Word: nigerians
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...brawny west African country of Nigeria has ample cause to celebrate this week. It is 20 years since it achieved independence from Britain and one year since it returned to civilian democratic government after more than a decade of military rule. Beyond the purely commemorative reasons for rejoicing, Nigerians can revel in their emergence as black Africa's richest and most powerful nation-and a rising economic force on the world scene. With daily shipments to the U.S. of nearly 1 million bbl. of low-sulfur "sweet" crude oil, Nigeria ranks as the U.S. 's second largest supplier...
...mild-mannered and bespectacled, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, 55, seems the very antithesis of the stereotypical boisterous Nigerian politician. But when the former school-teacher speaks, people listen. The reason: he is the leader of a country that boasts Africa's biggest population (90 million), largest standing army (130,000) and a G.N.P. of more than $50 billion. As one African diplomat puts it, "Whenever there is an important African issue, everyone waits to see what Nigeria decides. You can oppose it, but you must always take it into account...
...confusion began a year ago when the Punch, a newspaper that is more noted for its third-page cheesecake than its investigative prowess, reported that approximately $5 billion was missing from the accounts of the government-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. In response to the charges, the newly installed Shagari government last spring appointed a five-man tribunal to investigate. The group's report, which was released two weeks ago, noted that the government's oil records were a shambles, but that there was no evidence of any missing funds...
Instead the tribunal concluded that during the years 1975-78, when Nigerian crude was not selling well because of a short-lived world oil glut, the three oil companies, which pump approximately 80% of Nigeria's normal production of some 2 million bbl. daily, had cut back production, at the government's request, to an average of about 1.7 million bbl. a day. Traditionally, the companies had been splitting their production on a 45%-55% basis with the government, for daily liftings of about 1 million bbl. of crude. In order to stay at that level, the companies...
...Nigerian government settled for that arrangement in hopes of offsetting as much revenue loss as possible. The oil companies continued to pay the same taxes and royalties, even though overall Nigerian production had declined...