"The government has racked up some successes. On October 20th Nigeria was declared free of Ebola after a well-run operation to trace and isolate 19 people infected with the virus. Yet state failure is evident when it comes to security. Kidnappings for ransom are rife: celebrities and clergymen are plucked off the street in daylight. Hundreds of people are killed every year in land disputes. Thieves siphon off as much as a fifth of the country’s oil output in the Niger delta. Piracy is common.

Such rampant criminality continues to infect politics. Gangsters aid politicians by intimidating opponents. In return elected officials share out funds plundered from state coffers. Two years ago KPMG, a global audit firm, named Nigeria as the most fraud-prone country in Africa.

Corruption blossomed in the late 1960s during the Biafran civil war, when money flowing into regimental coffers went into private pockets. The generals never lost their appetite. When they allowed a return to democracy 15 years ago the civilian political class adopted the army’s habits. What started as a nibbling at the system has turned into all-out gobbling. Earlier this year Lamido Sanusi, the internationally-respected governor of the central bank, accused the state oil company of failing to account for $20 billion in revenues. He was fired for his pains.

The president belittled the problem in May when he said corruption was not the same thing as stealing. Yet it means not only a loss of state funds but also a corrosion of decision-making. Nigeria’s federal parliament has for years refused to approve an oil-industry bill that would boost investment in oilfields and hence production. But members prefer to keep things as they are: many of them do well from local cartels’ handouts. Oil output is stagnant when it could double."

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21627646-africas-lodestar-nation-has-weathered-ebola-extremist-takeover-has-exposed?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/adividedcountry

The Economist

Great Job President Jonathan, great job!

-CramJones

This is not corruption it is ordinary stealing.

Source GEJ himself

GEJ till 2019

This stealing joke is neither meaningful nor funny.

Jonathan is in dire need of a sincere compliment.

Gej till nairaland hit 1billion users active members.

Seun:
This stealing joke is neither meaningful nor funny.

et tu seun

A nation divided

Africa’s lodestar nation has weathered Ebola, but an extremist takeover has exposed the flaw at its heart

"Lodestar" a star that is used to guide the course of a ship God bless Nigeria.


GEJ till 2019 or till almajiris get some sense.


http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21627646-africas-lodestar-nation-has-weathered-ebola-extremist-takeover-has-exposed

The poor and angry north (whose fault is it)

Inequality is also starkly regional (see map). [b]If they were independent countries, some of Nigeria’s northern states would rank bottom globally in terms of development, [/b]even though the country is the seventh-biggest oil producer in OPEC. Nowhere else in the world are more children out of school. Fewer than 5% of women in some parts can read or write. Estimates put three out of four residents in the north-east below the poverty line, around twice as many as at the southern end of the country. “Boko Haram is a reflection of the deeper crisis in the country,” says a former teacher at a military academy. Its rise is fuelled by poverty as well as the brutality and incompetence of the security forces.

Extrajudicial killings account for thousands of deaths in the north. Revenge is a common reason for commando raids. Abuse in detention centres is routine. Some police stations have what is informally known as an “O/C Torture”—Officer in Charge of Torture—who handles interrogations. Dozens of bodies, many bearing the marks of torture, turn up at the main morgue in Maiduguri following police sweeps. Some prisoners appear to have been starved to death.

In the field the army lacks the equipment and morale to give chase. Boko Haram destroyed much of the air fleet in a raid last year and is now free to ride around in large convoys unmolested from above. The generals have asked Western countries for new helicopters and other equipment but were told first to alter their tactics, respect human rights, create proper supply lines and learn counter-insurgency skills. America, among other countries, cannot offer Nigeria training and arms until its army respects human rights.

Hapless at chasing insurgents, the army is nonetheless skilled at extracting bribes. Troops sent to the north-east to fight Boko Haram run checkpoints as shakedown spots. On the road between Maiduguri and Damaturu drivers are stopped every 10km (6 miles) or so and are asked for money by soldiers. In some cases the bus driver collects the bribes from passengers before leaving and hands them over to speed things up. “You pay according to how much luggage you bring,” says a passenger.

The soldiers are only following the example of their generals, many of whom retire as millionaires. A budget supplement of $1 billion to fight Boko Haram is seen by some as a little more than a new trough for greedy officials. So little of the money reaches front lines that desertion is common. Troops frustrated by a lack of food and ammunition have shot at their own officers. Several have been sentenced to death by firing squad for mutiny.

One expert says the army “is close to being shattered”. It has about 18,000 troops in the north-east, an area populated by 10m widely dispersed people. About half the force, amounting to most of the combat-capable troops in the 60,000-strong army, is squatting in Maiduguri.

Government officials insist that Nigeria does not face an existential crisis but rather struggles to communicate its successes abroad. The finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, complains that “the international media tend to have one line of good news on Nigeria and everything else is bad.” She says the country is getting a grip on its problems. The army was long neglected in favour of development. “We chose butter over guns,” she says. That is now changing. President Goodluck Jonathan has launched initiatives to boost development, schools and health care in the north-east. He speaks of “turning the tide”.

The president has never been short of speeches or initiatives. But his critics fear he is no longer able to effect wholesale change in a broken state. Nobody can predict when Nigeria might tip over into chaos. But that day seems to be coming closer.

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21627646-africas-lodestar-nation-has-weathered-ebola-extremist-takeover-has-exposed

neenar:
Yeah but it would be meaningful if Buhari is the accused.

don't mind the person you quoted. He is Trying so hard to make sense

cramjones:
"The government has racked up some successes. On October 20th Nigeria was declared free of Ebola

The Economist

Great Job President Jonathan, great job!

-CramJones

You just misfired big time, hopefully, you will baby sit your thread.

Mad Jones again.


Shake my head for gbana

If anybody makes that statement "Ordinary stealing is not corruption" around me or supports it, I'll instantly know he's a thief.

Seun:
This stealing joke is neither meaningful nor funny.

It is not a joke.

It is the reality of how your president views corruption and stealing.

barcanista:
don't mind the person you quoted. He is Trying so hard to make sense

and he ends up making a fool of himself!

how do you identify a corrupt individual - thru his/her utterances.

neenar:
My people call it selective memory.

His evil deed will torment him. We all shall be witness to this.

Seun:
This stealing joke is neither meaningful nor funny.

Seun hardly ceases to amaze me. How low can you go to glorify corruption?

-CramJones

Look at this chart. God bless PDP 14 years rule.
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21627646-africas-lodestar-nation-has-weathered-ebola-extremist-takeover-has-exposed

nwaanambra1:


and he ends up making a fool of himself!

how do you identify a corrupt individual - by his/her utterances.

that shows he isn't even as smart as we use to think. He is Very far from being smart and logical

ba7man:
If anybody makes that statement "Ordinary stealing is not corruption" around me or supports it, I'll instantly know he's a thief.

and clueless

cramjones:


Seun hardly seizes to amazes me. How low can you go to glorify corruption?

-CramJones

Don't blame him Mr CJ, he was only trolling. Trolls are pathetic

Seun:
This stealing joke is neither meaningful nor funny.

The more reason why it is terribly heartbreaking such a comment could come from the country's No1 citizen.

Totally shameful.

barcanista:
His evil deed will torment him. We all shall be witness to this.

Wait, I think we misunderstood seun. The joke he referred to was Jonathan's "stealing is not corruption" joke. To dey vex no good o.

cramjones:
"The government has racked up some successes. On October 20th Nigeria was declared free of Ebola after a well-run operation to trace and isolate 19 people infected with the virus. Yet state failure is evident when it comes to security. Kidnappings for ransom are rife: celebrities and clergymen are plucked off the street in daylight. Hundreds of people are killed every year in land disputes. Thieves siphon off as much as a fifth of the country’s oil output in the Niger delta. Piracy is common.

Such rampant criminality continues to infect politics. Gangsters aid politicians by intimidating opponents. In return elected officials share out funds plundered from state coffers. Two years ago KPMG, a global audit firm, named Nigeria as the most fraud-prone country in Africa.

Corruption blossomed in the late 1960s during the Biafran civil war, when money flowing into regimental coffers went into private pockets. The generals never lost their appetite. When they allowed a return to democracy 15 years ago the civilian political class adopted the army’s habits. What started as a nibbling at the system has turned into all-out gobbling. Earlier this year Lamido Sanusi, the internationally-respected governor of the central bank, accused the state oil company of failing to account for $20 billion in revenues. He was fired for his pains.

The president belittled the problem in May when he said corruption was not the same thing as stealing. Yet it means not only a loss of state funds but also a corrosion of decision-making. Nigeria’s federal parliament has for years refused to approve an oil-industry bill that would boost investment in oilfields and hence production. But members prefer to keep things as they are: many of them do well from local cartels’ handouts. Oil output is stagnant when it could double."

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21627646-africas-lodestar-nation-has-weathered-ebola-extremist-takeover-has-exposed?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/adividedcountry

The Economist

Great Job President Jonathan, great job!

-CramJones

Because dis govt was successful in one area does not mean it was successful in Most areas this is pure scaM. If ebola had not surfaced what success would there be to claim

barcanista:
and clueless

Thanks,.....Clueless for coming out to say it in public.

Extra, Extra clueless for saying it as the President of a Country.

Alabosi

Seun:
This stealing joke is neither meaningful nor funny.

vedd:
Jonathan is in dire need of a sincere compliment.

There is absolutely none!! Rather they would inundate us with tales about Buhari's misrule, Tinubu's thievery, Lai Moh'd's lies, North's born-to-rule syndrome, bla bla bla.

Such a sunken ship.

ba7man:
Thanks,.....Clueless for coming out to say it in public.

Extra, Extra clueless for saying it as the President of a Country.

he's so unpresidential

cramjones:


Seun hardly seizes to amazes me. How low can you go to glorify corruption?

-CramJones

Your grammar never ''ceases'' to amaze me.

atlwireles:
Look at this chart. God bless PDP 14 years rule.
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21627646-africas-lodestar-nation-has-weathered-ebola-extremist-takeover-has-exposed

I'm not a fan of the PDP but facts are sacred