nigeria in a changing world

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Vol 1 No 1

NIGERIA IN A CHANGING WORLD

De-TribedA JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND CULTURE IN NIGERIA

Contributors: Chris Ngwodo, Kasim Sodangi, Leonard Ugbajah, Dike Chukwumerije

A publication of the Initiative for the Advancement of Good Leadership

Mar 2013


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Contents

Editorial

NIGERIA AND REGIONAL SECURITY 7

Chris Ngwodo

THE CLIMATE IS AGAINST US TOO? 10Kasim Sodangi

NIGERIA AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMY:Threats and Opportunities 14Leonard Ugbajah

DEFINING NIGERIAS FOREIGN POLICYIN THE 21st CENTURY 19Dike Chukwumerije

Contributors


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Editorial

What exactly does it mean to be a nationalist? It hasbecome one of those words in our political lexicon that means

very little. Most times, when people use it they mean they arenot tribalistic. But thats like answering the question, Whoare you? with the answer I am not you. Yes, but who are you?Beyond a vague allusion to being above parochial sentiments,what policies and positions ow logically from being nationalist?

To me nationalist is a body of ideas - an actualperspective. There is a way in which the idea of being Nigerian

will appeal to a generation of people born and bred outside theirstates of origin, educated in Unity schools, grown up in a socially-mixed Nigeria, not as uent in mother-tongues but multi-lingual all the same. This magazine is dedicated to articulatingthat perspective. It wont be easy because the perception thatNigerian is an indirect identity, accessible only through theprimary ethno-tribal identities, is still very strong. But every

identity is a story; if it has dedicated storytellers, it will live.This rst issue speaks to Nigerias external environment.

She lives in world that affects her as a composite entity, even ifher own citizens may not see her as one. The threats coming fromregional instability, climatic factors and wider global economictrends are very real, real enough to sink the proverbial shipof state. But, often times, it takes grievous external threats to

bring national character and identity sharply into focus. As theworlds most populous black nation, Nigeria occupies a symbolicposition in the universe of ideas. And the real tragedy would beto realize the value of the state we have only after we have lost it.

With this I am happy to introduce you to thismaiden edition of De-Tribed: Nigeria in a Changing World.

Enjoy.

Dike ChukwumerijeMarch 2013


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There are those who argue that with its

myriad of domestic challenges, Nigeriashould eschew foreign engagementsand focus her resources on xing thehome front. They contend that howevercompetent a physician Nigeria may beto the rest of Africa, she needs to healherself. The case for putting our ownhouse in order before embarking onany grand internationalist schemes is acompelling one. However, we shouldnot view the call for a robust foreignpolicy and the need to revitalize oureconomy as an either/or proposition.

This is a false choice. Insularism isan impossible luxury by reason ofNigerias geographical location andthe realities of a world in which localtrends and global currents intersect atmultiple levels.

Nigeria is a weak state surrounded by even weaker states. Despiteher vulnerabilities, she is by far the richest and most militarilypowerful state in West Africa, and her economy dwarfs that ofthe rest of the sub-region put together. In the event of widespreadsub-regional instability, she would be nearly every refugeesdestination of choice. Given her lax border controls, Nigeria wouldsuffer adversely if neighbouring countries, already suffering from

varying degrees of instability, were to collapse. In the early 1980s,for instance, the collapse of agrarian communities in the Saheldue to severe drought sparked off an uncontrolled migration

NIGERIA AND REGIONAL SECURITY

By CHRIS NGWODO


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into Northern Nigeria which coincided with the emergence ofMaitatsine, an ultraviolent Islamist anarchist cult founded bya Cameroonian national. Maitatsine launched sporadic revoltsagainst the Nigerian state that lasted from 1980 to 1985.

Since 2004, chronic droughts in the Sahel and the consequentdisintegration of agrarian communities have once again coincidedwith an Islamist insurgency in Northern Nigeria, this time,spearheaded by Boko Haram.This is no coincidence. Nigeriais vulnerable to security threats

generated by the convergenceof insurgency, organized crime,sovereignty-decient statesand sundry non-state actorsin the Sahel and the Maghreb.Northeastern Nigeria hashistorically been prone to cross-

border banditry carried out byarmed gangs based in Chad andNiger Republic. Intelligencesources have long sinceidentied linkages between BokoHaram and other Sahelian andMaghrebian extremist groupsincluding Al Qaeda in the IslamicMaghreb, AQIM.

We must consider the implicationsof western military incursionsinto Africa for the sovereignty

of her beleaguered nation-states.America has established basesin Burkina Faso and Niger forreconnaissance drones which it

Noteworthy Newsoday Mali, tomorrow Nigeria or al-Qaeda

22 JANUARY, 2013RICHARD DOWDEN

http://www.punchng.com/opinion/today-mali-tomorrow-nigeria-or-al-qaeda/

Until recently Mali was amous only or itsmusic and or imbuktu our nickname ornowhere. Suddenly, the French are invading

this huge, poor, sparsely populated, landlockedArican country, much o which is an empty

desert

the North o the country, the Sahara Desert,has been home to Salafstrebels pushed outrom Algeria in the late 1990s and targeted

by militant Islamist movements inspiredand unded bySaudi Wahhabi Islamic

undamentalists, preaching jihad against theWest

Suddenly, rom being a blank space on themap, the Sahara rom Senegal in the west toSomalia in the east is beginning to look likethe springboard or a new Islamist oensiveby the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and

other Islamist groups. Mali borders sevenArican countries; next-door Niger, an equallyragile state, another ve. According toAricaConfdential, a well-respected newsletter, the

Islamists are targeting Mauritania next, with itsrich shing grounds and mineral wealth, and

then Niger, which has uranium and oil.But the biggest prize would be the

destabilisation o Nigeria to the southeast,

shortly to take over rom South Arica asAricas biggest economy and chie oreign

supplier o oil or the United States


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says are strictly for surveillance. Drone warfare of the sort Americahas waged in the Afghan-Pakistan border area could radicalizeMuslim communities and create a militant Islamist solidaritybetween aggrieved societies across the world and local actors in theSahel thereby escalating instability both within and immediately

without our borders. These are complications that we can ill-afford.

Nigerias pirate-infested southern coastal waters are now rankedthe second most dangerous in the world after Somalias, withpossibilities for convergence between oil thieves and pirates in theNiger Delta and drug trafckers in the narco-state of Guinea Bissau.

Neighbours like Sao Tome andPrincipe and Equatorial Guinea arealso at risk from the growing cloutof such non-state actors. Extensivemaritime cooperation with ourcoastal neighbours is necessary to

curb piracy and oil theft.

Noteworthy NewsNigeria hit by three pirate attacks in eight

days: agency14 FEBRUARY 2013

JOE BROCK and JONAHAN SAUL(Editing by MICHAEL HOLDEN)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/14/us-nigeria-piracy-idUSBRE91D18220130214

(Reuters) - Pirates attacked three vessels othe coast o Nigeria in the space o eight days

this month, killing one person, a maritimeagency said, in a sign o worsening security o

the coast o Aricas biggest oil exporter...Piracy o the Nigerian coast and elsewhere inthe Gul o Guinea is on the rise. Te coast-line, rich in natural resources such as cocoaand metals, is second only to the waters o

Somalia or the risk o pirate attacks, whichdrives up shipping and oil industry costs.

Tere are also growing concerns about theonshore creeks o the Niger Delta, where oil

the and kidnapping is rie...

With weak states surrounding her,Nigeria cannot afford to be insular.Even as she implements much-needed repairs internally, she alsohas to engage in strengthening thestates around her. The transnationalnature of security threats stronglysuggests that nation-building issomething we should be pursuingat home and in the near-abroad,

our dened sphere of inuence. In the current realities, it isimpossible to fashion a national security strategy that does nottake cognizance of the structural vulnerabilities of our neighbours.Therefore, an activist foreign policy is not a wasteful indulgence; itis a strategic necessity.


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To imagine that the Sahara Desert

was once a sea! Even now, theworlds largest groundwaterreservoirs lie beneath its sands,twice the size of the Caspian Sea.Certainly, research has shownthat Lake Chad is a shrunken sea,still receding to this day.1 It is

safe, therefore, to assume that thenow arid Northern Nigeria wasswampy once, not unlike todaysNiger Delta. I remember my fathertelling me about his childhood,with swamps and crocodilesaround the ancient homestead in

Katsina. Frankly, all that is hardto imagine now, but looking atthe effects of desertication in thelast 20 years, my fathers storiesseem very plausible.

One thing is abundantly clear, though - the desert is upon us. We

certainly cannot grow groundnuts like we used to. In 2005, formerPresident Olusegun Obasanjo proposed a Green Wall Initiative,an ambitious plan to stem desertication by planting trees in aline stretching from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east. Theplan was adopted by the AU in 2007, and the 11 countries involvedsigned a convention to implement it in 2010. Major funding for theproject was even obtained from the Global Environment Facility in

2011.2 But not much has been heard or seen since.1 A little new light: selected historical writings o Proessor Abdullahi Smith, Volume 1; http://www.boinc.sk/clanky/libyas-great-man-made-river; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Chad2 http://www.thege.org/ge/great-green-wall

THE CLIMATE IS AGAINST US TOO?

By KASIM SODANGI


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Desertication has meant that Fulani herdsmen have had to movefurther and further South to graze cattle. Clashes with local farmershave been reported from Jibiya in Katsina State to Delta State inthe Niger Delta.3 Violent clashes with Fulanis are tangled up withother tribal-religious wars that have been reported in Plateau,

Nassarawa, Taraba and Benue States. This conict has been ongoingfor decades and shows no sign of abating any time soon, unless thegovernment decides to take rm action against some of the rootcauses of this conict. When will that happen? Your guess is asgood as mine.

Desertication is only one side of the story, we have seen more rainfallin the last few years than any time in recent memory; and it is veryprobable that we will see even more. This singular phenomenoncan be credited with Nigerias 7% average GDP growth in the last 5or 6 years. Abundant rain has meant more agriculture and farmingto feed the population explosion in Nigeria. This has meant largerconsumption in the country, causing agriculture to contribute awhooping 40% to our GDP (by the way oil only contributes about14%)4. The bad news is that all this growth within the agriculturalsector is coming almost entirely from subsistence agriculture, andis, therefore, threatened by the very rains that have been its drivingforce.

Last year we saw rains like never before. Its not an isolated event;

this year may be worse, why? NASA reports that the worlds mediantemperature has been rising steadily in the last twenty years, everyyear hotter than the previous in living memory. It simply meansmore ocean water evaporating into sky, and heavier rains boundto fall. We may see the complete inundation of communitiesaround riverbanks. Imagine the images we saw last year; statecapitals immersed in water - Makurdi, Lokoja, Yenegoa- densely

populated towns from Yola to the Delta ravaged by mammoth3 http://newsbreaknigeria.com/news/Gov.+Uduaghan+conrms+clashes+between+Fulani+herdsmen,+armers4 Nigerian National Bureau o Statistics. Retrieved 26 March 2012


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There is a ray of light. The leadershipof Lagos State has demonstrated thatwe need not fold our arms in thewar against natural forces. The state

has taken action - dredging canals,reclaiming land and building buffers.In truth, as positive as these measuresmay seem, it is doubtful if what hasbeen done can stem the coming tide.The situation is erce. The problemsin Lagos, sometimes, emanate from

outside the state, where Governor

On the whole the risks posed to Nigeria by climate change are clear;particularly the potential to exacerbate existing socio-politicaltensions. It appears little or nothing has been done to mitigateimpending doom! The Dangote Committee, set up after the 2012oods, is yet to have a plan. The terms of reference of this committee,in relation to what is needed, puts its best efforts as feeble. More hasto be done; other res remote to climatic issues must be doused, orthis may provide fresh impetus for the conagration.

Babatunde Fashola has no jurisdiction. Some critical infrastructureto control tributaries that empty into Lagos is needed. But thingslike these can only happen if the Federal Government steps in.When will that happen?

Noteworthy NewsExpect More Floods in 2013, NIME

Warns17 FEBRUARY 2013YEMI AKINSUYI

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/expect-more-oods-in-2013-nimet-

warns/139740/

Te Director General, NigerianMeteorological Agency (NIME), Dr.Anthony Anuorom has warned thatbased on prevalent conditions that

characterised this years Seasonal Rainall

Prediction (SRP), more rainall, whichmight eventually lead to more oods

should be expected in some parts o thecountry this year.

Anuorom identied Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger,Kwara and other neighbouring states as

top on priority list, adding that there willbe lower amount o rainall especially

or the Southwest compared to thedevastating ood o 2012

oods. Chances are this may get worse in the coming years. Peoplewill have to emigrate. It wont be painless; conicts over land willonly escalate. Land is already at theheart of the most violent clashes inNigeria; well, brace yourself, its

very likely to get worse.

Primarily, peace building among communities in Nigeria must


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be accelerated. Then a right thinking government will need tohave a new vision. Nigeria, as it is, in terms of geography andstructure, may not survive the challenges of the future easily. Thebig question remains if the government of Nigeria can do anythingat all to tackle all this?


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The political economy ofglobalisation poses various kindsof challenges to the nations of theearth. Recent developments - thecollapse of nancial systems, thesovereign debt crisis in Europe,the emerging currency war, theshift of manufacturing fromWest to East, deadlock in theWTO negotiations, improvedtechnology for the extraction

of shale gas - are reshaping theglobal political economy. Thisever-changing scenario presentsboth threats and opportunities,and nations that have remainedrelevant over time are those withthe foresight to anticipate change.

This article will highlight twocritical threats to Nigeria, arisingfrom this ux.

NIGERIA AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMY:Threats and Opportunities

By LEONARD UGBAJAH

Uncertainties in the Global Energy Market

The seriousness of this threat is underpinned by Nigeriasunenviable status as a mono-product economy. Crude oil andnatural gas exports still account for 80% of government revenueand about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. What then becomesof our nation when our export markets shut their doors on us as a


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result of their energy sufciency?Already, there are reports that theUS, which buys 38% of Nigeriancrude oil (2012 gures), may stopbuying Nigerian oil by 2014.

With the anticipated fall in USdemand for crude, suppliersare looking to the EU and Asianmarkets. Would Nigeria be ableto compete in these markets?Not only do the longer traveldistances to these markets fromNigeria increase the price of ourcrude relative to those from nearersources, advances in technologyallowing easier utilization ofheavier grades of crude oil havefurther eroded the attractivenessof Nigerian crude, traditionallyprized for its lightness.

Furthermore, the energy policiesof most developed countriesencourage massive investment in

renewable energy research as analternative to hydrocarbons andfossil fuels, pointing to a long-term fall in demand for crude.In the short and medium terms,the increasing utilization of shalegas, as well as the discovery of

crude oil and gas deposits in moreAfrican countries, will denitelyaffect how much Nigerian crude

Noteworthy NewsDiscovery in US, India, other places

threatens NigeriaMONDAY, 11 MARCH 2013

ALEXANDER CHIEJINA

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/analysis/eatures/52771-

discovery-in-us-india-other-places-threatens-nigeria

Nigerias continued dominance in oilproduction in Arica may soon be historyollowing current oil deposit discoveries in

other Arican countries. Tere are numerousdiscoveries in sub-Saharan Arica in thelast ve years, with the majority coming

rom East Arican countries like anzania,Uganda and Mozambique. By extension,

Nigerias revenue prole is likely to suer thesame ate too.

Te competition has become stier withthe discovery o shale oil (light tight oil)

that is rapidly emerging as a signicant andrelatively low-cost new unconventional

resource in the US, with domestic energy

boom leading to sharp cut in demand orNigerias crude oil

With oil accounting or around 80 percento government revenue and 95 percent ooreign exchange reserves, Nigeria looks

vulnerable to any negative shis in oil andgas prices and demand.

Te US accounted or 35 percent o oilexports rom Nigeria in 2011. But it

imported around 40 percent less last year,

taking purchases rom Nigeria to theirlowest in over 20 years, according to EIA

data.Tis drop in demand has already resulted inNigerian barrels selling or around 40 cents,lower than its ofcial selling price, and ledozens o cargoes unsold and rolled over

to uture months, according to research byAricas Ecobank. Analysts have previouslywarned that Nigeria would eventually haveto look to dierent markets to compensate

or a all in exports to the US, and havepredicted its sales could shi toward Asia


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can fetch in the international market. At the last count, Ghana,Niger, Chad and Uganda had all joined the league of oil producingnations.

The fact that Nigeria still depends almost solely on crude oil

exports for government revenue is one of the greatest failuresof successive Nigerian governments. We have ambitious policydocuments and targets for economic diversication, but haveconsistently lacked the political will to act. If there is a seriousslump in global demand for crude oil and natural gas in the nearfuture, or if the price of Nigerian crude suffers a sharp drop, thecountry would certainly be in trouble. There is need for Nigeria tobegin preparing for this eventuality, as everything points towardsit happening at some point.

Uncertainties over the EU-ECOWAS Economic PartnershipAgreement (EPA) - industrialisation and regional integration at

stake.Our founding fathers were well aware of the value of closereconomic and political ties among African nations. This is thereason behind the OAU (now AU), ECOWAS and other regionaleconomic communities. The proliferation of regional blocs acrossthe globe attests to the rightness of their vision, and the viability

of this approach to economic development. Following the revisedECOWAS Treaty, therefore, the West African States rmly adoptedthe goal of regional integration. This process is supposed to beginwith a Free Trade Agreement, progress to a Customs Union, andculminate in a Monetary Union. This is the vision for the ECOWASCommon Market. It is a vision that is now seriously threatened byongoing negotiations between the EU and ECOWAS countries on

an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

Some of the specic threats posed by the EPA include:


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Dismantling the gains of regional integrationThe EPA negotiations were set to end by 31st December 2007,with the new trade arrangement coming into effect from the 1stof January 2008. Following the many controversies about thesubstance of the proposed agreement, ECOWAS was not able to

Noteworthy NewsOpen your market cautiously underEPA, Cape Verdean Minister warns

ECOWASMARCH 25, 2013

BASSEY UDOhttp://premiumtimesng.com/

business/126883-open-your-market-cautiously-under-epa-cape-verdean-

minister-warns-ecowas.html

In spite o increasing pressure romthe European Union, EU, Cape VerdesMinister o External Relations, Jorge

Borges, has warned the EconomicCommunity o West Arican States,ECOWAS, o dire consequences i

they concede and allow 80-per cent othe regions markets and economy tobe opened up under a new Economic

Partnership Agreement, EPA, beingnegotiated by the two regions or a ree

trade area between them.Te EU has been insisting that West

Arica opens its market by 80 percent over 15 years period, against its

commitment to oer 70 per cent over25 years under the proposed economic

pact...According to the minister, the region ran

the risk o having its market taken overby European goods i they concede tothe suggested opening o its market by

the EU...He reiterated West Aricas position

that the impending agreement shouldpromote the regions socio-economic

development agenda and not to kill itsmarket and economy...

conclude negotiations as scheduled.This scenario put some countries, likeGhana and Cote dIvoire, in precarioussituations. These two countries werefaced with the possibility of losing theirmarket access to the EU for cocoa andother produce, which formed the mainstay of their national economies. TheEU exploited this apprehension andoffered them an Interim EPA which theyboth initialled and signed with graveimplications for regional integration.This move had the effect of breakingregional solidarity and putting theWest African States under pressureto hastily conclude an agreement, orrisk a fragmented regional market. Afragmented regional market has direeconomic consequences, particularlyfor Nigeria. Apart from having to

compete with products from the EU inthe regional market, products importedinto the regional market from the EUeventually nd their way into Nigeria,through the numerous smugglingroutes, with grave implications forlocal industries.

Creating a skewed system of economic dependencyThe EPA is designed in such a way that the West African countries


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would have no chance at real industrialisation. How can they,when they are expected to open their economies to duty freeimports from the EU? This translates in real terms into continuingeconomic dependence; a situation where these countries remainperpetual suppliers of raw materials to the EU and other major

economies, and perpetual importers of nished goods. And whatdo they get in return for this lop-sided economic relationship? Anon-binding pledge on the part of the EU to maintain developmentaid to the region, in effect trading industralization for a continueddependence on charity!

Conclusion

These two factors- uncertainties over the global energy marketand uncertainties over the EU-ECOWAS EPA- are two externaleconomic threats facing Nigeria today which I consider to be quitesignicant. However, they also indicate the options open to us as anation to steer our economic destiny in the right direction.

First, we need to diversify our economy by using our oil resources,while they last, to invest in massive infrastructural, and humanresource, development; and in other schemes that would simulatelocal productivity.

Secondly, we need to bear in mind that we have a vast marketwithin the ECOWAS region and must be proactive in protecting our

interests in the region. We need a regional economic engagementstrategy that will counter the inuence of the EU in West Africa.This is also true for the inuence of other countries, like China.In truth, the economic survival of the region cannot be separatedfrom our own political stability, economic prosperity and internalsecurity.


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There was a time when nations,confronted with the challengesof economic growth, had the

option of shipping people off tonew lands to ease populationpressures; colonizing others toopen up new markets for theirproducts; and closing borders toprotect indigenous industries.But, now, yesterdays pillagers

have become todays rst world.So, there are immigration laws;and surplus labor from Africacannot simply sail across theMediterranean to the new landsof Europe. No, they will not behailed as brave explorers or

pioneers; in this age, they wouldbe labeled, illegal immigrants.

DEFINING NIGERIAS FOREIGN POLICYIN THE 21st CENTURY

By DIKE CHUKWUMERIJE

And, yes, you cant just reach across and grab the resources ofyour neighbor, but the global trade regime encourages free tradebetween the free and the unfree, the equal and the unequal. It isin this world of loaded rules and weighted dies, that we seek ourfuture.

First, we have to engage intelligently with the world economicsystem, with clear ideas of what we want to gain from it. True, we


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need Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), but not every kind is healthy.We want the kind that also facilitates human capacity developmentand technology transfer. We cannot leave our borders completelyopen to trade; we need concessions so our local industries cangrow too. And this matter of illegal immigration - is there not

another side to the coin? If its right to purse the liberalization ofcapital ows; then why is it wrong to argue the same for labor?Just asking - because, right now, liberal immigration laws wouldbe just as helpful to us as, maybe even more so than, developmentaid.

Second, we need to lay the ghost of neo-imperialism to rest atsome point. Anglophone. Francophone. Lusophone. All Africancountries, standing side by side, but looking forward, northwards,towards former colonial masters; so that the threads linkingindividual African countries to their former colonizers are morevibrant than those linking those countries to themselves. Dividedand Ruled. These walls separating Nigeria from Benin, Benin fromTogo, Togo from Ghana, have to come down; starting with increasedtrade and tourism, streamlined customs policies, convergence in acommon currency, convergence in a common culture. Movies andmusic have already crossed these borders. Politics needs to follow,gingerly.

Third, we werent the ones who warmed the planet up, and we

may need to pollute it a little more to get our economies off theground. We cant simply leave all that coal in the earth, when ourbusinesses are hungry for power. So, let those with the technology,who in times past ripped the holes in the ozone that threaten usall now, compensate for our minor misdeeds. But there are thoseclimatic factors that should worry us a bit more than the decliningnumbers of humpback whales. (Charity, afterall, begins at home.)

Like the advancing Sahara, the shrinking Lake Chad, the Atlanticknocking on the door of Lagos. (If all that somehow ties into theshrinking polar caps, ne, but we cant simply sit back and let


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others dictate the agenda.) We shouldnt have to depend on courtsin other countries to bend International Oil Companies to theirresponsibilities to the environment in the Niger Delta either.

Fourth, this new war on Terror, forming a fresh front just north of

our borders; will the Sahara, and the regions just north and south ofit, be the new Middle East? There are already American gunboats inthe Bight of Benin, French soldiers in Timbuktu, Australian spooksswarming all across the region. Libyas armories are emptyinginto the desert, a desert alive with budding extremists. Add to thismix the drug trade running through; human trafcking networks;Bakassi; and escalating levels of piracy along the coast. I say we startby building a wall- border control, especially with the countries tothe North, like Amina did long ago. Regional integration means novisas; it doesnt mean no checks. It would also create jobs internally.Then, lets go after the weapons trade; trace it all the way backto its source in European back ofces and banks, make that aninternational issue too. I dont think we can afford to be pacist ina region this volatile; we need a strong military, well equipped andprofessional. The seas are pretty rough in these parts.

Fifth, the shifting face of the global energy market is sending adevastating tsunami our way. But there are opportunities in themid-term. Europes desire to be free of Russian gas, looking acrossto the rich deposits scattered all over West Africa; China and the rest

of Asia hunting for cheap oil, and new markets. So, lets completethat gas pipeline to Europe, across the Sahara, cut into that Russianmarket. If the Chinese want our oil and access to our markets, letsdrive a harder bargain; theres a huge infrastructural decit thatcould take us decades to ll, otherwise. But above all, we need toget ahead of the curve. Its all well and good assimilating the latestcommunication technologies, but what we really need are the latest

in clean energy technologies- sun, wind, geo-thermal, whatever.The race to the Internet is over; the race to the next sustainableenergy source is still on. That one we can - and must - win.


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CONTRIBUTORS

Chris Ngwodois a gifted public speaker and consultant. He is also theauthor of Revolution By Other Means: The Challenge of NigeriasEmerging Generation. A regular guest analyst on radio and TV,

his writings address politics, development, conict and securityissues. He is a frequent op-ed contributor to newspapers, periodicalsand various online fora, and runs a motivational workshop fordifferent organizations, titled, Learning, Labor and Leadership.He has been active in several civic organizations, particularly inAbuja and Jos. He blogs at chrisngwodo.blogspot.com. More of hiswork is also available at http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/prole/Chris-Ngwodo.html.

Kasim Sodangi is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria,Nigerian Law School and the Lagos Business School. His experiencespans legal practice, research, regulatory compliance, andcommunication, with particular expertise in managing franchiseoperations in Nigeria and West Africa. He began his career with LawAllianz, a rm specializing in Intellectual Property and regulatorycompliance. He has also worked as Head, Strategic Alliance, forSuperBrands UK (Nigeria Project Ofce), in which role he inducted50 of West Africas top businesses in a program to project NigeriasBrand and Organizational assets. He is a professional project

management practitioner and a trained negotiator. He has alsoconducted extensive research in the areas of security particularlyon terrorism, violence and the effect of small arms in Nigeria.

Leonard Ugbajah is the Principal Partner at the law rm, BasileaJuris Associates in Abuja. He is the Founder of the Centre for

Advocacy on Trade Policy and Economic Reforms (CATPER), aswell as a founding board member of the West African Institute forTrade and Development (WAITAD). He has served in different


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committees and delegations on trade policy and regional integrationprocesses as a representative of the interest of non-state actors,both at the national and regional (ECOWAS) levels. His career cutsacross legal practice, consultancy and policy advocacy. You cannd other articles written by him at:

http://www.nigerianmuse.com/20100601104953zg/sections/general-articles/issues-in-nigerias-trade-and-industrial-policy-likely-agenda-for-the-new-minister-of-commerce/http://www.acp-eu-trade.org/library/files/Ukaoha-Ugbajah_EN_1107_NANTS_EPA%20=%20Reasons%20Why%20Nigeria%20is.pdf

Dike Chukwumerije is a law graduate from the University ofAbuja, with a masters degree in Law and Development fromthe School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University ofLondon. He is a trustee of the Initiative for the Advancement ofGood Leadership, a non-governmental organization committed topositively affecting popular culture in Nigeria, particularly as itrelates to socio-political values. He is the convener of The Forum,a platform for debate and the exchange of ideas by public-mindedNigerians. He is also an author of several books, including TheRevolution Has No Tribe: Contemporary Poetry on African History,Culture and Society and One Nigeria: The Birth and Evolution ofan Idea. He blogs regularly at dikechukwumerije.blogspot.com.


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