03/25/2009
column Lagos — Whatever politicians may say, this is not the time to focus the attention of the polity on another election. It is time to perform. For the President and most of the governors, in particular, this year is crucial for them to deliver on the promises made to the electorate, the basis of which they presumably got the mandate they are exercising. In this respect, those who seem more concerned about a second term for President Umaru Yar'Adua are, unwittingly, by their action and pronouncements engendering cynicism in the polity.03/24/2009
opinion Johannesburg — A RARE opportunity to resolve one of Africa's most intractable conflicts could go begging unless a credible international mediator is found soon. A low-level war has been fought in the oil-rich Niger Delta for almost a decade now. In the past three years alone, militant groups have kidnapped more than 250 expatriate oil workers and cut oil production by 1-million barrels a day. The conflict is a threat to the long-term stability of Nigeria and is spilling into the rest of the region. A recent coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea and an upsurge in piracy in the Gulf of Guinea emanate from the armed groups operating from the Delta.03/18/2009
analysis Washington, DC — "Will de facto U.S. security policy toward the continent focus on anti-terrorism and access to natural resources and prioritize bilateral military relations with African countries? Or will the United States give priority to enhancing multilateral capacity to respond to Africa's own urgent security needs? If the first option is taken, it will undermine rather than advance both U.S. and African security." - Daniel Volman and William Minter, in new special report from Foreign Policy in Focus on AFRICOM and alternative policy frameworks.03/17/2009
Lagos — The Federal Government plans to give communities in the Niger Delta region stakes in oil projects to discourage attacks that have partially crippled Nigeria's crude oil production. Presidential Adviser on Petroleum Matters, Mr. Emmanuel Egbogah, who made the disclosure in Cape Town, South Africa, yesterday, said the stakes would come from the government's own holdings in the projects.03/17/2009
Lagos — ROYAL Dutch Shell's Nigerian venture has shut-in a number of oil installations after explosions on a pipeline that may have been due to sabotage, a company spokeswoman said on Tuesday. The blasts caused at least three punctures to the 24-inch trans-Escravos pipeline, which sends crude oil from Shell's Forcados oil fields to the Escravos oil export terminal in Nigeria's Niger- Delta.03/07/2009
Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, charismatic leader of the Niger Delta People's Salvation Front (NDPVF), was incarcerated and also charged with treason under former President Olusegun Obasanjo regime after spearheading an armed group, Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force.03/04/2009
Lagos And Omon-Julius Onabu in Warri — Crude oil export has suffered a major set back following an explosion that rocked the 24-inch Trans-Escravos Pipeline (TEP) belonging to the Shell Petroleum Development and Production Company (SPDC).03/02/2009
Daily Independent (Lagos) Akure — Olusegun Agagu, whom the Appeal Court sacked last Monday as Ondo State Governor, was on Sunday slammed with a N500 million bill by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) as the fee for helping him to rig the election in 2007.