₦airaland Forum

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE

always lying NIGERIANS

Why so many planes crash in Nigeria

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About 1,936 persons were killed in road traffic accidents across the country between January and June this year as revealed by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), on Tuesday.


The corps Public Education Officer, Mr Jonas Agwu, released the grim statistics in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), while presenting the half year report of the FRSC’s operations in 2012 to newsmen.

He, however, said the figures of 1,936 persons compared to the 2,218 in the first half of 2011 showed 12.7 per cent reduction, an indication that the “corps was on course of meeting its set target of reducing crash related fatalities by 20 per cent in the year 2012.”

According to him, it was a worrisome trend that, in spite of efforts to reduce the number of road crashes in the country, road accidents soared by about 21.6 per cent in 2012, as compared to the 2011 figures.

Agwu noted that the corps was disturbed by the high rate of road crashes in the first quarter of 2012 and had had to re-strategise and mandate field commanders to reduce RTC and fatality by half in the second quarter of 2012.

He added that the immediate outcome from this order was that in the second quarter, crash related fatalities had reduced by 47.5 per cent, compared to the first quarter of 2012.

Agwu further noted that as a result of improved enforcement, offenders and offences in the second quarter increased respectively by 47.2 per cent and 49.3 per cent over the figures of the first quarter, disclosing that a total of 236, 556 offenders were arrested during the period under review.

He added that the corps increased from four to 12, Emergency Ambulance Points in line with the pillar 5 of the United Nations’ (UN) Decade of Action and the FRSC’s Strategic Goal One of reducing fatalities by 20 per cent.

Agwu also disclosed that the production of the vehicle number plates and national driver’s licences dropped from 208, 064 to 97, 878 and 122, 873 to 26, 942 in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

He added that the National Assembly had suspended the production of the national driver’s licence and vehicle number plates, in the months of April, May and June 2012.

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NIGERIA

The Head, Policy, Research and Statistics Department of the FRSC, Dr Kayode Olagunju, has expressed concern over the high rate of deaths through auto- accidents on Nigerian roads.

Olagunju, in a paper entitled, ``Avoidable Tears of Ember, ‘’ on Wednesday in Ibadan, said road traffic crashes had become a major cause of deaths worldwide, claiming more than 300,000 people and injuring between 10 and 15 million yearly.

"Nigeria has one of the highest road traffic crash figures in the world, though there is a trend down due to the efforts of the FRSC and the contributions of other stakeholders.

“However, we still need to sustain efforts to make our roads safer,” he said.

Olagunju added that between 1960 and 2012, some 1,060,507 crashes were recorded in Nigeria, with 322,427 deaths and 1,016,299 injuries.

“In 2012 alone, there was a report of a total of 4,260 deaths on Nigerian roads; an average of 12 persons died daily and with 20,752 injured.

“Hence, on the average, 69 persons were either injured or killed on our roads daily; 48,114 persons were involved in 6,269 documented cases.

“This means, on the average of one hour, 0.7, that is an approximated one crash occurred on the road and 5.5, that is, six persons are involved in a crash within an hour.

“Nigeria has five deaths per 10,000 vehicles and four deaths per 100,000 human population,” he said.

Describing the figures as unacceptable, he said most accidents occurred during the last quarter of the year.

“Many of these preventable accidents, unnecessary loss of lives and avoidable waste of resources in terms of damaged vehicles and expenses on hospitalisation occur during the last quarter of the year.

“It is this time of the year that you experience more of bills payments, repairs of damaged roads and infrastructure as well as loss of man hours,” he said.

Olagunju called for the cooperation of all stakeholders to ensure that accidents were greatly reduced during the ember months.

“We, however, call on all road users to spare some thoughts on the causes of crashes, especially during the “ember months” and strive to avoid accident causation situation or factors,” he said.

Olagunju warned against drunkenness, drug addiction, recklessness, disregard of road traffic signs, over-speeding, overloading and other traffic rule violations.

He also advised motorists against distractions such as phoning or texting while driving, poor maintenance of vehicles and taking of unnecessary risks on the road.

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Nigerian Roads Second Worst in the World

The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Osita Chidoka, yesterday said Nigerian roads were the second worst in the world. He saud tge state of the roads placed the country on the 191st position out of 192 countries whose roads were currently rated based on safety standards.

Chidoka made the disclosure in Abuja during the commission’s third annual lecture series titled: ‘Achieving the Decade of Action on Road Safety 2011-2020.’

The corps marshal stated that the United Nations General Assembly had designated 2011 to 2020 as a decade of action on road safety for dedicated intervention by governments to bring down the estimated rise in deaths from road traffic crashes by 50 per cent.

He said: “Currently in Nigeria road traffic crashes (RTC) data rate is 162 deaths per 100,000 populations.” Chidoka said this called for concerted efforts to ensure that Nigeria improved on its current ranking.

He explained that the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that over 1.3 million people were killed by RTC and 50 million injured on the world’ road annually, adding that over 80 per cent of the figure occurred in developing countries, with Africa having the highest death rate.

WHO, according to him, predicted that if nothing was done by countries to stem the tide, death by RTC would increase by 65 per cent by 2015 to 2020, overtaking malaria and tuberculosis.

He called on government at the various levels to support road safety initiatives that were geared towards saving the lives of the citizens.

He said that was the primary responsibility of any government, and called on the private sector to support government, not only financially but to also share best practices with relevant stakeholders to improve processes.

He said: “We call on all Nigerians to join hands with us to ensure safer roads and fuller lives. Let us commit to the activities of the decade of action.”

In a remark, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said members of the National Assembly had had cause to discuss the current dilapidated state of the roads.

He said: “Obviously, this sordid state of affairs negates safety and puts pressure on agencies responsible for our safety on our roads. I am therefore, most delighted to be part of this occasion aimed at providing the needed platform for cross fertilisation of ideas and proffering solution to this endemic problem.”

Pledging the support of the National assembly towards the implementation of the Decade of Action on Roads towards a 50 per cent reduction in road accidents, he said the first principle was to develop a safe system approach that was able to accommodate human error.

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Ogaga Ifowodo is a lawyer and a poet whose book, The Oil Lamp, is about the Niger Delta crisis. He is currently completing a PhD at Cornell University in New York.

Most, if not all of the indices of failed states, declare Nigeria well on its way to joining that disreputable club.

Nigeria boasts a government unable to deliver basic social services.

It is plagued by corruption so endemic and monumental it is hard to separate it from state policy.

It lacks the capability or discipline to prevent threats to public safety and national integrity and is assailed by active challenges to its legitimacy.

The latest disaster of a re-run election in Ekiti state, meant to correct the errors of the first, proved an even greater show of shame.

While Nigerians, notoriously prickly in their nationalism, may loudly denounce any suggestions from abroad of the imminent disintegration of their country, they nonetheless admit the unflattering truth of this possibility to themselves and each other.

'Critically weak'

The inflammable Niger Delta, for long the booty of successive bands of political pirates and now also a seething swamp of untameable angst, points clearly to the dangerously frayed social fabric.
Is Sierra Leone now a stronger state than its one-time saviour Nigeria?

The Brookings Institution's index of state weakness ranks Nigeria 28 out of 141 developing countries and was co-authored by Susan Rice, President Barack Obama's top diplomat at the United Nations.

It places the self-styled "giant of Africa" in the honoured company of Somalia, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Looking on the bright side, Nigeria happily sits on the cusp for countries termed "critically weak" as opposed to the merely "weak" states.

But if the Brookings Institution takes a kind view of Nigeria, the American Fund for Peace, a research body, thinks otherwise.

In its 2008 index of failed states, Nigeria is only two short rungs away from being in the same category as Somalia and Zimbabwe.

Ironically, Nigeria has to look up the ladder at Sierra Leone and Liberia, two countries she spared no expense of life, limb and hard currency to bring out of civil wars to restore to democracy.

Yet none of this goes to the heart of the problem. For to speak of Nigeria as a failed state is, in a sense, to put the cart before the horse.

'Geographical expression'
Never having been a nation to start with, the question of a legitimate state to handle her affairs proves redundant.

We must therefore, open the dusty pages of history for the radical cause of Nigeria's state of distress and there we will find that what we have grown accustomed to calling a nation deserving of a state is, to quote one of her "founding fathers", "a mere geographical expression."

Nigeria is not a nation, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo declared with characteristic forthrightness more than a decade before nominal independence from Britain.
Life remains tough for most Nigerians

For saying the unsaid and for championing constitutional federalism along the lines of Nigeria's multitude of ethnic groups, Mr Awolowo was labelled a tribalist and unjustly maligned until his death in 1987.

The unwillingness to grapple with the trauma of Nigeria's stillbirth as a nation is the great political unconscious - the implacable repressed - that returns at will to haunt and mock the state of denial.

This repressed truth, being political, hides as it were in the open. It can be seen in the headlines and by-lines of our newspapers.

It is volubly declaimed in bars and every public forum where two or more Nigerians are gathered.

It defines the so-called "national question", so cacophonous that the prodigious expense of political and psychological energy needed by Nigeria's self-appointed rulers to repress it produces such frightful spectacles as compel the verdict of a failed or rapidly failing state.

A mere geographical expression indeed, or, as another "founding father" preferred to put it, "the mistake of 1914."

That was the fateful year the British colonial administrator, Lord Frederick Lugard, merged by colonial fiat northern and southern protectorates and the colony of Lagos to form Nigeria.

Meaning, "people of the [lower] Niger area", it was as if the hallowed river possessed the magic to transform disparate denizens within its acceptable radius into nationhood by mere eponymous naming.

This would be deemed superstitious in any other context but the colonial.

Unfortunately, this mistake has yet to be acknowledged, for if nations are "imagined communities" as Professor Benedict Anderson said in his book of the same name, Nigeria was clearly unimagined by its would-be citizens and perhaps unimaginable for very long in its current state of existence.
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Former Secretary General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, SAN, yesterday, raised an alarm over the poor state of affairs in the country, saying 'Nigeria is fast turning into a failed state.'

Nwabueze, who spoke at the 14th annual convention of the Igbo Youth Movement, IYM, in Enugu, said the country was already displaying all the attributes of a failed state.

According to him, 'This country is on the verge of becoming a failed state, there are so many failed states in Africa and Nigeria is on the verge of getting that status of a failed state.

'Before now, we didn't know about kidnapping, but it has become a way of life. Did we know about bombings before? But today, churches, schools, offices are being bombed on daily basis, the worst is that the bombers are not coming from outside the country, we are bombing ourselves.

Prof Nwabueze
'A nation that cannot provide a credible election for her people is a failed state; in 2003, 2011 we had no credible elections, yet we are talking about democracy.

'A country that cannot secure social and economic rights for her people is a failed state. Read chapter 2 of Nigeria's constitution and you will understand what I am taking about, they are not leaders but looters'.


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The recent declaration by Nigeria’s foremost constitutional law theorist, Prof Ben Nwabueze, that the Nigerian State is manifesting symptoms of failure which then drew the ire and unnecessary verbal tirade of the Special Assistant to the President on publicity, Dr. Doyin Okupe, are actually tell-tale signs that all is not well with the polity.

Rather than take the old man’s warning as a wake-up call and respond positively, it became an opportunity for hauling abuses, thus unwittingly confirming his apparently loathed postulation.

As someone who has undertaken a serious intellectual study of the phenomenon of state failure, I can say without fear of any rational contradiction that, while Nigeria may not yet be properly classified as a “failed state,” there are however so many signs within the polity that ought to put us on notice with a view to averting the looming disaster because, given the right mix of factors and circumstances, no nation on earth is immune from the scourge of failure as it is simply a matter of causes and effects.

In one of the chapters in my forthcoming book touching on the subject, it is quite clearly demonstrated that Nigeria is unusually resilient to have continued to endure as a single political entity. Using our tools of analysis, it seems that the country has not crossed the irreversible line between life and death, a reality which raises the hope of the possibility of eventual revival and restoration, if we have the right mix of responsive leadership and determined following.

States elsewhere with far less debilitation and institutional abuses have already gone under. For this, we have the abundant petrol-dollars still flowing from the Niger Delta to thank. Without the free oil money, I doubt if the story would have been the same.

Everywhere, there are glaring symptoms indicating that all is not well within the polity. It does not require rocket science to tell that anarchy has enveloped Nigeria. Just as it is possible for a physician to tell that a patient has malaria or cancer, judging by the symptoms being manifested, it is equally possible for experts on state management and constitutionalists to tell when a particular state has failed.

There are degrees of state failure, ranging from the partial to the total. That explains why long-term foreign investors have been scared away from the country and those who dared to come want returns on their investment and super profits to happen within the shortest possible time because “the future is abnormally unsure” or the “country’s risk factor” is too high.

According to the analytical work of Messrs’ Herman and Hart, published in the influential Journal of Foreign Policy (1992), “Once a nation descends into violence, its people focus on immediate survival rather than on the longer term. Saving, investment, and wealth creation taper off; government officials seek spoils for their cronies rather than designing policies that might build long-term prosperity. A cycle of poverty, instability, and violence emerges.”

To the extent that Nigeria has not yet become “utterly incapable of sustaining itself as a member of the international community” (as was the case in Somalia, Liberia, etc,), and has not yet become an “international charge” depending wholly “on steady streams of foreign assistance” to sustain herself, our best conclusion, for now, is that Nigeria could still be salvaged even if it is presently ailing badly.

It should not be too difficult for us to see these signs. As far back as 1956, the America Society of International Law, drawing from the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of State, identified certain barometers for accessing the viability or likely failure of nation states. Specifically, John Foster Dulles identified six characteristics of the viable nation-state as follows:

a. Laws which “reflect the moral judgment of the community;

b. Political machinery to revise these laws as needed;

c. An executive body able to administer the laws;

d. Judicial machinery to settle disputes in accord with the laws;

e. Superior force to deter violence by enforcing the law upon those who defy it; and

f. Sufficient well-being so that people are not driven by desperation to ways of violence.

A careful look at the above listed indicators/symptoms would suggest that Nigeria is in deep trouble. For example, our laws hardly reflect any moral judgment but the whims of those in charge; the notion of separation of powers which would have been helpful in checking some of these negative tendencies is being flagrantly undermined; the executive is not able or is unwilling to faithfully administer the laws of the land without fear or favour as we have seen in the cases of the wicked pension scammer, Abdulrasheed Maina and others; the judiciary cannot be trusted to fairly interpret the laws in the crucial areas of official corruption; self-help and protective ethnic militias are becoming more credible than the official police force; a general sense of insecurity as created by Boko Haram, rampaging kidnappers and others; and finally, people have lost faith in the ability of the state to protect their lives and property. The result? Impunity: one-man municipalities and the proliferation of sacred cows.

The state and its institutions came into being with the understanding that they would fulfil certain obligations in favour of the citizens – a political bargain or what is generally known as “Social Contract”. Whenever they default in these fundamental obligations they are expected to die within the dialectics of decadence and regeneration.

Today, corruption is endemic; the state is seemingly helpless and the population is naturally despondent. Ethnic loyalty has supplanted national sentiments while anarchy has displaced law and order: Things have fallen apart.

Can Nigeria be saved? The simple answer is yes, but it ultimately depends on whether or not those who lead the Republic accept the imperatives of its continuation. It is certainly not beyond Mr. President to initiate the process of national revival that is deeper than his present transformation agenda. He can, in the circumstance, re-dedicate himself to the cause of probity and transparency; promote the Rule of Law and social justice, open up decent and robust debates and adhere to the immutable principle that posits that sovereignty belongs to the people by boldly divesting himself of the strictures of petty partisan politics and make himself available to the populace who are calling for a change of the decadent social order. I think it is possible.

Nigeria is touted as the giant of Africa. But, the truth is, Nigeria has the potentials to become the true giant of Africa. But, it is not a giant. Now, sadly, it hasn’t realized its potentials. Is Nigeria not populous and endowed with abundant natural resources? Nigerians in Diaspora with technical knowledge are contributing to the economic and technological growth of their host countries. But, for all our human and material resources, Nigeria is mired in economic stagnation and technological backwardness. Nigeria’s woes are not unconnected with inept, corrupt and incompetent political leadership.

We have not got our politics right since we became a politically independent country in 1960. Some of our past leaders’ ascension to power was fortuitous; and, they failed to solve our multifarious national problems. And, since the dawn of the fourth republic and the new political dispensation, those occupying high political offices in Nigeria have been lining their pockets at our expense.

Official corruption has ruined Nigeria. So, nothing works here. Every human system of doing things is corrupted and perverted with its deleterious concomitant effects. From education to health, to electricity, to infrastructural development, it is the same sad tale of rot. Monies set aside for the execution of capital projects are pilfered and stolen by political leaders supervising such projects. It is an indisputable fact that corruption is firmly entrenched in Nigeria. And, it is the major obstacle hindering our national development. Can Nigeria become an industrialized country when such things as good roads and steady supply of electricity which are given in other countries are in a deplorable state here?

Nigerians roads are death traps despite the fact that billions of naira are voted and budgeted yearly for the construction and rehabilitation of roads. The Benin – Ore road and other roads are death traps. These roads are marked by pot – holes and craters. Drivers get involved in road accidents while swerving to avoid entering the craters on our roads. Some of the roads in Nigeria, an oil- rich country, cannot hold candle to the ones in war – ravaged countries like Cambodia and Afghanistan. But, our political and religious elite with ill – gotten wealth own private jets and seldom travel by road. Now, the number of deaths caused by road accident outnumbers those resulting from malaria and HIV/AIDS infections. Nigerian roads are now killing – fields.

I am a victim of the Nigerian bad road – network. On February 24, 2013, I was involved in a fatal road accident on the Umunnachi stretch of the Old Awka – Onitsha road. It was a multiple accident caused by a fast – travelling lorry with faulty brake, which claimed lives of some passengers on the buses involved in the accident. My right hand was trapped between the body of the bus and a deep gutter. I was rescued by sympathetic passers – by on that sunny Sunday. However, I was left to bleed without anyone volunteering to take me to hospital. It was my sister who came on a motor-bike from a distant town that took me the Iyienu mission hospital, Ogidi, Anambra state.

In Nigeria, almost everybody lays claim to being a devout Muslim or Christians. We talk agitatedly and excitedly about God, Allah and Jesus, and pray fervently to God for break-through in our endeavors. Yet, we fail the simple test of love daily. We wear the mask of religiosity, and fake piety to deceive others into believing that we are with love and moral scruples. Nigeria is a failed or failing state because most Nigerians are morally vacuous and spiritually arid. That’s the reason past leaders had stolen Nigeria blind.

But, are our leaders not products of a society with warped values and perverted agents of socialization? Schools, which are agents of socialization, are breeding grounds for future leaders. Those that passed through the portals of our educational institutions are expected to possess exemplary character and deep learning. But, can we say that of them? Today, in our schools, lecturers trade grades and scores for sex and money. And, religious activities and staging of beauty pageants have replaced researches and scientific inquiry on our campuses. So, our universities graduates are not morally and educationally equipped to tackle the leadership challenges of the 21st century.

Have you paused to wonder why our political leaders embark on health pilgrimage to India and Britain? Our leaders have failed to revamp our health sector; consequently, they metamorphosed to consulting clinics without drugs and latest medical equipment. More so, Nigerians with financial where-withal do not repose trust in our locally-trained medical personnel. We all doubt the medical expertise and competence of Nigerian trained medical doctors and other health workers given the rot prevalent in our Universities. Our leaders’ seeking of medical treatment for minor ailments outside the shores of Nigeria causes capital flight in our country; it is a disincentive to our economic growth.

But, can our economy grow in a milieu of corruption, ethnic bigotry, religious intolerance, violence, blood-letting and over-bloated bureaucracy? The aforementioned things do not conduce to national cohesion and development, but they are not insurmountable problems. It takes a competent, dedicated, and selfless leader for a country to ascend to the summit of economic prosperity and technogical advancement.



•Okoye, wrote in from Uruowulu – Obosi Anambra State.
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Nigerian Army: In the Shadow of Corruption

http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=corruption%20%20within%20nigerian%20military&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CDcQFjAD&url=%68%74%74%70%3a%2f%2f%77%77%77%2e%6d%6f%64%65%72%6e%67%68%61%6e%61%2e%63%6f%6d%2f%6e%65%77%73%2f%32%35%39%31%33%33%2f%31%2f%6e%69%67%65%72%69%61%6e%2d%61%72%6d%79%2d%69%6e%2d%74%68%65%2d%73%68%61%64%6f%77%2d%6f%66%2d%63%6f%72%72%75%70%74%69%6f%6e%2e%68%74%6d%6c&ei=fPwwUtrKK4yviQfv4oGIDg&usg=AFQjCNGUxLnziUhdt7oRLjNOYQSCklavmg&cad=rjt

ONLY SUCH ACTIVITIES CAN BE CONSIDERED NORMAL IN NIGERIA NOT THE SINILE WORLD

http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=corruption%20exposed%20within%20nigerian%20military&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CGMQFjAJ&url=%68%74%74%70%3a%2f%2f%77%77%77%2e%62%72%69%62%65%6e%69%67%65%72%69%61%2e%63%6f%6d%2f%65%78%70%6f%73%65%64%2d%64%65%6c%69%62%65%72%61%74%65%2d%63%6f%6d%70%72%6f%6d%69%73%65%2d%6f%66%2d%6e%61%74%69%6f%6e%61%6c%2d%73%65%63%75%72%69%74%79%2d%74%72%65%61%73%6f%6e%61%62%6c%65%2d%66%65%6c%6f%6e%79%2d%61%6e%64%2d%6d%61%73%73%69%76%65%2d%63%6f%72%72%75%70%74%69%6f%6e%2d%69%6e%2d%74%68%65%2d%74%65%6c%65%63%6f%6d%6d%75%6e%69%63%61%74%69%6f%6e%73%2d%73%65%63%74%6f%72%2f&ei=SvswUu2CKOXpiAf0gIHYBA&usg=AFQjCNHExdmTAEcy5MN-TNauJuydyXwQ3Q&cad=rjt

A WARNING BY A NIGERIAN GENERAL

http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=reason%20of%20failure%20of%20nigerian%20military&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CEwQFjAG&url=%68%74%74%70%3a%2f%2f%77%77%77%2e%76%61%6e%67%75%61%72%64%6e%67%72%2e%63%6f%6d%2f%32%30%31%33%2f%30%38%2f%77%61%72%6e%69%6e%67%2d%66%72%6f%6d%2d%61%72%6d%79%2d%67%65%6e%65%72%61%6c%2d%66%61%69%6c%65%64%2d%63%6f%75%6e%74%72%69%65%73%2d%63%72%69%73%65%73%2d%73%74%61%72%74%65%64%2d%6c%69%6b%65%2d%6e%69%67%65%72%69%61%73%2f&ei=A_owUuvVD8m4iAeU2oCIDg&usg=AFQjCNFPKNERrPbCDiz-lJOw1DH2fou8Fg&cad=rjt

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Or you will also be like him.
Answer a fool as his folly deserves,That he not be wise in his own eyes.

Nigeria's plane crashes in last 20 years: timeline

http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=nagerian%20timeline%20of%20aircrashes&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDYQFjAC&url=%68%74%74%70%3a%2f%2f%77%77%77%2e%74%65%6c%65%67%72%61%70%68%2e%63%6f%2e%75%6b%2f%6e%65%77%73%2f%77%6f%72%6c%64%6e%65%77%73%2f%61%66%72%69%63%61%61%6e%64%69%6e%64%69%61%6e%6f%63%65%61%6e%2f%6e%69%67%65%72%69%61%2f%39%33%30%39%37%30%30%2f%4e%69%67%65%72%69%61%73%2d%70%6c%61%6e%65%2d%63%72%61%73%68%65%73%2d%69%6e%2d%6c%61%73%74%2d%32%30%2d%79%65%61%72%73%2d%74%69%6d%65%6c%69%6e%65%2e%68%74%6d%6c&ei=sKUvUvePO-2uiQed1IAQ&usg=AFQjCNHSooXNkZJ1d-BjWg8Pv_C1vqDpvg&bvm=bv.51773540,d.aGc&cad=rjt

NIGERIA HAS THE WORST AIRLNE CRASHES IN HISTORY OF THE WORLD

http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=nagerian%20timeline%20of%20aircrashes&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCwQFjAA&url=%68%74%74%70%3a%2f%2f%77%77%77%2e%74%68%65%6e%61%74%69%6f%6RLDe%6f%6e%6c%69%6e%65%6e%67%2e%6e%65%74%2f%32%30%31%31%2f%69%6e%64%65%78%2e%70%68%70%2f%6e%65%77%73%2f%33%39%38%35%38%2d%74%69%6d%65%6c%69%6e%65%2d%6f%66%2d%61%69%72%2d%63%72%61%73%68%65%73%2e%68%74%6d%6c&ei=sKUvUvePO-2uiQed1IAQ&usg=AFQjCNFlNp2gHit_4Y3qKBLoPZwEx8NdQw&bvm=bv.51773540,d.aGc&cad=rjt

SOUTH AFRICA WOULD SOON DISCOVER OIL

http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=overview%20of%20upstream%20in%20south%20africa&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCkQFjAA&url=%68%74%74%70%3a%2f%2f%77%77%77%2e%73%61%6f%67%61%2e%6f%72%67%2e%7a%61%2f%63%6f%6e%74%65%6e%74%2f%6f%76%65%72%76%69%65%77%2d%75%70%73%74%72%65%61%6d%2d%73%6f%75%74%68%2d%61%66%72%69%63%61&ei=4OEtUqzHI4ariAesx4HQBw&usg=AFQjCNE5xb9OwMkd8kWgECUVJyYhizlRYw&bvm=bv.51773540,d.aGc&cad=rjt

SOUTH AFRICA HAS BEGIN EXPLORATION FOR OIL

The world's largest publicly traded oil and gas company, Exxon Mobil, has signed an agreement to begin offshore exploration activities on the east coast of South Africa through its affiliate ExxonMobil Exploration and Production South Africa, the company announced on Monday.

The agreement was signed with Impact Africa Limited - a subsidiary of British Impact Oil and Gas Limited - to acquire a 75% participating interest and become operator in the Tugela South Exploration Right.

Under the agreement, ExxonMobil Exploration also has the right to acquire 75% interests in future exploration rights in three offshore areas, subject to South African government approval.

"We believe South Africa has significant potential and we will continue to look for additional opportunities there," said ExxonMobil Exploration president, Stephen Greenlee.

The Tugela South Exploration Right covers about 2.8-million acres offshore Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. It has water depths extending from the coastline to approximately 6 500 feet [about 1.98 kilometres].

The future exploration rights cover an additional 16-million acres offshore with water depths extending from the coastline to approximately 9 800 feet [2.99 kilometres], ExxonMobil said.

"Separately, the ExxonMobil affiliate also has executed a technical cooperation permit with the South African government to study the hydrocarbon potential of the Deepwater Durban Basin covering approximately 12.4-million acres offshore Durban," the company said.

The permit allows exclusive rights to study an area for a year.

Read more: http://www.southafrica.info/business/investing/opportunities/exxonmobil-191212.htm#ixzz2eSzQyq8x

No way Nigeria can surpass South Africa in terms of mining resources

http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=estimates%20of%20south%20african%20mineral%20resources&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CC8QFjAB&url=%68%74%74%70%3a%2f%2f%77%77%77%2e%69%6e%66%6f%2e%67%6f%76%2e%7a%61%2f%61%62%6f%75%74%73%61%2f%6d%69%6e%65%72%61%6c%73%2e%68%74%6d&ei=rN0tUoeCGcXNiAee5oGIDQ&usg=AFQjCNFcH5wClUk8-ebScaxnygIFA5wBAg&bvm=bv.51773540,d.aGc&cad=rjt.

NIGERIANS ARE LYING TO THEMSELVES
http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=estimates%20of%20south%20african%20mineral%20resources&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CDsQFjAD&url=%68%74%74%70%3a%2f%2f%77%77%77%2e%73%6f%75%74%68%61%66%72%69%63%61%2e%69%6e%66%6f%2f%62%75%73%69%6e%65%73%73%2f%65%63%6f%6e%6f%6d%79%2f%73%65%63%74%6f%72%73%2f%6d%69%6e%69%6e%67%2e%68%74%6d&ei=rN0tUoeCGcXNiAee5oGIDQ&usg=AFQjCNE9P5s_5v98itYAKRo4ROco5KSpFQ&bvm=bv.51773540,d.aGc&cad=rjt

REGADRING URANIUM SOUTH AFRICA LEADS IN ITS MINING , ONLY NIGER , SOUTH AFRICA & NAMIBIA HAVE LARGE PROVEN RESERVES
http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=uranium%20reserves%20in%20south%20africa&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CDoQFjAD&url=%68%74%74%70%3a%2f%2f%77%77%77%2e%77%69%73%65%2d%75%72%61%6e%69%75%6d%2e%6f%72%67%2f%75%70%7a%61%2e%68%74%6d%6c&ei=mt4tUsusN4-UiQeD6IGIBA&usg=AFQjCNGdEOKMB3TKEGT5dQSIU0NQuYUPdQ&bvm=bv.51773540,d.aGc&cad=rjt

A second South African soldier has been injured in heavy fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and South African Special Forces snipers have killed at least six senior rebel officers.


Fighting has increased since clashes at the weekend in which a South African soldier, along with three Tanzanian troops, was slightly injured in an M23 mortar attack.

More than 1000 soldiers from 6 SA Infantry Battalion, based in Eastern Cape, are part of the UN's 3000-strong intervention brigade, which is backing a DRC government forces' assault on rebel positions.

The brigade has an aggressive mandate and the power to pursue, engage and disarm the M23 rebels, who are heavily armed and backed by tanks. It is believed that their arms and other munitions are being supplied by Rwanda, a claim that country vehemently denies.

A South African soldier said yesterday that teams of Special Forces members had been engaging the rebels.

"The engagements occurred as helicopters attacked M23 supply lines between Goma and Rwanda. Our snipers were specifically targeting rebel command-and-control posts. It appears from information coming from the front that the officers were busy planning attacks on DRC and UN bases," he said.

The national secretary of the SA National Defence Union, Pikkie Greeff, confirmed the involvement of snipers: "Our sources in Goma have revealed that at the time of attacks [on M23 supply lines] by UN Ukranian Mi24 attack helicopters, snipers from our Special Forces were engaging the rebels. They have killed a number of rebels, with reports of one being shot from a distance of 2.2km."

He said at least one South African soldier was shot in the leg.

"Information is sketchy. The soldier is in a stable condition and was evacuated to hospital."

Greeff said the fighting was in an area known as Kigali Towers - 15km from the North Kivu provincial capital, Goma - where M23 rebels had dug in.

"[Our information is] that within the next two weeks SA Air Force Rooivalk attack helicopters are to be deployed to join the clashes . they will provide much-needed fire power to be used to drive the rebels from their positions," he said.

M23 president Bertrand Bisimwa said yesterday: "There was a big offensive this morning . It was the UN that was shooting at us, from their helicopters. It's the Tanzanian and South African troops that are on the frontline. It's them we see first."

The intervention brigade was created after the rebels briefly held Goma late last year. Then UN peacekeeping forces stood by and did nothing because they were authorised only to protect civilians.

SANDF spokesman Brigadier-General Xolani Mabanga confirmed that a South African soldier had been slightly injured.

PROFILE OF AFRICAN ARMIES

MARITIUS
http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31636:new-african-military-profile-mauritius&catid=50:Land&Itemid=105

BUKINA FASSO
http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29378:new-african-military-profile-burkina-faso&catid=50:Land&Itemid=105

ANGOLA
http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29332:new-african-military-profile-angola&catid=50:Land&Itemid=105

BOTSWANA
http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29365:new-african-military-profile-botswana&catid=50:Land&Itemid=105

KENYA
http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31109:new-african-military-profile-kenya&catid=50:Land&Itemid=105

MANDELA NEVER CLAIMED TO BE A HERO BUT SOUTH AFRICA AND THE PROGRESSIVE WORLD BESTOWED THOSE ACCOLADES....SEE ATTACHED LINK

US President Barack Obama has praised Nelson Mandela as "an inspiration to the world" while visiting South Africa.
http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=PRAISES%20FOR%20MANDELA%20FROM%20NIGERIA&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CD4QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailytimes.com.ng%2Farticle%2Fobama-praises-mandela-inspiration&ei=3g8WUqWXEdSShQfOyIHgCA&usg=AFQjCNE8KgBgJyT5JkcJ5VjOMXrKjk-ANA

chech what nigerians are saying about mandela

http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=PRAISES%20FOR%20MANDELA%20FROM%20NIGERIA&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&ved=0CFsQFjAH&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpublic%2FMandela-Praise&ei=3g8WUqWXEdSShQfOyIHgCA&usg=AFQjCNH6owSqYt6uSfqBxo2LQ3aAfLirEg

MANDELA NEVER SOLD SOUTH AFRICANS TO SLAVERY LIKE YOUR FORE FATHERS HAVE DONE: MANDELA A SOUTH AFRICAN HERO
http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=collaboration%20of%20nigerias%20in%20slavery&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2009%2Fnov%2F18%2Fafricans-apologise-slave-trade&ei=ntgVUtXnFsSZhQeB04HICQ&usg=AFQjCNF7jbEjEqDJb9geEdz9ZS9RJlWXVQ

@AGAUGUSTUS SURELLY THIS IS WHAT MADE YOU ESCAPE FROM NIGERIA.....
http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=what%20has%20made%20nigeria%20to%20be%20so%20negative%20about%20their%20country&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&ved=0CDsQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fdebate%2Farticle-2387359%2FNigeria-country-corrupt-better-burn-aid-money.html&ei=lKgUUvixJceBhQekloG4DQ&usg=AFQjCNFqbJXbrwpuQ2wPZW15MAGvMqH-mg

HAHAHHAHAH NIGERIANS CAN BE REALLY FUNNY SOMETIMES.....@AGAUGUST LEFT THE COUNTRY DUE TO NON EXISTING OPPORTUNITIES AND YET YOUR DEFENDERS CLAIM BIG BRAIN EXPLORATION

@AUGUSTUS WHY DID YOU LEAVE NIGERIA FOR GREENER PASTURES IS IT BECAUSE OF ELECTRICITY IS IT BECAUSE OF TRAFFIC IS IT BECAUSE OF POTHOLES AND HORRIBLE ROADS IS IT OKADA IS IT POVERTY AND LACK OF OPPORTUNITIES?? FOR HOW LONG DID YOU WAITED FOR YOUR VISA AND WHY OR YOU LEFT AS A STOREWAY

@AGAUGUST how can I envy a country that relies on imported food for survival....How can I envy a semi failed state which depends on a hand to mouth for survival...How can I envy and be jelousy of a country that depends on the importation of fake medication to treat its people.

My point was about the project was that South Africa thought about it long before Nigerian navy even considered the procument. Nigeria navy is also consideres buying and this is not a done deal.

South Africa with its 12 Rooivlak atleast are indegenous and produced in South Africa...where are Nigerian products??
Rooivalk is ranked among the Top Ten Best Attack Helicopters in the World....WHERE IS NIGERIA Last time you were full of praises for Egypt and now you are condeming their army which lost all the battles they fought with Israel but very excellent in killing their civillians.....who's the next you ll be praise singing

south africa intends to possess a aircraft carrier
http://www.2oceansvibe.com/2012/01/19/south-africa-might-still-get-a-warship/

south africa intends to also get possession of the aircraft carrier
http://www.2oceansvibe.com/2012/01/19/south-africa-might-still-get-a-warship/

@AGAUGUST REMEMBER YOU WERE THE ONE WHO HAD HIGH PRAISES FOR EGYPT AS THE BEST MILITARY FORCE IN AFRICA AND NOW YOU WANT DO BLAME SOUTH AFRICA....ANYWAY ME THINK YOU ARE FAKE DISGUISED AS A CUM MILITARY EXPERT, CUM MBA, CUM NIGERIAN PATRIOT BUT TRULY 419 SCAM. NIGERIA WOULD NEVER BE ON EQUAL FOOTING WITH SOUTH AFRICA....NOT IN GOD's TIME

@AUGUSTUS IF YOU STAY IN A GLASS HOUSE DONT THROW STONES.....SHOCKING:Nigeria Becomes World's 2nd Largest Carrier Of HIV/AIDS!

The Director General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Professor John Idoko, Tuesday disclosed that with 3.4 million Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS, Nigeria has become the second largest country where the disease has afflicted so many people.

Idoko, who made this disclosure during a public hearing on a bill seeking an end to discrimination against HIV victims, said the ailment was more prevalent in 13 states.

Idoko, who noted that only 18 per cent of HIV positive women received prophylaxis treatment against mother-child transmission, noted that only 18 per cent of the 170 million population in the country had gone for HIV test, adding that more than 40 per cent of HIV positive persons do not know their status.

http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=positive%20comments%20by%20nigerians%20&source=web&cd=7&cad=rja&ved=0CE0QFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stelladimokokorkus.com%2F2013%2F06%2Fshockingnigeria-becomes-worlds-2nd.html&ei=N_oNUuj0MoaphAe4uoDYBQ&usg=AFQjCNE_bdaU84p16vWjyT3UH7QaFb9XVA

SOUTH AFRICAN MILITARY JOURNAL

http://www.dod.mil.za/sasoldier/2013/Soldjune13.pdf

@AUGUSTUS COMPARING CORRUPTION BETWEEN SOUTH AFRICA AND NIGERIA SURELY YOU MUST BE JOKING....AND POTRAYING NIGERIAN MILITARY STANDARD WITH SOUTH AFRICA AGAIN YOU MUST BE DREAMING.

IME THINK YOU HAVE LOST YOUR SENSE OF REASONING AND TRULLY BELIEVE WITH SUCH OUTDATED MASSIVE MILITARY HARDWARE THAT NIGERIA CANNOT EVEN AFFORD TO MAINTAIN YOU ARE THE BEST.....DREAMS MAYBE TRUE BUT THE QUESTIONS TO ENSURE THAT TRANSLATE INTO REALITY