Cabinet forced to rule on President Yar'Adua

Due to the two week absence of the ill President Yar'Adua, unease has begun to spread among the people and the government of Nigeria. It has been rumored that the current status of the President is much worse then what has been publicly announced. Fearing a power vacuum, the cabinet has been forced by a court decision to declare if the President is fit enough to continue his duties as president. This decision must be made within 14 days. Some Nigerians feel this may bring around a change for the better, noting that President Yar'Adua was "failing to abide by the provisions of the constitution" and "forgot" to "hand executive powers to his deputy, as required by the constitution."

This event clearly shows how important legitimacy is for a Democracy. Nigeria's President seemed to be failing to abide by his own constitution and because of this, legitimacy is low, as seen by the numerous riots and climbing concerns of the people of Nigeria. The Political Culture of Nigeria at this time is also in disarray, considering that there's really no one currently "in charge" of Nigeria but, thankfully, this absence of leadership will have to be filled within the next two weeks.

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'Blood oil' dripping from Nigeria

In this article by Andrew Walker from BBC News, thousands of tons of oil are being clandestinely siphoned from Nigerian pipelines illegally and pumped into waiting barges. These barges then disembark to larger ships, which subsequently head to tankers to ship their goods to international markets. The entire process occurs before daybreak, and costs the Nigerian government billions of dollars annually. Oil smuggling (also called "bunkering") is usually run by politically untouchable "Godfathers", individuals who have helped form a booming industry at the expense of the government and legal corporations. Aided by young armed militants, oil smuggling is threatening the lives of all who live on the Nigerian Delta; the chaos surrounding the process has given forth the term "blood oil", similar to the "blood diamonds" of West Africa. The national government makes no attempt to halt the illegal activities, as they are essentially paralyzed by fear of a military uprising or coup that may rise in protest of their interference with the valuable blood oil.

The significance of this situation is apparent is several aspects of Nigerian society. For one, the fact that the nation is losing billions of much needed dollars to oil smuggling is surely a policy issue, since the practice has had a dire effect on Nigeria's economy. It has also influenced the social climate of the Nigerian Delta, as the region has been thrown into chaos by the cartels. The political institutions of the nation have displayed their weakness, since they have no reign over the potent Godfathers. The fear of a potential political change (military insurrection) keeps them from stopping the industry from further crippling the country.

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Photo Credit:BBC News

Riot's Calm and Rebuilding Begins

In the Nigerian City of Jos, The quiet of the last 24 hours is finally starting to be replaced with the sounds of people moving, searching, and packing. According to the article "Nigerian authorities relax city curfew" From January 22, 2010, The easing of the 24 hour curfew has allowed many people to either return home or flee the city, as the Riots of the last four days come to an end. In fact, the riots between Muslims and Christians have caused hundreds of deaths, and religious leaders from both sides are using this new found time to start planning the burials.

These Riots show us a very easy-to-see example of a social cleavage in Nigeria: the Middle Belt, which is the socially turbulent area between the mainly Muslim North, and The Christian Dominated South. when a social Cleavage can even break to the point to Violence on both sides, it's easy to see why studying social cleavages is very important.

Photo Credit to AFP

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