Five Ways To Face the Storm Now Brewing In Nigeria

 Fund the north, create jobs for the youth, reform the police, create the national ombudsman's office, convene a sovereign national conference.

1. Fund the North: The New Nigeria Development Corporation has replaced the Northern Nigeria Development Corporation that was established in 1956 and taken over by northern state governments in 1966.
The old body served as a holding company to promote investment and trade. The new corporation could be revamped and supported with commercial and state finance, operating under full market disclosure and with a technocratic executive board.
The World Bank's private-sector affiliate, the International Finance Corporation, could serve as an effective model.
2. Create jobs for the youth: The National Youth Service Corps is an excellent initiative to get Nigerian students to live in different regions and to promote a stronger national identity.
Today, there is a pressing need to ensure that graduates find sustainable jobs. That argues for linking the ideals of the youth corps project with the economic imperative of job creation.
As youth corpsmembers take up internships in staterun and commercial institutions, the government could provide incentives to employers willing to offer training and permanent employment.
3. Reform the Police: Seen as oppressive and predatory, the 300,000- strong police force commands low levels of public confidence. Armed attacks on police stations and officers contribute to rocketing absenteeism.
A complex bill to reform the force is stuck in the National Assembly.
4. Create the National Ombudsman's Office: An effective ombudsman's office could address citizens' complaints about public servces and the failure to investigate corruption. It would have the power to investigate abuses by the security forces and to seek speedy redress for victims.
5. Convene a sovereign national conference: The looming centenary in 2014 of Nigeria's enforced incorporation as a national entity provides a  focus for a participatory review of the structures of government and revenue allocation.
It is the toughest of topics, but an open debate on the issues and options would be the best response to the increasingly shrill calls for secession, compulsory or voluntary.
These calls come from extreme rejectionists in the north, but also from rich southerners who see no value in union with their poorer northern compatriots.
This article was first published in the November edition of The Africa Report, on sale at newsstands,
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Nigeria's Adamu loses CAS appeal against Fifa ban

Nigeria's Amos Adamu has lost his appeal against a three-year ban from football.

He was sanctioned by football's world governing body Fifa after allegations of corruption in the run-up to the decision on who should host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
He took his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)  , which has rejected his appeal.
"CAS considered the sanction was not disproportionate," the court said.

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"[The ban] was even relatively mild, considering the seriousness of the offence."

Adamu was filmed by reporters from a British newspaper, the Sunday Times, who posed as lobbyists for a consortium of American companies that wanted to bring the World Cup to the United States.
He was offered $800,000 to build four artificial football pitches in Nigeria and was banned for a breach of Fifa's code of ethics.
"The CAS panel stressed that it was of crucial importance that top football officials should not only be honest but should evidently and undoubtedly be seen to be honest," the judgement said.
"With respect to the behaviour of Dr Adamu, the CAS panel was comfortably satisfied that he was far from actively and unambiguously refusing the improper offer set forth by the alleged lobbyists." 
He has always maintained his innocence and has pursued this appeal as far as it can go.
The CAS judgement says Adamu argued that the evidence against him should have been rejected because "the journalists would have violated the Swiss Criminal Code" in gathering their material.
But the court rejected that claim, saying it was "an international tribunal sitting in Switzerland" and as such is not bound to follow the rules of the Swiss courts.
It also said no judge had declared the evidence was unlawfully obtained and "it was not even sure that the Sunday Times journalists acted illegally".
Adamu's case, and those of a number of other Fifa members, sparked a crisis at football's world governing body.
Two more former executives, Amadou Diakite of Mali and Ahongalu Fusimalohi of Tonga, are both waiting for the results of their own appeals to CAS over allegations of corruption made by the Sunday Times.
Adamu was first sanctioned by Fifa in November 2010, a decision which was confirmed in February last year.
He filed an appeal last May and the case was heard in October, but it has taken until now for a final decision to be reached.

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Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan Admits Oil and Bank Corruption

Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan has promised a crackdown on "massive corrupt practices" in the country's banking and oil sectors
He was vague, however, about how to handle the problem which is believed to lose Nigeria millions of dollars a year as money is siphoned off by bent government officials and executives in the two key industries.
One solution, he suggested, would be to introduce a voucher system which would cut out government involvement and allow a direct link between buyer and seller.
Jonathan said the government had reduced corruption in fertilizer procurement and distribution using a similar fix. It was now time to concentrate on the oil and banking sector, he said.
"Corruption is not just one group of people. Look at fertilizer. When government used to distribute it, there was a lot of corruption. Today, the farmer buys fertilizer directly from the manufacturers and dealers. The government subsidises the fertilizer. We give farmers tokens so they can buy it and cut out the middleman. So corruption is reduced.
"That's exactly what I want to do with the oil sector and also in the banking sector. There are massive corrupt practices," Allafrica quoted Jonathan.
Nigeria pumps 2.4 million barrels a day but has the potential of producing up to 4 million barrels a day, according to industry experts. It loses up to 150,000 barrels of crude oil a day to thieves.

"That's exactly what I want to do with the oil sector and also in the banking sector. There are massive corrupt practices," Allafrica quoted Jonathan.
Nigeria pumps 2.4 million barrels a day but has the potential of producing up to 4 million barrels a day, according to industry experts. It loses up to 150,000 barrels of crude oil a day to thieves.
Ian Craig, director of Royal Dutch Shell in sub-Saharan Africa, said that oil production suffered from frequent attacks by rebels on oil pipelines, lack of funding by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and uncertain regulations.
Oil theft has plagued Nigeria's oil sector for years but it is unclear who is behind it. International crime rings have been implicated. The stolen oil is often sold on the black market in neighbouring countries or internationally at rock bottom prices.
In  The Moment newspaper in 2011, the chairman of the Indigenous Ship Owners Association of Nigeria, Isaac Jolapamo, was quoted accusing the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Pipeline and Products Marketing Company and major and independent oil marketers of acting as "patrons" of the oil thieves' vessels.
In 2011 classified US cables leaked on WikiLeaks showed that the NNPC allocated $1 per barrel of Nigerian oil to former president Olusegun Obasanjo, while Nigerian senate president David Mark and house speaker Dimeji Bankole allegedly each pocketed 50 US cents a barrel. Other Nigerian politicians accused of similar activities were also discussed in the cables.