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| Africa: Subsaharan |
| Another Oil Problem in the Making? OPEC’s Nigeria in state of emergency. |
| 2004-05-19 |
| Several leading Nigerians have reacted nervously to President Olusegun Obasanjo’s declaration of a state of emergency in Plateau State. They fear the impact that the decree will have on democracy in the country. But some have welcomed the decision, feeling it is the only way to restore peace to the region. In a televised address, the president said serious action was needed to deal with a situation which he described as bordering on "mutual genocide". Hundreds of Muslims were killed by Christian militants in the town of Yelwa earlier this month. In February, 49 Christians were killed in a church. Christians have reacted angrily to the president’s statement. Speaking for the Christian Association of Nigeria, the head of the Anglican church, the Most Reverend Peter Akinola, demanded a state of emergency also be imposed on Kano State in which Christians had recently been killed. "Kano ...has pursued with fervour the plan to exterminate non-Muslims at the slightest opportunity," he said in a statement. "We believe that what is good for the goose is equally good for the gander." At the National Assembly in the capital Abuja, Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi of Lagos State, also criticised the decision. He told reporters: "This is a sad day for democracy. It’s a day we should hang our heads, not celebrate." This sentiment was echoed by leading Nigerian human rights lawyer and long-standing critic of President Obasanjo, Femi Falana. "Nigeria has gone to the dogs," he told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme. "Democracy has been assaulted. Dictatorship has been restored." Mr Falana also described the president’s suspension of state governor Joshua Dariye as "unacceptable" and "illegal". Muslim groups in Plateau State had accused Mr Dariye of telling "non-indigenes" - which correspondents say means Muslims - to leave the state. Mr Dariye, who is from Mr Obasanjo’s People’s Democratic Party, will be replaced by retired General Chris Ali for at least six months. But the member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives for Wase - a town in Plateau State - welcomed the move. "I feel on top of the world," Ibrahim Bello Yero told the BBC’s Jamillah Tangaza in Abuja. "My people will now have peace," he said. An Islamic group, the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, complained that the decision had come too late for the Muslim massacre victims, but nevertheless also praised the move. "For the first time there has been an attempt to do the right thing about sectarian violence in this country," the body’s Secretary general, Nafi’u Baba Ahmed, told AFP news agency. On 2 May, militants from the Christian Tarok ethnic group attacked the Muslim town of Yelwa, leaving hundreds dead. Tarok farmers and Muslim Hausa-Fulani cattle-herders have frequently clashed over access to land and thousands have fled their homes. In March, 20 people were killed in clashes between the two groups on the eve of local elections. Muslim youths attacked Christians in the northern city of Kano last week, after Muslim groups held a march there to urge the government to take action in Plateau State. Mr Obasanjo visited Plateau State last week and was involved in angry exchanges with religious leaders, who accused him of not doing enough to stop the violence. He called one Christian leader a "total idiot". |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #10 You got it right virginian but you forgot 6. It's a commodty just like copper, nuthin more nuthin less |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-05-19 7:23:44 PM |
| #9 Nigeria in state of emergency You mean it wasn't? That's not what Dr. Jonas Sababooboo told me in his last letter. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-05-19 6:34:14 PM |
| #8 Perfect storm: Oil analysts say it's already here. Multiple factors in place for sharp price rise: 1. Unexpected demand from China 2. Lack of refining capacity in US 3. Shortage of light sweet crude needed for US special environmental requirements 4. Inelastic demand (so far) in US 5. Terrorism |
| Posted by: virginian 2004-05-19 4:45:01 PM |
| #7 I see a perfect storm coming! No problemo. I have my trusty two-wheeled Honda steed to tide me over.... |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-05-19 3:34:52 PM |
| #6 The current issue of National Geographic has a great piece on the future of oil. Some say oil production will peak in 2016; others in around 2040. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-05-19 3:15:18 PM |
| #5 Hundreds of Muslims were killed by Christian militants in the town of Yelwa earlier this month. In February, 49 Christians were killed in a church. Ya'd think...considering the Crusades, etc. that the Muslim's might start to see the Darwinian correlation at some point in time. Don't kill Christians...no repercussions. Kill Christians, expect a repercussions tenfold. Darwin, like the US in Karbala, is slow, but ultimately effective. |
| Posted by: B 2004-05-19 9:33:28 AM |
| #4 I see a perfect storm coming! |
| Posted by: Phil B 2004-05-19 9:17:45 AM |
| #3 Oil is a gift from Allah to his chosen people. It's every moslems sworn duty to take it back from the infidels. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-05-19 9:05:53 AM |
| #2 Didja ever notice how militant Islam tends to gravitate toward where there's lots of oil? Wonder what their long-term strategy might be? |
| Posted by: Fred 2004-05-19 8:46:39 AM |
| #1 Most of the oil is in the south. Islam is in the North. The Islamic violence in Plateau is not, by itself, a threat to the oil industry. Of course spill over is another thing. |
| Posted by: mhw 2004-05-19 8:15:43 AM |