Category: misc

From the BBC:

Nigerians fly despite the risks
Nigeria’s government plans to consolidate the airline industry
Years of neglect and lack of investment in basic infrastructure and weak regulatory control mean flying in Nigeria has long been risky.
Sunday’s crash of an ADC Boeing 737 into a cornfield just 2km (1.2 miles) from Abuja’s main airport was the third major airline disaster in a year.
The spiritual leader of Nigeria’s 70 million Muslims, the sultan of Sokoto, two senators and the son of a former president were among the 96 who died.
Nigerians are grieving but angry too.
Just over a year ago, a passenger jet operated by Bellview went down near Lagos, killing 117 people.
Seven weeks later, a plane operated by the Nigerian airline Sosoliso crashed on landing in the southern city of Port Harcourt, killing 106 people, half of whom were children.

While we were in Nigeria we came across a lot of abandoned railway. The Nigerians told us that the rails were built during British rule and they had been abandoned in the last 10 years or so. But now, according to the BBC, China will buid a new railway between Lagos and Kano. A second phase will connect Jos to the system.

China to build Nigerian railway
Nigeria’s railways have fallen into disrepair
China is to build a railway line between Nigeria’s two main commercial cities, Lagos and Kano.
An $8bn contract was signed by the deputy transport minister and the president of the Chinese firm (CCECC).
CCECC President Lin Rongxin said 50,000 Nigerians would work on the 1,315km line which he said was “a design, construct and maintain project”.
Nigeria’s leader said the five-year north-south line was the first phase in a 20-year modernisation programme.
President Olusegun Obasanjo, who watched the signing, said the second phase of the railway project would include a link between the southern oil city of Port Harcourt and the central city of Jos.
The existing railway along these routes has fallen into disrepair and new tracks are to be built under the deal with China.
China recently granted Nigeria a loan of $2.5bn and much of this is expected to be used in the railway project.
Earlier this year Nigeria repaid a multi-billion dollar debt it owed to the Paris Club, becoming the first African nation to settle with its official lenders.
Nigeria is one of the world’s biggest oil exporters, but it is also one of the world’s poorest countries, with the majority of the population living on less than $1 per day.

After the airline accident of and ADC plane on Sunday in Abuja, the Nigerian goverment has suspended the airlines license.
From AND:

Nigeria suspends Airline’s Licence

By MARTIN KING

Nigeria (AND) Nigeria suspends the operational licence of the Aviation Development Company (ADC) airline whose plane crashed October 29.
Nigeria October 30 suspended the operational licence of the Aviation Development Company (ADC) airline whose plane crashed a day earlier killing almost all its passengers. In announcing the suspension in Abuja, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Prof. Babalola Borishade said: “We cannot continue to do everything we are doing in the provision of infrastructure and the various regulations and some little persons on their own discretion continue to embarrass the country and send misery to the lives of people’s family.
It is unfortunate.” He said legislative backing was needed to enforce information from the control tower at airports to prevent pilots from disregarding vital information regarding taking off or landing as was the case in the 29 October crash. The ill-fated aircraft was on its way to Sokoto when the crash occurred. Ninety-nine people lost their lives in the crash.
They include Muhammadu Maccido, the Sultan of Sokoto and the President General of Nigeria’s Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, his son, Badamasi Maccido (who is a Nigerian Senator), Sule Yari Gandi(another Nigerian Senator), the, Ahaji Garba Mohammed (Deputy Governor of Sokoto State,north-west Nigeria), among others. President Olusegun Obasanjo was expected to visit the crash site while the area has been cordoned off. Ten years ago, an ADC passenger plane also crashed into Majidun River near Ikorodu in Lagos, killing all the passengers on board.
A ban was similarly placed on the company after that mishap. Meanwhile, fresh facts indicate that the ADC Airline is the fourth registered user of the Boeing 737-200 jet that crashed October 29 in Abuja. The plane was first flown on 27 September, 1983. Manufactured with serial number 22891-LN: 988, the plane’s first owner was USAir. It flew it from 20 October, 1983. It was registered as N323 AU.
The plane wore the colours of the airline till 27 February, 1997, by which time its registration code had been changed to N279 AU. That year, ownership changed hands as US Airways acquired the plane. The latest owner used the plane till 1999 and sold it to Metrojet, another US Airline. ADC Airline bought the plane on 2 September, 2003 and registered the plane as BN-BFK. The plane ended its journey in the shrubs of Gwagwalada, a suburb of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city on 29 October, 2006.

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.