₦airaland Forum

lonelydora: 19%

I feel that if he has performed at 19% as you said, then the opposition should be begging the PDP to field him for the next election so that by then they can excavate this document and prove to the Nigerian people that the man has been a disappointing performer, but rather if we entirely base our electioneering on the provisions on this document then there mightn't be a hope for the opposition. This may be the fear that inform the loud outright and call and scheming by the opposition for his resignation or impeachment.
Note that this is just my personal opinion, and it does not represent the opinion of a group or a political party.

I feel strongly that it's time our debates (especially among youths who own the future) move from the miasma of politics to the real thing which is governance. I feel that Jonathan has been too busy with governance that his politics is quaking. His much concentration on governance than politics should have been a good thing for the everyday Nigerian except that unfortunately even the people are more interested in the politics than in the governance. If you ask me, I'd say that a good number of the promises have been fully delivered and most others are still ongoing. If only there can be less noise and more focus on the real thing, Nigerians will have a better life before the expiration of this administration. Disagree with me if you feel otherwise.

Culled from: http://ogala./2011/11/18/president-goodluck-jonathans-91-campaign-promises-help-identify-those-he-has-delivered/

Infrastructural development

To revive the rail system in the country
To complete Lagos to Jebba rail project
To intervene and revitalize the moribund Nigeria Machine Tools and other infrastructure owned by the federal government.
Government has budgeted N50b for job development and infrastructure
To modernize the ports
To complete the second River Niger bridge before the expiration of the tenure
To make the Minister of Works to immediately start repairs of the road leading to Murtala Mohammed International Airport
To transform all major routes in Damaturu to federal roads
To assist in resuscitating all the collapsed industries in Kano state
To work towards making Akanu Ibiam airport in Enugu an international airport
To seek alternative funding means to repair the Benin-Ore road.
To set up a committee to review Federal government landed properties in Lagos, hand over those that should and retain those that should be in possession of the Federal Government.
To give Sokoto-Kotangora road unfettered attention

Power

To deliver stable, constant supply of electricity
To provide stable power supply by the year 2015 so that small and medium scale industries can thrive again.
To ensure that Nigerians do not use generators more than two times in a week
To explore the coal deposits in Benue and Kogi states for improved power supply
To construct more dams to build more hydro-power stations.
To reduce the importation of generators at least 90 percent in the next four years.
To raise power generation to about 4,747 megawatts by December 2011
To put an end to epileptic power supply in the country just as fuel queues at petrol stations were ended

Economy

To work with the private sector and all the relevant agencies to stimulate industrial growth”
To introduce 5-year term budgeting
To diversify the economy
To strive to revive the Ajaokuta Steel complex and Itakpe Iron ore company
To address the issues of unemployment through diversification of the nation’s economy to that of sustainable agricultural development across the 36 states of federation
To reduce production cost by inviting manufacturers of high demand commodities in the country to set up production factories in the country
To get industries in Lagos up and running, also bring industries to the Niger Delta
To in the next 2 years create 1.5 million jobs
To transform the economy within four years
To constitute a special committee drawing experts from the MAN, NACCIMA and related bodies as well as key government officials to deliberate regularly on policies that will improve the nation’s economy; committee to be coordinated by the chief economic adviser to the President.
To review importation rules and regulations to encourage local manufacturers
To create wealth through the transformation of the economy by intervening in several areas
To revitalise all the Federal government properties that have been abandoned in Lagos State, through privatisation in conjunction with the state government.
To have a deliberate policy to create jobs by funding SMEs
To create an enabling environment for the transformation of the country through the creation of job opportunities for youth and empowerment of the women
To deliver Nigeria from poverty, promote agriculture, create employment, create wealth, work on irrigation farming to provide food

Energy & Gas

To facilitate the Petroleum Industry Law with emphasis on local content such that jobs are created for Nigerians.
To construct 2 world scale petrochemical plants, 2 fertilizer plants and 2 fertilizer blending plants.
To make investment under the gas-driven economic roadmap result in foreign direct investment of about $10 billion over the next three years.
To establish petrochemical plant around Koko Free Trade Zone in Delta State
To build a $3 billion central gas processing facility by 2012 to be sited in Obiaruku Delta State.
To attract $25 billion worth of investment into developing the country’s gas infrastructure
To in four years, make Nigeria go beyond producing and exporting crude oil to exporting refined petroleum products because Nigeria has no reason to keep importing kerosene
To create 600,000 new jobs in the gas industry
To boost gas supply from 1.0 billion cubic feet per day to 10 billion cubic feet by the year 2020.
To invest in petrol chemicals, mining, research and development

Security

To make anyone caught breaching the public peace to face the full wrath of the law.
To make sure that no part of the country is allowed to be a sanctuary for criminals anymore be they armed robbers or kidnappers
To make a complete transformation of national security architecture
To confront headlong ethno-religious violence in the country
To ensure there is no sacred cow in the fight against corruption; all crimes will be investigated as security is key.
Not to interfere with corruption cases
To strengthen EFCC and ICPC to fight crime
To eradicate kidnappings impeding entrepreneurship in Eastern Zone
To pursue all bombers and terrorists
To adopt modern method to tackle the problem of political violence

Agriculture

To boost agriculture through irrigation and maximizing vast mineral resources in the country
To revive the marketing boards to ensure that farmers are no longer cheated on the sales of their farm products and produce while more silos would be built to help farmers preserve their products
To provide farmers with information on agricultural production and move towards mechanized agriculture.
To make each state to specialize in two crops; cash and local crop
Has earmarked some money to revitalize ailing industries and give loans to framers
To emback on irrigation project to boost production; to start two projects in Kwara State
To boost farming activities by providing power and water

Education

To establish at least one Federal University in each state of the federation by the end of 2012
To improve on hostel facilities across the nation
To revamp Almajiri system of education
To work towards improving the education sector as a prelude to transforming economy and as means of empowering the people
To improve on teaching and learning environment while the new universities are structured
To make every Nigerian of school age to have access to education

Women

To give 35% of political appointments at both ministerial and ambassadorial levels to women

Water Resources

To re-build Ilesa water scheme
To complete Ife/Ijesa dam
To provide sufficient water to the people of Taraba;
the design work for Mambilla dam has been completed To make dam resuscitation to result in Agric boom, reduce poverty in Taraba state

Mineral Resources

To ensure that Hydro carbon deposits in some parts of the North are fully exploited
To revamp mining activities in Jos, Plateau State
To make solid mineral key revenue source in Nigeria

National Question

To not discriminate based on ethnicity or religion
To run an all inclusive government without discrimination
To conduct a free and fair election
To run an open government
To stand for national unity and wealth creation
To make Nigeria a single indivisible entity and bring development to every part of the country
To compensate communities affected by dam construction in Niger state
To fight corruption regardless of the position of the person involved”
To commit to politics without bitterness.
To build a new economy that is strong and dynamic and underpinned by a patriotic work ethic’; to run a government that is committed to fairness, equity and justice for all.

Reforms

To reform and ensure that the Customs conform to global practices
To facilitate a bill to National Assembly to give constitutional backing to traditional rulers as custodians of the traditions and customs of the people
To make the new tax policy to address the multiple taxation and related issues and make it become a thing of the past
To lead by example; strengthen the anti-graft agencies, not interfere and give free hand on all matters of investigation against any government official.
To build a new economy that is strong and dynamic and underpinned by a patriotic work ethic’.
To continue to run a government that is committed to fairness, equity and justice for all.

Niger Delta

To put in place a four-year development plan for the Niger Delta region that will create coastal roads, railways and mechanised agriculture and look for ways of exporting our produce; set up committees on their execution.

To work together with the Cross River State Government to make sure Tinapa is vibrant and productive.

To ensure that the National Boundary Development Agencies are funded to tackle the challenges that arose out of the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroun
To bring investors to establish petrochemical industries in Niger Delta

One problem that Rochas has had to deal with is the encumbering of himself like an ant with unbearable loads. Rochas seems to be a very sterling performer to my brothers and friends in Lagos and Ibadan who have not seen the Head bridge except of paper and tv. Rochas in so incorrigible and lordly. He has not demonstrated so much sincerity and transparency. He'll only make a perfect showman than a public servant. However, in all sincerity, I wont say he's a total failure yet. Only that he's far less than what people in Lagos think he is.

bappahman: Abdulmumin attended Army Primary
School Janguza, Kano (1983 – 1986)
before moving to Command Children
School Jaji, Kaduna (1986 – 1988). He
had his secondary education at Science
Secondary School Abaji, Abuja
(1989-1992) and Bwari Secondary School,
Abuja (1992-1994)
He later proceeded for his higher
education and bagged a Bachelor’s
degree in Political Science at the
University of Abuja, Nigeria in 1999; M.sc
in International Affairs and Diplomacy at
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria in
2003 and PhD in International Relations at
the University of Abuja Nigeria in 2009.
He also attended London Business School
2009, Harvard Business School 2010,
International Business House, London
2009 and European Institute of Business
Administration
INSEAD France, 2009 where he
graduated and obtained various
certificates in General Management,
Global Economy Crisis, Negotiation,
Competitive Decision and Deal Process,
Comprehensive Leadership Development,
International oil Trading (IBH) and
Telecommunications Strategy and
Marketing. He's presently an MBA student
at the SBS - Swiss Business School,
Zurich, Switzerland 2012 to date.
Abdulmumin is an alumnus of London and
Harvard Business School.

You didn't watch that video clip and so can never tell how courteous or cranky Jibrin spoke. Your CV for him does not help in any way. In fact, if we must accept the CV it means he was only found worthy in learning and no character by those who graduated him. Of course I don't want to embarrass you with Mrs Ngozi's CV.

Before being called to come back help fix Nigeria's embarrassing Power situation, Nigeria's former Chairman of Presidential Task force on Power Transformation and later Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji was the Director of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in the US. This was in a Government Intelligence sector where black were not allowed to work. He was at the time the only Black staff and the Head of the Agency.
Barth Nnaji is an expert in this field of robotic engineering.

There's no doubt that the level of technological ingenuity in Nigeria, especially in the eastern region is largely untapped. A school boy had earlier this year developed a miniature earth excavator and another had also developed a miniature aircraft. Back in the days a young man from Imo state was the first Black man to create radio air transmission station using a set of batteries, and a transistor radio. It was named Radio Mbaise. During the Nigeria Civil war the Biafran fighters developed their own military hardware fully by themselves (their voluntary military engineers). Till date there's large productions in local technology in Aba, Onicha, Nnewi, Ladipo, etc.
By the time Nigeria stabilizes better, people will have more concerns about how they create new innovations than how they create new rumours.
Op, please, change the title to Nigerian man builds functional robot. Maka na Naijiria ka bu ofu, at least for now.

Ask: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php/news/national-news/141136-day-after-burial-south-africa-unveils-mandela-unity-statue

The South African President Jacob Zuma on Monday unveiled a nine-metre bronze statue of Nelson Mandela with his arms outstretched to symbolise unity and reconciliation.

``We laid Tata to rest in Qunu only yesterday and today, he rises majestically at the seat of government, as a symbol of peace, reconciliation, unity and progress, he said.

"Tata" is the Xhosa word for father, and Mandela is revered as the father of the new South Africa born from the end of apartheid in 1994 when he became its first black president.

Reuters reports that the 4.5 tonne statue was the largest of Mandela created in the world and was inaugurated on the lawn of South Africa's hilltop ``Union Buildings’’, the seat of the central government, overlooking the capital Pretoria.

The brown sandstone Union Buildings, built by British colonial architect Herbert Baker, were the site of Mandela's swearing in as president nearly two decades ago.

It was also the location where his body lay in state for three days last week as over 100,000 people paid their respects in person, before his state funeral in Eastern Cape

The inauguration coincided with December. 16 reconciliation day, commemorating the ideal of racial and political reconciliation that Mandela preached after his release in 1990 from 27 years in apartheid prisons.

Reuters reports that under apartheid rule, Reconciliation Day had remembered the 1838 Battle of Blood River, in which some 500 Afrikaner pioneers defeated more than 10,000 Zulu warriors.

But it was renamed in 1994 in a bid to heal the wounds of three centuries of white dominance.

There are half a dozen Mandela statues in South Africa and around the world, and the new one was expected to draw more visitors to the 100-year-old Union Buildings, which have been declared a national heritage site. (Reuters/NAN

Ask: http://www.punchng.com/news/ekiti-will-confiscate-land-used-to-cultivate-indian-hemp-fayemi/

Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti on Friday said the state government would henceforth confiscate any land used in cultivating dangerous drugs, including Indian hemp.

Fayemi said this at the burning and public destruction of 11.5 tonnes of Indian hemp seized between January and December 2013 by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

He said that government took the decision because of unrepentant attitude of people who partner with drug peddlers to perpetrate the act.

The governor said it would also serve as deterrent to farmers or land owners who willfully give out their property to men of questionable character for making cheap money.

“We are determined more than ever before to take decisive actions that will put a final stop to the activities of these agents of life destroyers,’’ he said.

Fayemi said that he would also direct the Ministry of Education to introduce into the schools curricula, the effect of drug cultivation, trafficking and consumption.

He said this would assist in discouraging the young ones from venturing into drug business when they become adults.

The NDLEA Chairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Giade, said no fewer than 1,118 suspected drug traffickers with 35,606.969kg of drugs were apprehended in the state in 2013.

Giade, represented by Chief Femi Ajayi, the Director-General, said the agency would not rest on its oars until the country was rid of drug trafficking, cultivation and use.

The United States Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Tuesday the German-based international engineering company, Bilfinger SE, had agreed to pay a $32m penalty for charges relating to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violation.

Bilfinger’s Nigerian construction subsidiary, Julius `Berger Plc, was charged with bribing government officials to obtain and retain contracts related to work for the Eastern Gas Gathering System, a project valued at $387m.

The agreement follows a three-count criminal charge filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas, according to a report by SaharaReporters.

According to the complaint, from late 2003 through 2005, Julius Berger had conspired with Willbros Group Inc., and others to make payments totalling $6m to unnamed Nigerian government officials to obtain EGGS contracts.

Julius Berger and Willbros formed a joint venture and inflated its bid by three per cent to cover the cost of the bribe. Part of the conspiracy involved Julius Berger’s employees bribing Nigerian officials with cash sent from Germany.

The Justice Department and Bilfinger agreed to resolve the charges by entering a deferred prosecution agreement for a term of three years. Bilfinger also agreed to implement internal controls, continue cooperating with the Justice Department, and retain a corporate compliance monitor for 18 months.

Prosecutors also resolved charges with Bilfinger’s collaborator on the bribe, Willbros, and three former Willbros executives or consultants who pleaded guilty, and a fourth who remains a fugitive.

Has Okorocha been settled with this vainglorious position or is it a wrung on which he's to stand to launch his talked about 2015 Presidential ambition?

sincerenigerian: Walking around with AK-47?

That goes to tell you that nothing is happening in Nigeria, and we pray nothing ever does. Those few beating war drums cannot even withstand ordinary street protest.

lagcity: With the caliber of sycophants around GEJ, he doesn't really need enemies. They have ruined this man.

Do you mean the likes of Mike Onolememen or Akinwunmi Adesina or Olusegun Aganga or Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, or Stella Oduah, or Bala Mohammed, or Dieziani Allison-Madueke or Bolaji Abdulahhi? I can go on and on and tell you that the president surrendered himself with people of integrity and character and performance. If you think people like Gulak, Okupe, Maku, Abati should do anything other than what they do now then you're on a ''long'' thing. That's exactly what they're paid to do. This is the only gov't that has more technocrats and less politicians.

horlahwaley: Mtcheew. Naija no dere again. Why do naija neva make top ten in evrytin in dis world sef. Smh

They make top 10 in investment destination in African
top 10 in CAF and FIFA rankings for Africa
top 10 in the fight against HIV/AIDS
top 10 0n etc, etc,etc.

Ask: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=140836:s-west-lawyers-strategise-for-2014-nba-presidential-election&catid=426:national&Itemid=426

S’West lawyers strategise for 2014 NBA presidential election

Thursday, 12 December 2013 14:06

• Egbe Amofin endorses Adesina

EGBE Amofin, an association of lawyers in the South West, has endorsed Lagos-based lawyer, Dele Adesina (SAN), to fly its flag in the 2014 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidential elections. Adesina is a former General Secretary of the NBA.

A new leadership of the Egbe also emerged, replacing the former one under 77-year-old Chief Bandele Aiku SAN, a former Attorney General of the Oyo State; Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, former President of NBA, and former Attorney General of Ondo State, and Mr. Ranti Ajeleti. The Egbe chose a younger generation of leaders led by Chief Ayodele Adebayo, the Chairman of NBA, Abeokuta branch, and Olubunmi Olugbade, chairman, NBA, Ikere Ekiti and former member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, were chosen to lead the group in an interim capacity.

The meeting took place at Oba-Ile, Akure, Ondo State home of Port Harcourt based lawyer, Chief Ifedayo Adedipe, SAN. It was attended by 20 out of the 23 branches of the NBA in the South West. The meeting had unprecedented 200 members including members BOB, AGS, ABD SAN.

One of the leaders, Olanipekun set the tone of the meeting by giving a short history of how the Egbe was founded in Ilorin, Kwara State during the 1999 NBA conference in the city. Olanipekun said it was the need to ensure the protection and advancement of Yoruba lawyers within NBA that a discussion started amongst the senior lawyers that attended the meeting. According to him, the lawyers included the late Chief Debo Akande, SAN, the late Chief Adigun Ogunseitan, Chief Idowu Sofola, Chief Aiku, and some others. “It was this meeting and the discussions that led to the founding of Egbe”, he said.

He paid tribute to the past and current leaders, particularly the late Ogunseitan, and the immediate past leader, Aiku for their selfless contributions to the Egbe. He then gave a proverb: “Any tradition or culture that does not involve the younger generation will soon fizzle out”. He commended the courage and work of the branch chairmen to summon the meeting, saying it was long overdue. “I received the requisition of the chairmen calling for a meeting just like any other member. When the leadership did not call the meeting, I also receive the notice of this meeting and I am here as Wole Olanipekun, a true Yoruba son and a member of the Egbe and not as a leader of Egbe. At this stage of my life, the only way I can serve in Egbe is in an advisory capacity”.

Another leader, Chief Bayo Aluko Olokun, SAN, a member of the Body of Benchers, also praised the courage of the chairmen, saying he came to identify with them. He assured the chairmen that they are in the right direction. Also in his own remark, Chief Ifedayo Adedipe, SAN, said that he offered at the Egbe’s meeting at Abeokuta to host this meeting in other to advance the cause of the Yorubas in the NBA. He said if there is a problem in an association, there must be an avenue for discussion because the association is bigger than any individual.

The Protem Chairman, Chief Adebayo thereafter called for the report of the constitutional drafting committee. The secretary of the committee, Mr. Olasupo Ojo, former president, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) told the gathering that the committee had almost finished with the drafting and that the draft should have been submitted at the meeting but for an amendment that was just submitted that morning. He then promised that the committee will get the draft constitution ready within two weeks.

Adebayo also called for the report of the screening committee set up at the August 17, 2003 at Abeokuta, Ogun State. The Egbe had set up the committee under the chairmanship of an Abuja based lawyer, Chief Duro Adeyele SAN, to screen candidates that shown interest in contesting for the presidency of the NBA in 2014. At the meeting, three candidates emerged. They are Dele Adesina SAN, Mrs. Funde Adekoya SAN, and Chief Niyi Akintola SAN. The Adeyele committee was expected to come out with the candidate that will fly the flag of the Egbe. However, the committee could not conclude its assignment due to the resignation of two members.

A member of the committee, Chief Ajayi Owoseni, who was also a member of the screening committee, narrated to the meeting, the events that led to the resignation of the Adeyele. He said that one of the members, Alhaji Lekan Yusuf, resigned for undisclosed reasons. This led to a vacuum and the committee promptly informed Chief Aiku who sent Mrs. Toyin Basorun as a replacement. “One of the contestants objected on the ground that Mrs. Basorun could not be a member because she is a practicing lawyer in the chambers of one of the contestants”, Chief Ajayi said.

He also said further: “The committee felt that the objection was valid and gave Mrs. Basorun the opportunity to excuse herself but she refused. She said that the only person that can remove her was Chief Aiku who nominated her in the first instance. Chief Adeyele then wrote back to Chief Aiku informing him of the situation. The letter asked for direction in view of the fact that the committee was set up by the House. For weeks, we did not receive a reply and Adeyele resigned from the committee.

This led to a debate on the floor of the meeting. Eventually he was asked the stage of the work before Adeyele resigned. Ajayi replied that virtually all branch chairmen had submitted their letter of endorsement of their preferred candidate to the committee. At this point, a motion was moved for the continuance of the work of the committee by the entire house. The motion was upheld.

The chairmen present were then asked to bring up the letters they sent to the committee. Chief Ajayi was also asked to verify if such letters tally with the one sent to the committee. One by one, the letters were verified. At the end, 17 branches endorsed Adesina, Lagos branch endorsed Adekoya, while Ibadan branch endorsed Akintola. Ijebu-Ode branch did not endorse any candidate while Abeokuta branch recommended the three candidates.

The protem chairman then declared Adesina the endorsed candidate of the Egbe to contest for the NBA presidency in 2014. In his acceptance, Adesina thanked all the members for the confidence reposed in him. He enjoined all Nigerian lawyers to emulate the virtues of another lawyer, Nelson Mandela, who the world is celebrating his demise. “Mandela was a lawyer who sacrificed all to liberate not only African people but all peoples of the world.

We as lawyers must be prepared to give whatever it will take for the development of our world so that at the end of our race, we can be appreciated for our contributions to our country, and to the world. He promised not to fail the people for the confidence they have reposed in him.

The meeting was then adjourned to February 1, 2014 at a venue that will be sent to all members. The lawyers where then led by the Attorney General of Ondo State, Tayo Jegede, SAN, to the Palace of Deji of Akureland where they commiserated with the chiefs on the demise of their traditional ruler, the late Oba Adesida.

Others present at the meeting are Chief Ayo Aluko-Olokun SAN, Femi Falana SAN, Ifedayo Adedipe SAN, Dayo Akinlaja SAN (Former Attorney General, Ekiti State), Akin Olatunji, Bisi Ade-Ademuwagun, Monday Ubani, Dare Akande, Adesina Ogunlana, Taiwo Taiwo, and a host of others.

adepojuot: Where is Nigeria and Pakistan??this list no complete oooooooo...

Do you by any figment believe that what we have in Nigeria is comparable in any way with what's happening in these countries? Nigeria is just suffering from the loud noise of a few over-ambitious persons who feel than they've been schemed out of things and they use the sensitivities of the country like religion, region, and political platform to drag the ordinary people who don't even have a share in the spoils they (the politicians) are scrambling for.

engrfcuksmtin: And my question is where are those sycophants around GEJ, GEJ himself and his supporters then. Baba has been in the game for long, a motor player in the corridors of power........GEJ should thread softly

I find most of what Obasanjo said in 1992 and what he has said 21years after irreconcilable with what he showed between 1999 to 2007. The message seem jaundiced and the messenger seem leprous.

Ask: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/11/business/maplecroft-political-risk/index.html

1. Somalia
People walk with their belongings in the area around Sinujiif as they evacuate on November 14, 2013 after a ferocious storm and days of heavy floods in Somalia's northeastern Puntland region. Somalia has ranked in the top 10 in Maplecroft's political risk index for the past six years.

2. Syria
A rebel fighter from the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo, on December 1, 2013. Syria experienced the largest increase in short-term political risk over the last year, according to Maplecroft. The country changed from 44th place in 2010 to 2nd place this year.

3. Afghanistan
An Afghan policeman stands guard in front of a badly damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul on June 11, 2013. More than 1,000 Afghan civilians died in violent attacks in the first half of 2013, according to the U.N

4. Sudan
Sudanese protesters throw stones at a gas station in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman on Wednesday. Sudan is among the countries where political violence continues to increase, Maplecroft said.

5. Democratic Republic of Congo
Fighters from the M23 rebel movement ride on the back of a truck, passing a camp for the internally displaced in Mugunga, Democratic Republic of Congo on November 24, 2012

6. Central African Republic
Women push a coffin in the streets of Bangui on December 7. Violence has raged in the Central African Republic since a coalition of rebels deposed President Francois Bozize in March, the latest in a series of coups since the nation gained independence.

7. Yemen
Yemenis shout slogans during a rally commemorating the second anniversary of a major clash between opposition protesters against former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh and security forces, in the capital Sanaa, on September 18, 2013.

8. Libya
Libyan protesters gather during a demonstration calling on militiamen to vacate their headquarters in southern Tripoli on November 15, 2013.

9. South Sudan
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir speaks to a crowd of people in north Khartoum, on June 8, 2013. Bashir ordered a halt to the flow of oil from South Sudan, less than two months after southern crude began moving again.

10. Iraq
Flames rise from a vehicle at the site of a car bomb in Talibiya in Baghdad on September 3, 2013. More than 7,000 civilians and 950 security forces have been killed in violence in Iraq since January, according to the U.N. -- the highest annual toll since 2008.