Nigerian Politics
First comes the good news, reported by the New York Times. It seems there has been a decline in perceived corruption in Africa, including Nigeria. Is it the result of policy decisions and actions by Nigerian officials?(See the earlier posts about Nigeria's anti-corruption campaign:
Then there's the uptick in activity aimed at Nigeria's 2007 presidential election. Will the system work? Or perhaps we should ask whether the power elite will let the system work?
ONE: The New York Times reported recently that Nigeria and other African countries appear to have made progress in the campaign against corruption. Students could compare these rankings to the rankings done by Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.
In Africa, a More Business-Friendly Approach
"Africa moved up from last place to the middle of the pack among world regions in carrying out changes that make it easier to start and run a business, according to a World Bank report released Tuesday.
"Tanzania and Ghana catapulted this year into the ranks of the top 10 reformers. Rwanda and Nigeria made it into the top 20.
And 26 other African countries took modest steps to ease business regulations “by the stroke of a minister’s pen,” the report noted.
"Africa, the world’s poorest region, currently has the highest tax rates and some of its most convoluted and antiquated business regulations. In every African country, most businesses operate underground, beyond the reach of regulators and tax collectors...
"The World Bank’s 'Doing Business' report ranked 175 countries by the number of days it takes to start a business and on other indicators that measure contract enforcement, investor protections, corporate taxation levels and the flexibility businesses have to hire and fire workers."
TWO: Let the games begin
Nigerians now have a date for the next election. But little else is certain
(see p. 45 of the September 2 issue of The Economist)
"ON AUGUST 29th Olusegun Obasanjo, president of Africa's most populous country, finally announced the date of elections to choose his successor: April 21st 2007. The organisation of these polls, which could mark Nigeria's first successful transition from one civilian government to another since independence in 1960, gives Mr Obasanjo an opportunity to help cement his country's fragile democracy...
"But there is a long way to go if a free and fair election is to take place.
"For a start, the country's electoral commission... is in a mess.... It has barely started the monumental task of registering the country's voters and is unlikely to be equipped to deal with Nigeria's predilection for serious vote-rigging...
"The splits in the elite are unnerving, considering the bloody sectarian violence that often accompanies political divisions in Nigeria. Its 140m people are equally divided between Christians and Muslims and split between three main ethnic groups and hundreds of minorities. The debate over Mr Obasanjo's successor is partly centred on whether his successor should come from the Muslim-dominated north or the Christian-dominated south...
"The jockeying for power has increased the sense of insecurity across the country. Three candidates for governor in different states have been killed in the past two months, while political mafias in some parts of the country have been buying up thugs and unleashing them on each other in anticipation of a bloody race for power...
"Nigerians may have a date for the election, but that is small comfort in troubling times. If the violence and instability worsen, and Mr Obasanjo does resort to a 'transitional government' to try to prolong his rule, they know one thing: the last time that happened, in 1993, the government was toppled just months later in a military coup."
THREE: The Washington Post reports on Fraud Allegations Fuel Fight Between Top Nigerian Officials
"President Olusegun Obasanjo sent the Senate a report by a state anti-corruption agency accusing his deputy of diverting millions of dollars in public funds to private business concerns, officials said Thursday.
"Vice President Atiku Abubakar rejected the report as a 'cocktail of lies' and threatened to present lawmakers with 127 impeachable offenses against Obasanjo, including milking the state oil company of funds for political activities...
"The two men have waged a low-intensity power struggle for years...
"The elections next year should mark the first democratic handover of power in Africa's most populous country since independence from Britain in 1960...
"The anti-corruption agency's report details what it said was the authorization by Abubakar of millions of dollars in payments from the Petroleum Technology Development Fund to private business concerns.
"Abubakar's spokesman... said Abubakar plans to ask the Senate to investigate what he called 127 impeachable offenses by Obasanjo, including the use of "phony accounts" for the president's political activities funded by the state oil company..."
See earlier entries on presidential politics,
posted by Ken Wedding @ 8:35 AM
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