Tuesday, March 31, 2015

The Economist on Nigerian Oil Curse

This week's Economist highlights [economist.com] the corruption infested state of the Nigerian oil production at the eve of the new elections. It's well known there is rampant stealing ongoing, and the article gives some some examples of them, and their causes. While anyone who might pose a threat to those that benefit is quickly shoved aside, as happened with the Central Bank governor Lamido Sanusi (also reported at this blog [here]), who was asking where $20B had gone.

A new presidency would do well to start reforming the oil sector for the benefit of the entire country.

At the moment of writing the counting of votes are still ongoing, with some reports [ft.com, and nytimes.com] noting that the opponent, Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler, is at the advantage. He has stated at several occasions (reported here [allafrica.com] and here [ibtimes.com] for instance) that weeding out corruption in the oil sector would be one of his priorities.

The Economist ends its article with a wish from a local of the Niger delta, that the oil was never found as it destroyed their livelihoods.

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