Africa News blog
African business, politics and lifestyle
Pirates plunder Nigerian profits
The first “Nollywood” film, “Living in Bondage”, was a tale of witchcraft, money and betrayal produced by Okechukwu Ogunjiofor.
That was back in 1992. Today, Nigeria’s $450 million home video industry is the third biggest in the world, after Hollywood and Bollywood.
“I actually set out to be a film maker, so I got my training, came to Lagos. But since I could not do a thing on celluloid … I said to myself that there must be a way around it, there must be a new way to do the old things and that new way was trying to invent, you know, to experiment with VHS cameras. That experiment was what we did with ‘Living with Bondage’ and today that experiment has culminated into what we find and people call Nollywood,” Ogunjiofor told Reuters Africa Journal.
Despite the successes, money and betrayal still play their part. Film piracy means millions of dollars a year leach out of the industry.
An average Nollywood film sells about 50,000 copies, yet in Lagos alone millions of bootleg copies go for just $1, undercutting Nollywood’s price of $2.
Fed up with the pirates, Ogunjiofor, who has pioneered an award scheme to reward production excellence in the film industry, has now turned to TV drama and soap operas and wants to see more government support, and legal backing, to help film-makers build a reputable industry.
“As long as you are doing a good movie, you are a candidate of piracy. From the moment you go on location, they start buying materials to wait for your job,” Ogunjiofor said.
Niger delta: Resource war or racket?
Nigeria’s main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), has not so far carried out any major attacks on the country’s oil and gas industry since announcing last month it was ending a five-month-old ceasefire. But the level of insecurity in the vast wetlands region is so great that the industry is feeling the pinch nonetheless. Royal Dutch Shell, Nigeria’s longest-standing foreign oil partner, has warned that “logistical challenges” caused by the insecurity mean it may not meet all of its oil export obligations for this month and next from its key Bonny export facility. Shipping agents and industry sources say security measures at loading platforms mean shipments of crude are being delayed, while some smaller oil services firms have started openly questioning whether to scale back their presence in Nigeria because of high levels of piracy.
On Tuesday, gunmen loyal to militant leader “Kitikata” opened fire on Shell facilities in Bayelsa state. They delivered a letter to the security guards at the site demanding they be given a contract to guard facilities at Nembe Creek, a hotspot for criminal raids, or else they would carry out further attacks.
Given that the militants, based in camps deep in the delta’s swamps, appear to be split into factions often working in an un-coordinated way, and given that many of the attacks are opportunistic acts of pure criminality – kidnappings for ransom or the theft of vessels – what should the security forces do to restore order? Is this violence really still motivated by a struggle for the development of the Niger Delta, or has it become a lucrative criminal racket? Do the oil companies have a responsibility to help police the region, and if so how? If a diplomatic solution is the preferable approach, which militant groups or faction leaders should be brought to the negotiating table? And if they do sit down to talk, what should be done to deal with the criminal gangs who act with no political ideology?
Good question. A lot of this boils down to the corrupt and untransparent way the oil companies contract work out to service companies, and this is all now getting tangled in the wider political cobweb that has ensnared the delta. The big oil companies do not do enough due diligence on their servicing contractors, and it has come to light on more than one occasion that Big Oil has given out contracts for pipeline repair work to front companies held by the very same individuals who undertake to blow up pipelines. Why? Because the industry is rotting from corruption on the inside, where contract managers become kings. Senior management seem reluctant to deal with this problem for fear that it will literally blow up in their faces. On the other hand it is unfair to put all the weight of blame on the oil companies, given that this kind of corruption and extortion is a byproduct of the creation of militia by the political elite in Nigeria to rig elections in the oil rich states of the delta. It is perfectly logical, from the militants point of view, to engage in this kind of extortion when the entire political system has been set up as an extortion racket. The best way to “police” the delta therefore would be start with government and the oil industry cleaning up their own acts. Only once this has been achieved can the use of force really be something that can be applied without the risk of being manipulated by corrupt forces, usually resulting in dead civilians and pointlessly razed communities. Countries that consume Nigerian oil should be careful about what kind of help they give Nigeria to secure their supplies. Gordon Brown is an absolute idiot for suggesting Britain could help train Nigerian forces or whatever meaningless drivel he spouted on Nigeria.
Somalia’s new chance
How times change. Somalia’s new Islamist president has been feted in Ethiopia, whose army drove him from power two years ago – with Washington’s backing – when he headed a sharia courts movement.
Sheikh Sharif Ahmed was greeted with a standing ovation from African Union leaders at a summit in Ethiopia, which pulled the last of its troops out of Somalia last month, leaving the government in control of little beyond parts of Mogadishu. The hardline Islamist al Shabaab militia control much of the rest of southern Somalia.
Somalia was far from being a prominent front in former President George W. Bush’s “War on Terror”, but the reverse Washington suffered there appears to be among its most dramatic. Meanwhile, the past two years have brought at least another 17,400 civilian dead in Somalia and more anarchy that has fuelled a wave of piracy.
Ahmed’s former administration was marked out by both the United States and Ethiopia as being little different to Afghanistan’s Taliban. Hardline members of the group were accused of links to al Qaeda. Now he is widely described by the international community as a “moderate” and he himself has welcomed the new U.S. stance as positive.
“One can say that the U.S. position towards Somalia has become honest,” he told the Egyptian newspaper el-Shorouk. “In the framework of the Djibouti negotiations, America has become a force which supports peace.”
But Somalia’s new president, chosen by parliamentary vote at the weekend, must now face the al Shabaab militia who grew out of the armed wing of the sharia courts movement but later split with him. Al Shabaab have vowed to fight and highlighted his support from “non-believers”.
To try to bolster Ahmed, Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete, the African Union chairman, called for U.N. troops to join the 3,500-strong AU peacekeeping force in Somalia. Right now, they cannot do much more than to try to defend themselves.
Am sorry to disappoint you and and the many well-wishers from the Abgals, but Like the previous 14 govts, which corrupt UN and EU dipolmats, put together in foreign lands, Mr shraif’s govt is very unlikely to bring peace to southern Somalia. In fact, it is even unlikely to bring peace to the capital let alone the whole of the south. Although,rarely mentioned by Rueters and other western media outlets, the problem in somalia is mainly in the south and central regions which are inhabited by the Hawiye tribe. In reality, the conflict in southern somalia, is a war within the various clans of this tribes, some which have suddenly embraced radical islam as veil to hide their clans’ agenda. It is high time that world leaves southern somalia to its people. The so called AU forces are totally ineffecive and soon or later they will withdraw, just as Ethiopean did this month.
Keeping pirates at bay
There are some expectations that piracy in the Gulf of Aden is about to tail off for a bit. It appears that pirates don’t like rough weather any more than anyone else does.
Exclusive Analysis, a political risk consultancy, has conducted a detailed study of incidences of maritime hijacking in order to give its insurer clients the heads up about when and under what circumstances piracy is most likely to occur. It has told the International Underwriting Association of London that the arrival of the monsoon in the Gulf of Aden about now usually keeps pirates on shore. Not so for Somalia, where the waters are generally calmer at the moment. Technically, it is when the Sea Scale hits 5 or 6, that is, rough to very rough.
Weather was not the only factor thrown up by the study when it comes to keeping pirates at bay. Among an array of conditions, it found that ships that have freeboards — the distance from waterline to deck — of six metres or more have a lesser chance of being hijacked.
One pirate ship, apparently, was found with a five metre ladder on board — a hint as to how far they are prepared to go, or at least climb.
Why is the world being so damned politically correct on the somali pirates? In a more civilized time pirates were hung when captured, end of problem.
Can world now stop Somali pirates?
With the naval might of the United States, Europe, China and others now lined up against Somalia’s pirate fraternity, shippers are hoping the nightmare year of 2008 will not be repeated. Somali pirates — mainly gangs of poor young men seeking a quick fortune under the direction of older “financiers” and boat leaders – reaped tens of millions of dollars in ransoms last year in a record haul of 42 hijacks, 111 attacks, and 815 crew taken hostage. That pushed insurance prices up, persuaded some ship-owners to go round South Africa instead of through the Suez Canal, and prompted the unprecedented rush of navies from 14 different nations to the region. Even China is in on the act, deploying its navy for the first time beyond its own waters. And Japan is considering following suit despite its post-World War II pacifist constitution. There have been some early successes from all the deployments – half a dozen pirates arrested and a series of attacks blocked, by helicopter and boat. Bad weather, too, has given the pirates some real problems, drowning five of them when their pockets were stuffed with dollars after taking their share of the ransom from the release of a Saudi super-tanker. Yet the pirates have still managed two new hijacks and 11 attacks in the first half of January. They are hanging on to 11 ships with 207 hostages – most notably a Ukrainian ship with tanks on board. And with such a vast area of operations — plus fancy new speedboats that have taken them as far as Kenya and Madagascar, and GPS equipment to keep away from the warships — the pirates are confident of keeping their business going. So who will win this modern-day battle of the seas? Will the shipping industry lose as much to the pirates this year as they did last? Should they keep paying huge ransoms like the $3 million paid for the Saudi boat?
Maybe, some argue, it will never really be possible to eradicate such a lucrative business which, in one of the world’s most failed states, offers an opportunity for poor and hungry men to become millionaires after a few successful raids. As one pirate told us, they will carry on until there is government again in Somalia.
South Koreans can deal with all the Hostage ships, maybe the North Koreans could go after the Mother Ships. Chinese can send a peace keeping force to Somalia and build some roads and railways (in exchanged for their natural resources). Problem solved!
Well done to the Western Super powers. I think we are seeing a change in the world power a balance and the return of an Eastern Dynasty.
from Global News Journal:
New world shapes up off Somalia
The Somali pirates who released a Saudi supertanker got a $3 million reward, according to their associates. Good money in one of the world’s poorest and most war-blighted corners.But the waters off Somalia are getting ever more crowded with foreign ships trying to stop the pirates. As well as potentially making life more difficult for the hijackers, it has become a real illustration of the much talked about global power shift from West to East in terms of military might as well as economic strength.This raises a question as to whether this will lead to close cooperation, rivalry or something altogether more unpredictable.This week the United States said it planned to launch a specific anti-piracy force, an offshoot of a coalition naval force already in the region since the start of the U.S. “War on Terror” in Afghanistan in 2001.It wasn’t clear just what this would mean in practical terms since U.S. ships were already part of the forces trying to stop the modern day buccaneers, equipped with speedboats and rocket-propelled grenades. It was also unclear which countries would be joining the U.S.-led force rather than operating under their own mandates.The U.S. announcement came two days after Chinese ships started an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden. This is the first time Chinese warships have sailed to Africa, barring goodwill visits, since Ming Dynasty eunuch Admiral Zheng commanded an armada 600 years ago.As my colleague Sanjeev Miglani wrote last month, the Chinese deployment was being scrutinised by the strategic community from New Delhi to Washington.The Chinese had actually been catching up to other Asian countries. India already had ships in the region. So did Malaysia, whose navy foiled at least one pirate attack this month. Reasserting its might, Russia had sent a warship after the big surge in piracy in the Gulf of Aden between Somalia and Yemen. The European Union has a mission there.For Asian countries there is good reason to send warships. This is the main trade route to markets in Europe and their ships have been seized. Attacks on shipping push up insurance rates and force some vessels to use more fuel on the longer, safer route around Africa instead of taking the Suez Canal.But there certainly appears to be evidence too to back up the U.S. National Intelligence Council’s “Global Trends 2025” report late last year that highlighted the relative decline in Washington’s long term influence in the face of the rise of China and India.As well as being a chance for the world’s old and new powers to show their strength in terms of numbers, the anti-piracy operations off Somalia could prove something of a test of effectiveness.While the hardware the navies have will always outclass that of the pirates, the new powers may have an advantage in more robust rules of engagement. That might lead to mistakes, however. In November, India trumpted its success in sinking a pirate “mother ship”. It later turned out that a Thai ship carrying fishing equipment had been sunk while it was being hijacked. Most of the crew were reported lost.There is a lot of sea to cover, one of the reasons why naval forces have had so much difficulty in stopping the hijackings, but the presence of so many navies in the same area at the same time must raise questions over how well they are going to work together.Will this become a model for cooperation in a new world order? Or are there dangers? Might this also end up being a display of how little either East or West can do in the face of attacks by armed groups from a failed state with which nobody from outside seems prepared to come to grips? What do you think?(Picture: Commanding officer of a U.S. Navy guided-missile cruiser monitors the pirated ship off Somalia REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Handout)(Picture: Forces from French naval vessel "Jean de Vienne", seen in this January 4, 2009 photo, capture 19 Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. REUTERS/French Navy/handout)
Hard to believe that a bunch of crack heads can hold the world hostage…The U>N> is too incompetent, the U.S. is to worried about being loved by every one…perhaps the Chinese have the guts to kill the pirates off.
from Pakistan: Now or Never?:
And now the Chinese navy in Somali waters…
Chinese naval ships may soon be steaming into the Gulf of Aden to join a growing fleet of international warships fighting Somali pirates.
A first probably for a navy that has long confined itself to its own waters, the move is certain to stir interest in the strategic community stretching from New Delhi to Washington.
Chinese state media on Wednesday quoted Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei as telling a UN Security Council meeting that Beijing was considering sending naval ships on escort duty in the troubled waters.
On the face of it, as Beijing would argue, too much should not be read into its naval deployment off the Somali waters. Theirs will be one of a number of navies patrolling the region such as the United States, India, Greece, Saudi Arabia, France, Russia, Britain and Pakistan. Besides, Chinese vessels have been attacked by the pirates in recent months giving them as much justification for escort duty as anyone else operating there. The latest was on Tuesday when a Chinese fishing vessel was seized in the Gulf of Aden, along with three other ships including a yacht.
But China's military has been the subject of relentless scrutiny and any move it makes will be closely watched especially in regional capitals such as Tokyo and New Delhi. India, one of the biggest navies in the Indian Ocean boasting of an aircraft carrier group, has long looked over its shoulder watching for signs of a creeping Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean.
If nothing else, its role in helping Pakistan build its Gwadar port on the Baluchistan coast is a matter of concern for Indian navy planners who worry that the deep water port is a key element of China's "String of Pearls" strategy of extending its influence from the South China Sea through the Indian Ocean and on to the Arabian Gulf through a chain of outposts.
China can afford to pay the pirates the money they demand which would more or less same amount that is spent on deploying navy. They can negotiate better with pirates, than any other nation. Somebody have to publish the make of arms used by pirates!!
THe main reason for sending navy is, there is shipment destined for Iran/Pak conatining things which they dont want world to know. They want to save from embarasement if that ship is caught by pirates. They dont want to in situation of MV Faina!!
Somalia’s mean sealanes
It’s the stuff for a Hollywood blockbuster to rival Ridley Scott’s 2001 thriller “Black Hawk Down”: A bunch of 50 Somali pirates in speedboats and heavily armed with grenade launchers clamber aboard a Ukranian ship in the Gulf of Aden. They overwhelm the 20-man crew and take control of the ship and its dubious cargo of 33 battle tanks, supposedly destined for the Kenyan military. Six days later and with US navy ships stalking, a shootout breaks out on board among the pirates, killing three.
The hijacking of the MV Faina is only the most high-profile of what is turning into the biggest scourge of sea piracy in modern times. According to the International Maritime Bureau, presumed Somali pirates have attacked more than 60 ships in the area this year. It’s piracy alert website reported on Sept. 26 that four ships had been attacked in the Gulf of Aden within a 48-hour period.
“Intelligence sources revealed that there are now three suspicious vessels in the Gulf of Aden believed to be pirate mother vessels looking to attack ships with the intent to hijack,” it said.
Somali pirates taking advantage of chaos onshore, where an Islamist insurgency has raged for nearly two years, have intensified attacks this year on vessels plying the main water route linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe. Somalia has been a dysfunctional state since 1991. The upsurge in piracy has sent shipping insurance costs soaring tenfold, according to Lloyds List, and prompting shipowners to call for tougher international action. The alternative would be rerouting sea trade through the Cape of Good Hope, adding thousands of miles to the journey.
An international coalition of 19 states has been scrambling to keep the waterways in the region safe, but its own warships run the risk of deadly attack. France has been championing international action against Somali pirates. It sent its commandos twice this year to rescue its yachts seized in the region and is now spearheading United Nations action to deal with piracy.
What should be the correct international response to the problem? Should the world’s big powers increase their military presence in the Gulf of Aden to protect vital sea lanes? How should the international community address the fundamental issue of chaos in Somalia itself? Can piracy in the region be contained without a solution to the Somali crisis?
I am utterly amazed how people who have no idea of what is happening can talk about things and critisize other people (Liban).
The coast of somaia has been subjected to ruthless people who illigally exploited the maritime resources of Somalia and dumped toxic waste, these people simply don’t care about the environmental, social or economic consequences to the people of their actions.
As Liban says the locals set out to defend their livelihoods as they had no othe alternative. However the situation spiralled out of control and has now become difficult to resolve. To say that violence is all somali people know, as Carlos is implying, is a deeply insulting and ill informed statement. I can sense that some of you are angered at what is happening but that is no excuse for statements such as “Somalian pirates do not deserve humane treatment” and “we have to go in we kill them all. Maybe it will deter others”. What, so are pirates that are of non somali origin to receive humane treatment? Voilance and this kind of rhetoric is not the answer, we have seen that in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The shameful revelation of illigal arms smuggling is a big embarrasment to the countries involves and once again shows that foreign countries act to achive their own aims, wheter it’d be at another people’s expense or not.
Returning to the topic concerned, the kidnapping and piracy is anacceptable and has to be stopped. The Somaliland government (autonomous region) should be adequately equipped to protect it’s shores as foreign forces cannot always be present, then the foreign forces should patrol the remaining waters until the Somali government is capable of protecting it’s shores also. The waters need to be protected so that the locals can resume their livelihood in a reasonable manner and they won’t have to resort to these kind of actions to put bread on the table. For this to happen there needs to be a Democratically elected somali government free of foreign interference, this i believe would lead to the social and economical development that is much needed. However, i do not believe that at this day and age somalia will be alowed to rebuild itself.
These incidents have shown the strategic importance of the Gulf of Aden and surrounding waters, and i hope that the locals will recieve help as to forecome these kind of incidents. Most statements of the above, are absolutely nonsense and i cannot believe that the moderators have allowed such hatred and dislike to be shown towards Somali people, becuase that is how i perceive it.
piracy in other words mean FAKE if am not mistaken.hence their father is CORRUPTION and their mother is PROBLEM.This piracy has deepen into the blood of almost every nigerian starting from our leaders.election in nigeria is pirated,our leaders are pirated becuase almost all are not genuine.employement sectors are corrupt and pirated becuase they do not take the real people.even the food,drugs and,clothes are pirated.what about collapse building and roads,is it not piracy?so what are we talking about?this has given negative influence to the nations economy.let the leaders stop piracy first before you talk about the poor masses they taught it to them.