This may be setting the bar fairly low, but west Africa has been getting more news coverage than usual this year.
Nigeria
Ivory Coast double: a country with two presidents
Ivory Coast now has two governments, writes Rafiq Copeland, a freelance writer in northern Africa.
WikiLeaks cable: Shell staff posted throughout Nigerian government
Shell Australia chairman Ann Pickard once claimed to the US government that the oil giant had staff posted throughout Nigerian government ministries, ensuring they could keeping tabs on regulation in the oil-rich nation, a cable released by WikiLeaks says today.
US oil spill a disaster — but more oil is spilt in Nigeria every year
One small positive that may come out of the Deepwater Horizon spill is the slender beam of reflected light cast on the fascinating, tragic story of oil drilling in the Niger Delta, writes Rafiq Copeland.
Nigeria’s Next: a paper that can’t afford to die
New Nigerian newspaper Next made its mark earlier this year by daring to reveal that the country’s president was brain dead, and has been under heavy government attack ever since. Now it can’t afford to stay open — but can Nigeria afford for it to close?
Fiji no longer the ‘bula-bula-happy-clappy land’
Post Fiji’s 2006 military coup, the economy is collapsing, morale is low and leadership is a mess. “Fiji is on the same path that Burma and Zimbabwe and Nigeria went down”, writes discombobulated.
The Nigerian scammers become the scammed
Someone may have been fleecing some of Nigeria’s biggest banks, pushing the country’s financial system to the edge of collapse.
Dreaming of a Niger Delta Republic
Amidst the nightmare of bloody violence in Nigeria, Sonnie Ekwowusi dreams of an independent Niger Delta, a republic where those indigenous to the area are afforded the right self-determination.
Nigeria: Behind the bloodshed
Four days of violence in Nigeria has left 200 dead and sent 4000 fleeing from their homes. Government forces are closing in on the rebels responsible, but the real root of the unrest lies in endemic problems in the Niger Delta, which won’t be solved so easily.
Welcome to Festac Town, email scam capital of Nigeria
“Dear Sir, I am a Nigerian prince…” you know the tune. And if you’ve received one (or, say, five billion) of these emails, chances are it came from a single town in Lagos, Nigeria.
Shell pays off the Ogoni, but must still settle with history
The claims of complicity by Shell in the death of Nigerian environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa were to be tested in a New York court. Instead, the oil company has offered a settlement of a $US15.5 “humanitarian gesture”.
Shell pays $15.5m over Saro-Wiwa death
Shell has agreed to pay a settlement of $15.5m over the death of Nigerian environmental activist and writer Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995, after they allegedly provided the Nigerian army with vehicles, patrol boats and ammunition used in the killing.
The fight for Nigeria’s oil wealth
Nigeria’s oil wealth is the cause of piracy, kidnappings and violence along the Niger Delta.
Shell goes to court over murder
Oil giant Shell is headed to court, standing accused of complicity over the 1995 murder of environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.
