Sudan is one of the countries that will always remain indispensable in the African continent. It’s not just because a most renowned African civilisation, the ancient Nubian society once flourished there, or that it is the biggest African country; Sudan is of special important to Africa, both due to its strategic position and what it represents, historically and culturally. It’s equally important as a major destination for African scholars and historians who must dig up the remains of ancient Nubians, in order to authenticate the histories of African people.
Yet, Sudan is one of the countries in Africa that have hardly known peace, especially since these last few decades. Civil wars, genocides, religious scheming; some have even documented what they called “the Sudanese ethnic cleansingâ€, and those who claim to be the (international) watchdog for human rights have said it will never happen again.
Now the cloud is gathering once more and the indications are spreading both fear and deep apprehensions about the future of this African country.
“The upcoming 2010 elections and 2011 referendum in Sudan are the culminating events of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the National Congress Party and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement. However, looking at 2011 and beyond, there is increasing concern that Sudan may revert to violence rather than move forward toward the sustainable peace envisioned by the CPA…â€
At October 2009 when the United States Institute of Peace made the above report, some people would have concluded that it was still too early to judge. The vast African country is now a month and few days away from facing one of its most vital moments as a country, the referendum to decide the independence of southern Sudan.
“As January 9 approaches tension continues to escalate with accusations of voter intimidation, disputed bombings along the border and a wave of aggressive rhetoric stoking uncertainty on both sides of the still contested north-south border…,†Reuters, last Saturday, 4th December, 2010.
Below is an appeal by a Sudanese artist and advocate, Emmanuel Jal. He was a child soldier during the last Sudanese civil war, between the north and south of the country.
“My country is on the brink of war. On January 9, Southern Sudan will vote for its independence to be free from a government who has slaughtered and displaced our people for 43 years. The country is currently led by a regime bent on controlling oil resources. 80% of Sudan’s oil fields are in the south, making it a prime battleground to displace our indigenous people. Both north and south are preparing for war, leaving innocent people at grave risk of major human rights violations. The last civil war between North and South claimed over 2 million lives, including my own mother. I have firsthand experience as a war child, forced to fight in the conflict and torn from my family. The time to prevent another genocide is now. I have a written a new single called “We Want Peaceâ€. It is a call for peace, protection and justice for all in my land, and also for an end to conflicts affecting innocent people all around the world. Thank you for joining me in my struggle.â€
Come to think of it; what does independent Sudan or the united Sudan really mean?
Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader while serving as the head of African Union last years was advocating for the united states of Africa. Whether his proposal was merely political or he truly meant what he said, especially that he latter called for the partitioning of Nigeria along ethnic or religious lines, people must understand that no singular African country is too big or so culturally complicated that it cannot be governed by one central government.
Instead, in Sudan, like Nigeria or Congo, there are enormous natural resources that there is no easier way to reap off those natural resources for the benefit of the capitalist Europe an America without playing ethnic and religious politics in those African countries.
In essence, whether Sudan remains one country or end up divided into one hundred countries, few questions will remain central. Are the local leaders truly ready to defend the interests and survival of their own people; are they willing to make little sacrifices, to shun the alluring proposals of moneybags western politicians and businessmen so that the local resources can be use to develop the local community? This is where the argument lies.
The problem of Sudan, like in many other African countries is not the geopolitical or cultural complicity of the country; it’s rather more of a leadership problem and the non-accountability of the leaders to the local people.
So, since it’s usually the failure at the central entity which causes its components to disintegrate, African leaders should defend the interests and survivals of their own citizens, irrespective of their ethnic origins, then those same citizens will reciprocate by protecting their national unity and collective aspirations as a people.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
FORMER vice president Atiku Abubakar recently moved a step ahead in his presidential aspiration when the Adamu Ciroma-led screening committee of the Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF) declared him as its consensus candidate among the Northern presidential aspirants in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
With his announcement, Atiku is condemned to challenge incumbent President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for the party’s presidential ticket.
Atiku, who can practically be said to have been in the presidential race since 1992, when he last plot in the politics of the SDP convention in Jos has not hidden his desire to occupy the highest office in the land. On several occasions he had attempted to get elected as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and in all of these attempts, he was shot down by superior forces.
Despite these failed attempts, Atiku has committed to actualising his age long dream of ruling Nigeria as a democratically elected president.
His aspiration to succeed his former boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, in 2007 on the platform of the PDP was also thwarted by forces within his party and he was forced to defect to the Action Congress (AC) to secure for himself a platform to contest the 2007 election.
At the end of that presidential contest, the Adamawa-born politician came a distant third behind PDP’s Umaru Yar’Adua and General Mohamadu Buhari’s All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). This is the political credential Atiku and his supporters would be flaunting before Nigerians as the march towards 2011 election hots up.
Atiku’s opponents, both within and outside the party, may not have seen anything good in the man who has been made the choice of the nine-man Ciroma committee but political analysts are in unison that despite all the misgivings concerning the former vice president, his political credentials cannot just be wished away.
The good Those who have been following Atiku’s political sojourn since 1992 point to the fact that the retired custom officer is a dogged political fighter, who will not easily give up on a cause he believes in. This quality of his came to the fore when attempts were made by former president Obasanjo and the leadership of the PDP to muzzle his 2007 presidential bid through the series of investigative panels. He was made to face a Senate probe over the management of the funds of the Petroleum Technology Development Funds (PTDF) where he was accused of orchestrating the mismanagement of the funds ahead of the 2003 general election.
At the end of the investigation, Atiku was found culpable. The white paper on the outcome of the report was gazetted and Atiku by that decision was announced disqualified from contesting in any election. But the democrat in him took over. The former vice president challenged his indictment and disqualification in the law court. At the end of the legal tussle, the Supreme Court, in its wisdom, ruled that it was only a competent court that could disqualify any aspirant from contesting election. The step taken by Atiku in fighting for his right was seen as a huge plus to the democratic credentials of the recently selected consensus presidential aspirant of the NPLF. Turaki’s decision to challenge his indictment at the court of law further deepened the nation’s democracy.
When it was glaring to Atiku that the PDP platform will not be available for him to contest the 2007 election presidential election, he decided to jet out of the party for the AC.
His decision to join the AC made former President Obasanjo to declare the former vice president’s office vacant. The Supreme Court judgement was indeed novel in the annals of the nation’s political history and it became a reference point in political and judicial interpretations.
Undoubtedly, Atiku’s emergence as the consensus candidate of the NPLF ahead of General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida is a demonstration that Atiku is a better political strategist than the former military president. His ability to sway the votes of the majority members of the committee which gave him an edge over Babangida is a pointer to the fact that he knows when to strike. It is even being argued in some quarters that Atiku was the brain behind the formation of the screening committee and he also ensured that the committee was peopled by most of his loyalists. At a point, it was said that out of the 17 members of the committee, nine of them were his loyalists. If this is true, it further proves his deftness politically.
Sunday Tribune gathered that Atiku mooted the consensus idea as a short cut to his picking the PDP ticket.
He is a dogged fighter with chains of associates and political supporters across the six geo-political zones. It is also believed that a part of the political machinery of the late Musa Yar’Adua, the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), which was a nucleus of the PDP during its formative years–is still under his control and that machinery can be resuscitated to prosecute his presidential war. Atiku, despite his shortcomings, has paid his dues and this appears his last chance if his age long dream of sitting on the driver’s seat of Nigeria is anything to go by.
The bad Despite what his supporters would call a highly intimidating political credential capable of sending shivers down the spines of his opponents, Atiku is not without some liabilities. In his private and public life, a number of issues have come up against him.
The ‘sins’ believed to have been committed by Atiku include but are not limited to alleged corruption, insubordination, disloyalty and championing of ethnic politics.
Despite the Supreme Court ruling that Atiku could not be stopped from contesting the presidential election based on the indictment by an administrative panel set up under Obasanjo, the former number two man is yet to get any legal pronouncement that the allegation of corruption leveled against him on his handling of the finances of the PDTF were not true. Because of this, the pages of newspapers have since his declaration to contest the highest office in the land, been awash with one corruption allegation or the other against him. There are indications that Atiku was being linked with the Siemens and Halliburton scandals. These and many other allegations of financial impropriety while in office are albatrosses on the political neck of the Turaki Adamawa.
It is believed in many circles that Atiku and his camp will do his political aspirations a lot of good if he gets himself cleared from these chains of corruption charges before the PDP primaries. They also argued that because there is no court of law that has cleared him of these charges, his opponents may capitalise on that to rubbish him before the delegates and during the general elections if he eventually grab the PDP ticket.
Another dangerous dimension to the series of allegations against Atiku came from the United States of America in February. A report of the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which conducted a hearing into four cases of money laundering, indicted Atiku and his wife, Jemilah, of orchestrating the entrance of illegal funds into the United States running over $40 million.
Even though the former vice president has denied the allegations, calling them muck raking by the Jonathan administration which he said, is trying to turn a simple money transfer into corruption, the report on a title; Keeping Corruption out of the United States: Four Case Histories detailed how Atiku allegedly laundered funds to Jemila between 2000 and 2008.
“This Report examines how politically powerful foreign officials, their relatives, and close associates – referred to in international agreements as “Politically Exposed Persons†or PEPs –have used the services of U.S. professionals and financial institutions to bring large amounts of suspect funds into the United States to advance their interests. Using four case histories, this report shows how some PEPs used U.S. lawyers, real estate agents, lobbyists, bankers, and even university officials to circumvent U.S. anti-money laundering and anti-corruption safeguards. The report also offers recommendations to stop the abuses.
On Atiku the report said: “From 2000 to 2008, Jennifer Douglas, a U.S. citizen and the fourth wife of Atiku Abubakar, former vice president and former candidate for president of Nigeria, helped her husband bring over $40 million in suspect funds into the United States through wire transfers sent by offshore corporations to U.S. bank accounts. In a 2008 civil complaint, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Ms. Douglas received over $2 million in bribe payments from 2001 and 2002 from Siemens AG, a major German corporation. While Ms. Douglas denies wrongdoing, Siemens has already pled guilty to U.S. criminal charges and settled civil charges related to bribery and told the sub-committee that it sent the payments to one of her U.S. accounts.
“In 2007, Mr. Abubakar was the subject of corruption allegations in Nigeria related to the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).
Of the $40 million in suspect funds, $25 million was wire transferred by offshore corporations into more than 30 U.S. bank accounts opened by Ms. Douglas, primarily by Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria Ltd., LetsGo Ltd. Inc., and Sima Holding Ltd. The U.S. banks maintaining those accounts were, at times, unaware of her PEP status, and they allowed multiple, large offshore wire transfers into her accounts. As each bank began to question the offshore wire transfers, Ms. Douglas indicated that all of the funds came from her husband and professed little familiarity with the offshore corporations actually sending her money. When one bank closed her account due to the offshore wire transfers, her lawyer helped convince other banks to provide a new account.
“In addition, two of the offshore corporations wire transferred about $14 million over five years to American University in Washington, D.C. to pay for consulting services related to the development of a Nigerian university founded by Abubakar. American University accepted the wire transfers without asking about the identity of the offshore corporations or the source of their funds because under current law, the university had no legal obligation to inquire.â€
More worrisome however is a survey conducted by the NOI Polls Limited on the opinion of Nigerians on the candidacy of Atiku Abubakar and published on The Guardian of Thursday, November… on pages 44 and 45. The poll revealed that of all the aspirants who jostled for the PDP ticket before Atiku emerged the consensus of the NLPF, Atiku’s corruption level towered above all others, even above IBB who had all along been seen as the most corrupt Nigerian leader dead or alive.
In another realm, Atiku has also been accused of planning the ouster of his former boss, Obasanjo from office ahead of the 2003 election.
Despite all the claims that the said zoning arrangement is meant to retain power in a zone for eight years, Atiku worked hard to stop Obasanjo from contesting a second term in office in 2003 by picking his own form and engineering PDP governors’ gang up against Obasanjo.
It took the intervention of other PDP stalwarts across the country to stop Atiku from his supplanting move. Even at that, he was said to have instructed the then PDP governors to ensure that they forced Obasanjo to pick him as his running mate in 2003. His defence was that his move was borne out of OBJ’s attempt not to pick him as a running mate.
Another side of Atiku that could be highlighted by his opponents during the campaign is his political instability.
Having campaigned against the PDP, on the AC platform and calling the party, its leadership and members unprintable names, Atiku’s return to the PDP, with the sole aim of actualising his presidential ambition, is likened to the proverbial dog which is returning to its vomit.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
There is not a single state on the African continent that would not today be better off administered under a colonial regime, as Hong Kong was by Britain. If the West genuinely cared about Africa and wanted to make a difference rather than more charity, it would send soldiers to overthrow corrupt and despotic regimes, and constitutional law experts and administrators to architect and operate governing legal and economic systems there patterned after our own.
The West –principally Britain and France – abandoned Africa. The British colonial – to use that unfashionable word- model was reasonably successful worldwide, if less so in Africa, planting institutions incubating and sustaining political and economic freedom. In the Americas economically and politically free countries once governed or administered by Britain include: Canada, the US, Barbados, Jamaica, and Belize; in Asia Pacific: Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Australia and New Zealand; and in Europe: Ireland, and Germany. In stark contrast, France’s colonial legacy includes no free countries, much less any exemplars of freedom.
The African continent is a patchwork quilt of artificially drawn and imposed borders, established, for the most part, by European colonial powers. They force together different, often violently antagonistic, cultural, linguistic and religious groups, resulting in festering tension, outbreaks of horrific violence, and in the politically and militarily dominate group oppressing, brutalizing and harvesting economic rents from other factions. This has resulted in millions of Africans having been slaughtered by other Africans, while the West has simply watched.
By most fundamental metrics the quality of life in Africa is poor and getting worse.
Africa is the least free continent on the planet. The Heritage Foundation’s economic freedom index ranks not a single African economy as free. In most of the continent Africans cannot hold a transferable and enforceable title to their homes and land. This renders the most significant potential source of capital for the average African inert.
2005 Heritage Freedom Rankings Select African countries
2005 Ranking
2005 Score
Libya
153
4.40
Zimbabwe
151
4.36
Nigeria
141
3.95
GuineaBissau
138
3.85
Congo, Republic of
136
3.80
Sierra Leone
135
3.78
Ethiopia
133
3.73
Togo
131
3.68
Malawi
129
3.65
Benin
128
3.63
Cameroon
126
3.60
Rwanda
121
3.54
Niger
118
3.53
Equatorial Guinea
118
3.53
Central African Republic
117
3.51
Algeria
114
3.49
Tanzania
109
3.41
Zambia
106
3.40
TheGambia
106
3.40
Gabon
106
3.40
Chad
103
3.38
Egypt
103
3.38
Lesotho
102
3.36
Mozambique
100
3.34
Ghana
98
3.30
*Note Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan were not rated. Of 155 countries scored, North Korea ranked as the least economically free country on the planet.
Freedom House’s 2003 survey of political rights and civil liberties, ranks no country in Northern Africa as free, and, generously, categorizes 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa as free.
Africans on average live their freedom-starved lives far fewer years than people of any other continent. Life expectancies in huge swaths of Africa are plummeting. Of the ten countries with the world’s lowest life expectancies all are African. Life expectancy in these countries is under 40 years, comparable to medieval England.
Rank
Country
2000-2005 Life Expectancyat Birth (in years)
1
Zambia
32.4
2
Zimbabwe
33.1
3
Sierra Leone
34.2
4
Swaziland
34.4
5
Lesotho
35.1
6
Malawi
37.5
7
Mozambique
38.1
8
Rwanda
39.3
9
Central African Republic
39.5
10
Botswana
39.7
*UN Department of Economic & Social Affairs, Population Division, 2004
In many of these countries Aids and other diseases ravage the population. Aids has not however reduced European and North American life expectancies to medieval levels.
Under Robert Mugabe’s rule life expectancy in Zimbabwe fell from 56 years in 1985 to 33 years in 2005. A boy born in Zambia between 2000 and 2005 has a life expectancy of 32.7 years, which is 7 years less than he would have had if he had been born half a century earlier.
Africa is the world’s economic basket case. Between 1975 and 2000 African GDP per capita fell .6% per year. While most of the world enjoys economic growth, African economic and political systems destroy wealth.
The world’s most impoverished continent exports legitimately saved and ill-gotten capital because capital in Europe and North America is generally safe, welcome and generates reasonable returns. Perhaps even more damaging, Africa also exports its human capital to developed countries.
Few African countries have solid money, which is a requisite but not sufficient condition for vibrant and healthy economies. Twelve of the 25 countries with the world’s highest inflation rates are African.
Inflation rate (%)
CONGO DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
Africa
358.0
ANGOLA
Africa
110.0
SOMALIA
Africa
100.0
ZIMBABWE
Africa
100.0
TURKEY
Europe
69.0
IRAQ
Middle East
60.0
SURINAME
South America
59.0
BELARUS
Europe
46.1
ROMANIA
Europe
34.5
TAJIKISTAN
Asia
33.0
MALAWI
Africa
28.6
CYPRUS
Europe
27.6
GHANA
Africa
25.0
UZBEKISTAN
Asia
23.0
ECUADOR
South America
22.0
RUSSIA
Asia
21.9
ZAMBIA
Africa
21.5
MYANMAR
Asia
20.0
SIERRA LEONE
Africa
15.0
ERITREA
Africa
15.0
NIGERIA
Africa
14.9
SRI LANKA
Asia
14.2
HAITI
North America
14.0
BURUNDI
Africa
14.0
LIBYA
Africa
13.6
Even more destructive of individuals’ efforts to create wealth and better lives for themselves and their families is endemic corruption. In Africa it is pervasive. The Daily Telegraph reported Nigeria’s rulers plundered over $200 billion. Ghanaian economist George Ayittey testified to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in September, 2004 that General Sani Abacha of Nigeria embezzled $20 billion; Ivory Coast President Felix Houphouet-Boigny $6 billion; Nigeria’s General Ibrahim Babangida $5 billion; Zaire’s President Mobutu Sese Seko $4 billion; and Mali’s President Mousa Traore $2 billion. The only thing exceptional about these government looters is the scale of their plunder. Most African leaders steal to the extent they can.
In the face of this continental-scale tragedy, the West indulges in feel-goodism calling for more billions collected from American and European tax payers to be poured down a continental rat hole. Since 1960 on an inflation adjusted basis Africa received more than $400 billion in aid, to no good effect.
Monetary aid is poison. It does not encourage more responsible government. Rather it enables dictatorial government elites to buy military and police support. Corrupt Africa elites enrich themselves and funnel Western tax money and charity into Swiss bank accounts and villas in southern France.
Democrats and Bush Republicans are all for more largesse for Africa, sometimes quibbling on the particulars of its putative use. Much like George Bush, Pat Robertson views the US government, which is to say the American taxpayer, as an enormous and bottomless piggybank with which to do good works. Robertson recently urged that the US to tithe 1% of total Federal spending to aid Africa. A deluge of aid will not fix what ails Africa.
Entertainment celebrities such as Bono and Bob Geldoff organize hyper-publicized extravaganzas, which enhance their moral self-esteem and charitable reputations, but do little, if anything, lasting and system atic to help Africa. More rock concerts and aid are not a solution.
What can be done that will have a meaningful, sustainable and systematic positive impact?
Socialist and kleptocratic despotisms have dominated the African political landscape since the post WW2 decolonization wave. They must be eliminated. It bears mention: African dictators do not of their own volition turn over the keys to honest, reform-minded liberal governments.
The state as a night watchman is a useful conceptual framework. The night watchman guards his charge and their property from threats, theft and assault. In Africa states perform many functions they shouldn’t, but not this most basic and essential function.
Good government serves a vital role in enabling civil society, economic and political liberty, and wealth creation. Good government maintains a framework within which individuals can pursue their fortunes as they see fit.
Governments’ paramount function is to ensure physical security against internal and external threats. Africa is racked by low-level wars, internecine sectarian and tribal violence, and rampant criminal violence.
Government must provide an environment in which the citizenry is physically safe from criminal violence. South Africa, which remains Africa’s most prosperous economy, has the highest level of criminal violence on the planet. Its reported per capita murder rate is 114 per 100,000, versus 1.72 per 100,000 in Canada in 2003 and 5.6 per 100,000 in 2002 in the U.S.
The culture of corruption that infects African government at every level must be utterly rooted out.
Bad guy regimes and endemic corruption must be forcefully and relentlessly vilified by the West, whether the villains are black, brown, or blond with blue eyes, Christian or Muslim.
Africans desperately need genuinely free markets and the supporting legal infrastructure, which treat capital, labor and entrepreneurs well, indeed royally. The establishment of the rule of law, property rights, and impartial contract enforceability is critical.
Most African countries should outsource monetary policy. Adopting the dollar, euro or pound as a national currency, or a currency board, would provide stable money enabling individuals and firms to transact, save and invest with greater certainty, facilitating wealth creation.
Lack of access to Western markets for products in which African producers enjoy comparative advantage such as sugar, cotton and textiles is a huge problem. Western import restrictions and tariffs stymie wealth creation in Africa. Moreover, they punish Western consumers with higher prices and, in a perverse negative cycle, pressure for higher taxes to fund aid to help Africans impoverished by American and European trade barriers.
American and European markets should be unilaterally opened to Africa goods, with protective regimes for Western producers being discarded. This would benefit American and European consumers and African businesses, making Africa, America and Europe wealthier.
Regime change happens with regularity in Africa. For the lucky deposed despots, this means a life of luxury in exile in southern France, for the not so lucky, death. Normally the new gang overthrows the old to become the country’s new chief thieves. Meaningful regime change and reform inAfrica however is not likely absent outside intervention.
The San Francisco Bay Area, Boston and Vermont are full of bumper stickers with pious admonitions such as “War is never the answer.†Nonsense! Force and war are very often the most efficacious and morally correct answer. There are few African countries where five thousand British or American troops couldn’t quickly send the despots packing.
A couple small countries with egregiously revolting regimes could be forcibly transformed into Hong Kong style colonies. Beneficent intervention targets should be selected to maximize the chance of success and the political palatability in the U.S. They should be small enough to be manageable, ruling out countries such as Egypt and Nigeria. They should also be manifestly repugnant regimes. And, arguably, a significant portion of the population should not be fanatical Mohammedans, at least not without a native Atatürk type collaborating in the enterprise.
Several such beneficent interventions might trigger a freedom-and- prosperity-domino effect.
In 2000 Britain’s modest unilateral intervention in Sierra Leone with 1500 troops took control of the government. It organized combating rebels and in 2003 turned over control to the U.N., which in 2004, in turn, passed control to Sierra Leonean forces. Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe is a basket case by any standard. Three to four million Zimbabweans have fled the country. Zimbabweans today are reaping the grim harvest sown a quarter of a century ago by progressive Western elites’ high-minded policies. The paper of record for America’s progressive elites the New York Times in an August 23, 1980 editorial gushed “Mr. Mugabe has quickly established himself as an African statesman of the first rank.†They further applauded Mugabe’s standing “firmly by the rule of law†and urged the US to pony up more aid “to assure Mr. Mugabe’s success.†In a January 20, 1981 editorial the New York Times hailed Zimbabwe as a model that “can still instruct most of its neighbors in the democratic norms.†Wishing it was so does not make it so. This horribly and patently false message relentlessly pounded home by elite Western media tom toms influenced British and American policy with horrendous, bloody and utterly tragic consequences for Africans.
Zimbabwe would be an eminently logical target for Western-imposed regime change. In 2007 former Zimbabwean archbishop Pius Ncube called for foreign intervention to overthrow Mugabe. A Zimbabwe with the pound as a currency, British troops, courts and civil servants, low flat taxes, and an open door to investment, trade and entrepreneurs, would be an economic dynamo and a lighthouse for the continent. African countries lucky enough to have Hong Kong style colonial regimes imposed would rather swiftly become oases of economic growth and freedom, and magnets for immigration, for Africans, Westerners, Asians, et al.
The usual suspects, the same sanctimonious elites who were Mugabe cheerleaders when he was in the bush and apologists for his regime for years, would howl in protest. Africans however would vote en masse with their feet and migrate to islands of liberty, political stability and opportunity, for their families, administered, at least for a while, by Western civil servants and soldiers.
The symptoms and underlying causes of Africa’s malaise are widely understood. Nevertheless for almost half a century, in addressing the African malaise the West has stubbornly indulged in counter productive feel-goodism. Now, acknowledging the worsening human tragedy Western leaders, myopically, and a bit piously, call for more of the same. This is deceptive feel-good fodder for the casually concerned. For political, media, religious and business leaders paying attention, this is a cynical hamster-wheel prescription. This Western folly consigns hundreds of millions of Africans to generations more of shortened, impoverished and less free lives, and unrealized dreams.
Africa needs tough love from the West, not more charity. Corrupt despotic regimes must be changed and the institutional plumbing of economic and political freedom installed, forcibly in at least a few of the worst cases. Does the West have the confidence, will and interest in pursuing such a course? Probably not.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Nigeria made a major step toward demonstrating its commitment to addressing cybercrime by hosting the first West Africa Cybercrime Summit, attended by public and private sector organizations.
The conference is hosted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Microsoft.
“Cybersecurity is not only difficult to tackle, but also requires creative thinkers, talented policy makers who will understand and make people understand why and how a strong cybersecurity framework is a must for the creation of a vibrant national economy,” said Namadi Sambo, Nigeria’s vice president.
Nigeria is known for “advance fee” or “419” scams, which started after the fall of dictator Sani Abacha and a global campaign to have the money looted from the country repatriated, which gave a chance for criminals to masquerade as relatives of former leaders seeking to hide their wealth. Through schemes such as fake lotteries, bogus inheritances, romantic relationships, investment opportunities or — infamously — requests for assistance from “officials,” scammers promise an elusive fortune in exchange for advance payments.
The conference was intended to strengthen trust by fostering partnerships among stakeholders at the national and international level. More than 200 government, civil society, academics, industry and international organizations participated in the conference, held in Abuja between Nov. 30 and Dec. 2.
“Advance fee fraud, particularly 419 scams, has plagued West Africa and damaged the region’s reputation. This summit demonstrates and showcases how West Africa is stepping up to address the impact of fraud, helping to break the cycle through greater economic opportunity,” said Dr. Jummai Umar-Ajijola, citizenship lead for Microsoft Anglophone West Africa.
Artwork: Chip TaylorAccording to Microsoft’s Security Intelligence Report volume 9, advance fee fraud accounted for 8.6 percent of the spam messages blocked by Microsoft Forefront Online Protection for Exchange in the second quarter of 2010.
“Microsoft is committed not only to protecting Internet users from scammers and cybercriminals, but to working with West Africa to combat this problem. We believe this summit is a great opportunity to fight advance fee fraud and help challenge existing attitudes about fraud,” added Umar-Ajijola.
While the Nigerian government has enacted legislation against cybercrime, criminals have found allies in other neighboring countries, and the perception that the scams can provide quick returns has motivated more people to venture in. This has been one of the challenges facing Nigerian authorities.
“Part of the solution involves building the capacity of law enforcement. That takes money: budget for travel, training, equipment and retaining staff after training,” said Steve Santorelli, director of global outreach at Team Cymru. “There is no silver bullet, each country needs a tailored approach based on their culture and specific issues that involves police, regulators, industry, consumer groups and end users.”
Santorelli feels that the Nigerian government has demonstrated that it has put in place policies to combat cybercrime, but added that Nigeria’s reputation as a major source of cybercrime will persist for some time.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
ABUJA—THE United Nations, UN, is sending a six-man team to Nigeria to inspect the arms shipped in 13 containers from Iran and intercepted last month in Apapa port, Lagos. This followed a formal complaint lodged before the United Nations by the Federal Government.
A source, who pleaded anonymity said, yesterday, that the UN team would also meet with top government officials to deliberate on the issue.
It will be recalled that four persons, including one Iranian, were arrested and charged to court over the seized weapons.
The weapons include assorted calibers of mortars and 107 mm rockets, designed to attack static targets and used by armies to support infantry units. They also include shells for a 23 mm anti-aircraft guns.
In the heat of the row between Nigeria and Iran over the arms shipment, Iran had replaced her ambassador to Nigeria, Hussein Abdullahi, who said there was no clear evidence linking his country to the shipment.
Artillery rockets
Nigeria said the artillery rockets and other weapons, found at a Lagos port in October in shipping containers labelled as building supplies, originated from Iran and might have been destined for Nigerian politicians intending violence if they lose in 2011 elections.
Nigeria also said it would take action against Iran if investigations showed it violated international law and U.N. sanctions.
An international shipping company based in France, CMA CGM, said it had picked up the containers in which the weapons were hidden in the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. The shipment stopped in Mumbai, India, before heading to Lagos.
It was gathered that the shipper sought to have the containers reloaded and sent to Gambia, while Nigeria’s intelligence agency said it had been monitoring the shipment, before it arrived in the country.
It also said the shipment’s destination was Nigeria, and “any argument that the cargo came into the country by mistake is false.â€
Sensitive nuclear programme
Nigeria then threatened to report Iran to the UN Security Council if the arms shipment violated sanctions over its sensitive nuclear programme. Foreign Minister, Odein Ajumogobia, said Iranian officials confirmed the consignment originated in Iran.
During his visit, Iranian Foreign Affairs, Minister Mottaki, cleared the way for Nigerian security officials to interview one of two Iranians who Nigeria said organized the shipment, Ajumogobia said. The two Iranians, according to Nigeria took refuge in the Iranian Embassy.
Diplomatic and security sources outside Iran said the intended destination of the weapons had not been clarified yet, but they added that investigations have focused on two Iranians believed to be senior members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.
A Security Council resolution bans Iran from “supplying, selling or transferring directly or indirectly from its territory or by its nationals … any arms or related materialâ€. Nigerian security agents questioned one of the two Iranian men involved in the arms shipment but could not meet the second because he had diplomatic immunity.
Diplomatic sources outside Iran said the two are believed to be members of al_Quds, an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guards that specialises in foreign operations on behalf of Iran, French-based shipping group CMA CGM said the containers carrying the arms shipment, which was labelled as building materials, had been loaded in Iran by a local trader.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
ABUJA—President Goodluck Jonathan, weekend, said Nigerian youths contribute 80% of National Gross Domestic Product, GDP.
President Jonathan spoke during the launch of African Union Youth Volunteer Corps, where 37 Nigerian youths selected to join the Corps were unveiled by the Minister of Youth Development, Senator Akinlabi Olasunkunmi.
Represented by Secretary to Government of the Federation, SGF, Yayale Ahmed, Jonathan acknowledged the contribution of Nigeria youths to the national economy.
“Our youth contribute 80% of the GDP in our nation. Let’s come together and fight hunger and poverty. You can become ambassadors of youth in the future,†he declared.
He also urged African youths to take advantage of their huge number of 60% of the continent’s population to make positive impact by promoting youth participation and positive values in nation building.
Speaking earlier, Senator Olasunkunmi said the Corps was an initiative of the AU Commission aimed at involving young Africans in the development of their continent, stressing that volunteerism had, for many centuries, been part and parcel of societies.
He noted that the Corps was in line with the AU strategic pillars of peace and security, development, integration and co-operation, shared values and institution as well as capacity building.
The minister stated further that youths who engaged in volunteerism were less likely to abuse drugs, alcohol, cigarettes or destructive behaviour.
He added that youth volunteers were more likely to do well in school, graduate, vote and be philanthropic
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
SINGAPORE, Dec 04, 2010 (The Straits Times – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) —
Commodities supplier Olam International is setting up a US$200 million sugar refinery in Nigeria with a joint-venture partner.
Singapore-listed Olam will take 80 per cent of the entity, with Nigerian partner Lababidi Group (LG) holding the rest.
The refinery will be located on Tincan Island, on a site next to the port of Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos.
Olam said that a port-based refinery would enjoy cost and logistics advantages over an inland facility.
It would also provide better access to markets in West Africa and other countries on the continent.
According to a presentation posted on the Singapore Exchange website, Nigeria is the largest consumer of sugar in Africa, excluding South Africa.
Its consumption increased from 1.25 million tonnes in 2003 to 1.6 million tonnes last year.
Olam expects consumption to increase to 2 million tonnes by around 2014 due to population growth and rising incomes.
Managing director and chief executive Sunny Verghese said Olam had developed capabilities in the sugar industry through investments in India and Indonesia over the past few years.
“We are now excited to have this opportunity to enter into a joint venture with LG to set up a port-based refinery in Nigeria,” he said.
LG chairman Chief Maan Lababidi said: “We believe that Olam’s global network in sourcing, procurement, extensive marketing and distribution within Nigeria, strong risk management culture and sugar refining expertise will be critical to the success of the project.”
The refinery is expected to start production in mid-2013 with a capacity of 1,500 tonnes per day.
It should produce 450,000 tonnes of white sugar during its first full year of operation.
Raw sugar will be sourced primarily from Brazil, with the refined product to be supplied to domestic as well as other African markets.
LG is one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most diversified business groups, with interests in wheat milling, telecommunications and port real estate.
The group operates wheat mills in Guinea Conakry and controls Starcomms, Nigeria’s fourth-largest telecommunications operator.
Last month, Olam announced ventures in Africa which include a US$1.3 billion fertiliser plant and a US$236 million investment plan for palm plantations in Gabon.
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Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Ivory Coast is in lockdown with ports, borders, and airports sealed and foreign broadcasts jammed as president Laurent Gbagbo’s allies rejected election results that showed him beaten by his rival.
Supporters of opposition leader Alassane Ouattara celebrate in the streets after the electoral commission head announced his victory in last Sunday’s presidential run-off, in the Abobo neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast The results were delayed amid accusations of cheating by both sides, though the United Nations mission said the election was sound overall Photo: AP
World powers sharpened their warnings to Ivorian leaders to settle the dispute peacefully, but the chaos in the west African state deepened after days of bloodshed and fraud allegations that have disrupted the landmark vote.
“The land, air and sea borders are closed to all movement of people and goods from this Thursday at 8:00 pm (2000 GMT) until further notice,” the army said in a declaration on state television.
Shortly afterwards foreign television news channels including France 24 and CNN as well as Radio France International went off the air in Ivory Coast. An official statement said this was to “keep the peace.”
Authorities had ordered “the immediate suspension of all foreign news channels” carried by the Canal+ Horizon network, which provides all such broadcasts available in Ivory Coast, the statement said.
Earlier, the electoral commission (CEI) had announced that provisional results showed opposition leader Alassane Ouattara had beaten Mr Gbagbo in the disputed polls by 54 to 46 per cent.
But Paul Yao N’Dre, an ally of the president and the head of the country’s Constitutional Council which has the final say on elections, said the results were invalid since the commission had over-run the legal deadline for releasing its results.
A UN Security Council statement said after an emergency meeting that its members “reiterated their readiness to take the appropriate measures against those who obstruct the electoral process” – a veiled threat of sanctions.
Mr Ouattara has accused Mr Gbagbo of trying to cling to power by blocking the results of the election, which has been marred by bloodshed.
Witnesses meanwhile gave more details of violence, accusing security forces of having shot dead eight Ouattara supporters at a local office of his RDR party in a largely pro-Gbagbo district of Abidjan.
The army confirmed the incident but said it had come under fire first and that it had retaliated, killing four.
The polls aim to end a decade of instability in Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer and formerly west Africa’s most prosperous country.
It was shaken by a coup in 1999 and split in two when rebels of the New Forces took control of the north, Ouattara’s homeland, after a foiled coup against Gbagbo in 2002.
The results were delayed amid accusations of cheating by both sides, though the United Nations mission said the election was sound overall
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The world loses $557 million annually to cyber crime, The United States tops the world with 65 per cent, followed by the United Kingdom, 9.9 per cent, and Nigeria’s eight per cent. With Ghana now ranked among the top 10 countries in the world where the crime, popularly known as 419, is most prevalent.
Two other West African countries, namely, Nigeria and Cameroun, are also among the top 10 countries, according to the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria, Mrs Farida Waziri.
Nigeria, by far, leads the African group with eight per cent rate of the crime, followed by Ghana and Cameroun with 0.7 and 0.6 per cent, respectively.
It was a suprise that the United States tops the world with 65 per cent, followed by the United Kingdom, 9.9 per cent because the duo always refer Africa as the Engine house for Fraudsters.
Others are Canada, 2.2 per cent; Malaysia, seven per cent; Ghana 0.7 per cent; South Africa, 0.7 per cent; Spain, 0.7 per cent, and Cameroon, 0.6 per cent.
“Although we contribute an insignificant portion to cyber crime, that is unjustifiable because any level of criminality cannot be accepted,” the EFCC Chairman stated.
Mrs Waziri was speaking at the opening ceremony of the first West African Cyber Crime Summit (WACCS) which is currently going on in Abuja, Nigeria.
More than 300 delegates, mainly law enforcement personnel, from 10 West African countries are attending the three-day workshop which is on the theme, “The Fight against Cyber Crime: Towards Innovative and Sustainable Economic Development.”
The objectives of WACCS are to position the fight against cyber crime as a national priority to help the economic development of the region, provide a platform to develop capacity building with scalable and sustainable solutions and strengthen trust by developing partnerships among various stakeholders at the national and international level.
The summit is also expected to showcase best practices and case studies of partner organisations in combating cyber crime.
The event is being hosted by the EFCC, in collaboration with Microsoft, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with the participation of the Council of Europe, the International Police Organisation (INTERPOL) and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).
Mrs Waziri pointed out that the $557 million was the recorded figure from reported cases, adding that the figure could run into billions of dollars if most victims reported cyber crimes.
She explained that most victims shied away from reporting their losses to the authorities for fear of being branded greedy, gullible or stupid.
She said the goal of West African governments should be to ensure that their countries dropped out of the top 10.
She also hinted that there was a gradual movement of cyber criminals from Nigeria to neighbouring West African States.
Mrs Waziri, therefore, urged political leadership across West Africa to adopt common measures and strategies for combating cyber crime, which was gradually creeping into other West African countries.
The Vice-President of Nigeria, Dr Mohammed Namadi Sambo, in a speech read on his behalf, stated that as a follow-up to the summit, the Nigerian government would collaborate with stakeholders in the sub-region with a view to anticipating and pro actively outlining policy initiatives to fight cyber crime.
For his part, the General Manager of Microsoft Anglophone West Africa, Mr Emmanuel Onyeje, urged banks, schools, health care institutions, among others, to find innovative ways of fighting cyber crime, since it affected people from all walks of life.
Representatives from the UNODC, the Ministry of Justice, the Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics, Financial Crimes and Anti-corruption, ECOWAS, among others, pledged their readiness to help fight cyber crime.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Nigeria’s benchmark stock index climbed for a fifth day, the longest streak of increases since Oct. 18, led by Zenith Bank Plc, the country’s biggest lender by market value, and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, the third largest.
Banks led the rally, with Zenith rising 2.9 percent to 15.01 naira, the highest in more than a week. Guaranty gained 3.2 percent to 16 naira, the highest since Nov. 19.
Asset Management Corp. of Nigeria, a state-owned company set up to buy bad debts from the West African nation’s banks, plans to sell 2.5 trillion naira ($16.6 billion) of three-year, zero-coupon bonds to finance the purchases, Managing Director Mustafa Chike-Obi said in an interview in Lagos, published after Bloomberg News received notification from the stock exchange of the market close today.
Amcon will buy back 2.2 trillion naira bad debts that resulted from loans to stock speculators and threatened to cripple the banking industry. The central bank fired the chief executive officers of eight of the country’s 24 lenders, and took stakes in some of them, spending 620 billion naira to recapitalize the industry.
Oceanic Bank International Plc, one of the lenders bailed out by the Central Bank of Nigeria, increased 2.8 percent to 2.59 naira, taking its advance this year to 53 percent.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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