 14 deaths.

Mr Okolo said many of the cases were presented at Enugu State University Teaching Hospital while others were taken to unidentified private clinics. However, he said, most of the infected recovered after treatment.

The official decried the unhygienic practices, particularly the improper disposal of domestic and human wastes in the area.

Some of the residents said they defecate in polythene bags and throw them into the open trenches "because we don't have toilets."

But the chairman of the association of livestock traders in the market, Danladi Abubakar, could not see a nexus between the dirty environment and the cholera outbreak.

Instead, he said tanker owners supplying water to the neighbourhood should be blamed because the market relies on them for water.

"As part of measures to curb further spread of the disease, we are now monitoring tankers that bring water for us. The water we use could have been contaminated from source," he said.

Mr Abubakar said the 14 dead persons were already buried according to Islamic rites.

Measures taken

Meanwhile, Mr Okolo, the health ministry director, said to forestall recurrence of the unfortunate development, the state had put on standby epidemiologists and other health officials.

He added that the state government had launched an aggressive sensitisation campaign for residents to take precautionary steps against further spread of the disease.

During the visit, PREMIUM TIMES saw officials of the World Health Organisation (WHO) handing out soaps, detergents and hand sanitisers to residents of the area.

From Enugu to Benue, Plateau

Benue is one of the few states that reported cholera outbreaks at the beginning of the year.

According to the state's commissioner for information and orientation, Ngunan Adingi, over 200 suspected cases and 20 deaths had been reported as of January 15.

The head of the NCDC's National Rapid Response team working in the state, Ikechukwu Oradu, said the infections originated from communities near the Benue River. She said preliminary investigations linked the outbreak to contaminated water.

The affected communities are in four local government areas - Guma, Agatu, Gwer-West and Makurdi, which surround the popular river.

Victims narrate ordeals

Ali Sani, a 28-year-old fisherman and resident of Abinsi village in Guma Local Government Area, plies his trade at the Benue River.

According to him, he was at work when his wife called him that his two-year-old daughter was vomiting and stooling.

"I rushed back home and took her to the health centre but she was dead when we got there," Mr Sani said.

"We cook, drink and bathe with water from the Benue River despite warnings that the water is contaminated," he admitted after recalling being told at the hospital that the disease that killed her daughter was water-borne.

"But do we have any alternative?"

But while many adults suffer from cholera in the local government, half of all the infections in the area occur in children, said Caleb Aba, the chairman of Guma LGA.

He said more than 50 children had been infected as of the time of our visit.

Similarly, Janet Adzuu, the chief nursing officer at the Abinsi primary health centre, said about 120 suspected cases had been reported in the facility this year.

She said the majority of the children that were infected also showed symptoms of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).

Husseni Saliu, a survivor, told this newspaper how he developed cholera symptoms shortly after drinking water from the river.

He said he noticed the water was not as clean as before when he drank it that fateful morning.

"I felt my stomach rumbling loud, then I started vomiting and stooling. But for the community's health centre, maybe I would have died," he said.

Another survivor, Aminu Isah, 24, narrated how his daughter was the first to complain of stomach upset and then began to stool profusely.

Mr Isah said hours later, he also began to exhibit similar symptoms.

NCDC said as of August 1, about 600 suspected cases and 12 deaths had been recorded in Benue State. Residents said the actual numbers may be higher.

About River Benue

In the absence of scientific research, PREMIUM TIMES cannot authoritatively link the spread of cholera in Benue to the Benue River.

However, a visit to the river banks by our reporter showed that its brownish water was largely caused by mudslides during the rainy season. The stench of human faeces and animal dung that oozed from the neighbourhood suggest the other causes of contamination of the river.

Residents said they do not have potable water and toilet facilities.

"The only borehole in this community was built by an individual after the cholera outbreak. The state government is yet to fulfil its promises," Yakubu Abu, a resident, said.

Open defecation

According to Garaba Yakubu, assistant leader of Kabuwa community, another village in Guma LGA, about 15 people died from the disease in the area.

He attributed the outbreak in the community to rampant open defecation, especially along the river banks.

He said residents practice open defecation because the area does not have adequate toilet facilities.

"Apart from the bad source of water, this community has over 5,000 people and the majority of them lack latrine, so they practice open defecation," he said.

The assistant disease surveillance and notification officer in the local government, Aba James, said since the outbreak in Gbajima, a neighbouring community, five fatalities had been recorded from almost 100 cases.

"From investigation, it shows that the source of water which is the River Benue is contaminated," he said.

Like Guma, communities in Agatu, a neighbouring LGA also located on the river's bank, are affected by the outbreak.

Anna Adebo, the director of health, Agatu LGA, said the outbreak started in Adache-Obagaji, a thickly populated community before spreading to other communities.

Ms Adebo also explained that residents in the affected communities defecate anywhere, including near their water wells.

"The people drink and cook with water from uncovered wells. Some even defecate very close to the well, which makes the water unhealthy for consumption," she said.

Ms Adebo said health workers in Agatu LGA were running a sensitisation campaign to prevent a future outbreak of the disease.

"We have sensitised the people on the importance of keeping their environment clean and also boiling water before drinking," she said

"But the problem is that the communities lack access to good water, making it impossible to prevent an outbreak.

"We are pleading with the state government and donor agencies to provide a good source of water for the communities," she said.

According to Adebo Oloche, a medical officer with the general hospital in Obagaji village of Agatu LGA, 286 cases of cholera and 16 deaths were recorded in the six wards within the LGA.

"These casualties were cases that died at home due to distance to the health facility," he said.

John Ikwulono, vice chairman of Agatu community, said efforts were being made to provide potable water for the communities.

"We reached out to the government to provide potable water for the people to prevent future outbreaks and they promised to dig some boreholes but nothing has been done," he said.

Support PREMIUM TIMES' journalism of integrity and credibility

Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.

For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.

By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.

TEXT AD: To advertise here . Call Willie +2347088095401...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
INVESTIGATION: Inside Nigeria's cholera deaths: why disease is rampant in country

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
David Adachi, a farmer and resident of Amachi-Igwebuike village, Agba, in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, lost his father, mother and brother to cholera within a few hours. The 50-year-old man watched helplessly as six members of the family started stooling and vomiting in the dead of the night.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1110879/coronavirus-cumulative-cases-in-nigeria/
23.09.21, 11 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On August 22, 2021, the amount of positive coronavirus (COVID-19) tests grew by 1,452 in Nigeria, reaching 187,023 cases in total. As of the same date, there were about 2.2 thousand casualties and 184.8 thousand recoveries in the country. Nigeria is the eigth highest ranked African country concerning registered cases. January 23 recorded the highest daily increase in cases in Nigeria since the beginning of the pandemic.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nigeria: cumulative coronavirus cases 2020-2021 | Statista

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On August 22, 2021, the amount of positive coronavirus (COVID-19) tests grew by 1,452 in Nigeria, reaching 187,023 cases in total. As of the same date, there were about 2.2 thousand casualties and 184.8 thousand recoveries in the country. Nigeria is the eigth highest ranked African country concerning registered cases.

# data[].attributes.body
important: only CONFIRMED corona cases

# data[].attributes.body
-13,2 million children do not attend school
-60% of the population is not connected to the electricity grid
-57 million Nigerians lack safe water
-more than 130 million lack adequate sanitation
-gap between rich and poor
--> more than 112 million people live in poverty

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.oxfam.org/en/nigeria-extreme-inequality-numbers
23.09.21, 11 Uhr

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Economic inequality in Nigeria has reached extreme levels, despite being the largest economy in Africa. The country has an expanding economy with abundant human capital and the economic potential to lift millions out of poverty.

So how can this happen? What makes Nigeria so unequal and how big is this inequality gap?

Let's look at the numbers:

5 million The combined wealth of Nigeria's five richest men - $29.9 billion - could end extreme poverty at a national level yet 5 million face hunger. More than 112 million people are living in poverty in Nigeria, yet the country's richest man would have to spend $1 million a day for 42 years to exhaust his fortune.

2 millionThe amount of money that the richest Nigerian man can earn annually from his wealth is sufficientto lift 2 million people out of poverty for one year.

79%Women represent between 60 and 79 percent of Nigeria's rural labor force but are five times less likely to own their own land than men. Women are also less likely to have had a decent education. Over three-quarters of the poorest women in Nigeria have never been to school and 94% of them are illiterate.

Felicia Adebowale, a cocoa farmer, sits next to harvested cocoa beans inside her farm in Ayetoro-Ijesa village, Nigeria. Photo: George Osodi / Panos for Oxfam

$20 trillion

>Between 1960 and 2005, about $20 trillion was stolen from the treasury by public office holders. This amount is larger than the GDP of United States in 2012 (about $18 trillion).

Poverty and inequality in Nigeria are not due to a lack of resources, but to the ill-use, misallocation and misappropriation of such resources. At the root is a culture of corruption combined with a political elite out of touch with the daily struggles of average Nigerians.

57 millionIn 2012, Nigeria spent just 6.5 percent of its national budget on education and just 3.5 percent on health (by comparison, Ghana spent 18.5 percent and 12.8 percent respectively in 2015). As a result, 57 million Nigerians lack safe water, over 130 million lack adequate sanitation and the country has more than 10 million children out of school.

21.5%Another consequence of the mismanagement of the nation's resources is the high rate of unemployment, especially among the young. In 2016, between 12.1% and 21.5% of Nigeria's youth were without a job.

Nigeria can close the inequality gap

Nigeria is not a poor country yet millions are living in hunger. The government must work with the international community to get food and aid to hungry people now. But it can't stop there. It must free millions of Nigerians from poverty by building a new political and economic system that works for everyone, not just a fortunate few.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nigeria: extreme inequality in numbers | Oxfam International

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Economic inequality in Nigeria has reached extreme levels, despite being the largest economy in Africa. The country has an expanding economy with abundant human capital and the economic potential to lift millions out of poverty. So how can this happen? What makes Nigeria so unequal and how big is this inequality gap?

# data[].attributes.headline
Newspaper articles about Nigeria’s state oil company is missing $16 billion 

# data[].attributes.subject
Newspaper articles about Nigeria’s state oil company is missing $16 billion 

# data[].attributes.body
https://qz.com/africa/640886/nigerias-state-oil-company-is-missing-16-billion/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The drama continues over the long period of alleged widespread corruption at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC).

Nigeria's auditor general said Monday (March 14) that the state oil company failed to turn over $16 billion in revenue due to the government in 2014. The announcement comes on the heels of news earlier this month that NPCC is splitting itself into 30 different business units in order to weaken the hold of entrenched bureaucrats.

The missing funds are no minor thing, as two-thirds of the Nigerian government's revenue was derived from its oil sector in 2014, according to Central Bank of Nigeria figures. The March 15 disclosure is part of a cleanup campaign by president Muhammadu Buhari, who came topower last year vowing to rein in corruption that has hampered the growth of Africa's largest economy, leaving much of the country without electricity, for example, despite it having among the world's largest oil reserves.

This isn't the first time that oil funds have been reported missing in Nigeria. A bombshell allegation by the central bank in 2013 claimed that $50 billion in NNPC oil sales over an 18-month period were unaccounted for. The NNPC denied the allegations. The government's response to that disclosure (which included suspending the central bank governor) and the corruption it embodied became a rallying cry for Buhari as he swept former president Goodluck Jonathan out of office.

Buhari's oil minister, Ibe Kachikwu, has been trying with uneven success to reform NNPC and increase its transparency. NNPC officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nigeria's state oil company is missing $16 billion

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The drama continues over the long period of alleged widespread corruption at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC). Nigeria's auditor general said Monday (March 14) that the state oil company failed to turn over $16 billion in revenue due to the government in 2014.

# data[].attributes.headline
Link to a list of all natural recourses and their location:

# data[].attributes.subject
Link to a list of all natural recourses and their location:

# data[].attributes.body
https://nigerianfinder.com/natural-resources-in-nigeria-the-full-list-locations/

# data[].attributes.body
https://nigerianfinder.com/natural-resources-in-nigeria-the-full-list-locations/ -> 23.09.2021, 11:30

# data[].attributes.body
Land:
• Ondo has the most fertile land suitable for agriculture production
• land is suitable for farming of cassava, timber, cocoa, rubber, palm trees, cola nut, plantain, rice and cannabis, vegetables and fruits
Water:
• Ondo’s coastline is about 180 km long but untapped
Mineral recourses:
• over 11% of the oil output in Nigeria comes from Ondo
• Ondo has also one of the largest gas reserves in the country
• Ondo’s bitumen deposit is the second-largest world wide

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.legit.ng/1348751-4-reasons-ondo-blessed-by-god-states-nigeria.html -> 23.09.2021, 11:40

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.google.de/search?q=natural+resources&client=safari&hl=de-de&prmd=invx&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwizzY-05pTzAhWH_7sIHTTrBvoQ_AUoAXoECAIQAQ&biw=375&bih=635&dpr=3#imgrc=oog0VVfz6zkrFM -> 23.09.2021, 11:45

# data[].attributes.body
https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=1740 -> 23.09.2021, 11:50

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.google.de/search?q=location+ondo&client=safari&hl=de-de&prmd=minxv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi3gNyc6JTzAhXRgP0HHSIXB9MQ_AUoAnoECAIQAg&biw=375&bih=635&dpr=3#imgrc=oQ10H3A6mKY8jM -> 23.09.2021, 11:55

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.google.de/search?q=economic+sectors+in+nigeria&client=safari&hl=de-de&prmd=invx&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiP-b2R6ZTzAhUp_7sIHdvgDRsQ_AUoAXoECAIQAQ&biw=375&bih=635&dpr=3#imgrc=b12hYxwNAh7RLM -> 23.09.2021, 12:00