Category: Nigeria

Re: Villagers take oil

From the BBC (the real story):

Attack on Nigeria oil facilities
A group of protesters have invaded three Shell oil stations in the Niger Delta, forcing the facilities to be shut down, the company said.
The demonstrators are accusing the oil giant of failing to fulfil an agreement to provide them with aid.
Shell refused to say how much oil had been cut off following the attack.
Militant groups have stepped up attacks on oil facilities in the region in recent months, demanding more local control of oil wealth for residents.
Shell said members of the Kula community living near the company’s Ekulama 1, Ekulama 2 and Belema oil pumping stations had invaded the facilities.
Chevron also shut down its platform in the same area as a precaution.
A Chevron spokesman in Nigeria, Femi Odumabo, said government officials in charge of the area were holding negotiations with the protesters to address their problems.
Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer but militants have been demanding a greater share of the oil wealth for locals in the Niger Delta.
On Saturday seven oil workers – including four Britons – were freed after being held hostage in Nigeria.
The men were captured on 3 October when gunmen raided a residential compound housing expatriate oil workers in the Niger Delta.

Scottish workers held in Nigeria freed

From the BBC:

Scottish oil workers held hostage for nearly three weeks in Nigeria have said they feared being “sacrificed”.
Graeme Buchan, Paul Smith, George McLean and Sandy Cruden had been seized by armed militants.
Mr Buchan said he was even forced at gunpoint to tell his employers Mr Smith was dead.
Mr Buchan, speaking at Aberdeen Airport, said: “The gun at my head may have uncovered a talent for acting I did not know I had.”
Mr Buchan, alongside Mr Cruden and Mr Smith, who work for Sparrows Offshore in Aberdeen, touched down in Aberdeen Airport on Monday morning.

Let me enter your world – but stay out of mine

Last night an odd thing occurred to me.
Yesterday afternoon, Laurie and I joined several friends from Encounter in downtown Dallas at the Austin Street Shelter.
We went and brought crackers and some small gifts like socks and toothbrushes, etc.
It was great to have an opportunity to serve and share with the men and women waiting outside the homeless shelter.
I had no problem talking with the men and women outside the shelter. I had a good time talking with Wayne, Frank and Steve (I hope my memory is right there). I also had no problem talking with people on the streets in Nigeria.
But then last night, Laurie and I went to a Missions Banquet at our parent’s church.
Having just come back from Nigeria for two weeks, I have a new found respect for missions and the sacrifices they make.
We had a good time and afterwards we went to the store to pick up a few items.
When we went to check out we noticed the one cashier at his register was standing there with the light to his lane out.
We weren’t sure if it was open or closed.
The cashier went on and on and on talking about how the light switch was missing.
It annoyed me. I wanted to pay for our groceries and leave and not be bothered by someone chatting about a missing light switch.
I didn’t care.
I was in my world, my element and didn’t want to be bothered.
But as I walked out of the store I thought, “Why is it that I can talk to someone at length on the streets of downtown Dallas or Jos, Nigeria, but if a cashier at Kroger’s wants to talk to me I get annoyed? Why is it that I can barge into someone else’s world and talk freely, but if they try to interrupt what’s going on in my world I get annoyed or frustrated?”
I pray that God continues to give me a heart for His people – whether that’s in Jos, Nigeria, downtown Dallas or at a Kroger’s in Garland, Texas.
Anyone else ever feel the same way?

Nigerian desert growing

The BBC reports that do to drought in the sub-Saharan Africa, about 2,000 sq km in Nigeria is becoming desert each year. We didn’t see a lot of drought while we were there. It was the end of the rainy season and we might have welcomed drought, especially while we were stuck in the mud so many times.

Over $380 billion missing in Nigeria

From the BBC:

More than $380bn has either been stolen or wasted by Nigerian governments since independence in 1960, the chief corruption fighter has said.
Nuhu Ribadu told the BBC that Nigeria has “nothing much” to show for the missing money.
He said the worst period for corruption was the 1980s and ’90s, but currently two-thirds of governors are being investigated by Mr Ribadu’s agency.
Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil exporter but most people are poor.
The country is regularly ranked as one of the most corrupt by graft watchdog transparency International.
President Olusegun Obasanjo declared a state of emergency in Ekiti State on Thursday after the governor was found guilty of siphoning state funds into personal bank accounts and receiving kickbacks.