Nigeria Industry
In addition to the oil industry, Nigeria mainly has a relatively small-scale manufacturing industry for the domestic market. More than half of industrial production is concentrated in Lagos and its environs. Other important industrial cities are Kano, Kaduna and Ibadan. The oil industry dominates in the cities of Port Harcourt and Warri.
The industry is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and components. It has also been hampered by a weak infrastructure – with electricity shortages, fuel shortages and distribution difficulties – as well as political instability, corruption and crime.
- According to ABBREVIATIONFINDER, NI stands for the country of Nigeria in geography.
Textiles, beverages, cigarettes, detergents and cement account for a large part of the manufacturing industry. The most important is the textile industry, which is second only to the largest number of people. Many Nigerians were therefore directly affected when the textile industry in the early 2000s faced great difficulties. Increased production costs and fierce competition from China, for example, forced many textile factories to strike again.
The larger-scale industry was mainly built up during the 1970s, when oil money flowed to the country. Large state investments in the steel industry and petrochemical plants produced meager results, with loss-making operations and tens of thousands of underemployed workers. The steel industry is a real grief child, where production for years has been a fraction of the capacity, or even down, despite the fact that billions of dollars have been pumped in.
- COUNTRYAAH: List of top trading partners of Nigeria. Includes countries that imported most shipments from and exported most goods to the country.
The automotive industry has also struggled in the headwind. Several large car brands have long been manufacturing factories in the country, but manufacturing is not enough to meet domestic demand. However, a new investment in the automotive industry is being made and several new car manufacturers have established themselves in the country in recent years.
2020
June
Jihadists go for new attacks
June 14
Islamist group The Islamic State’s West African Province (Iswap) is believed to be behind recent attacks in northeastern Nigeria. In a series of attacks against various villages, about 150 people were killed in June. The victims are both civilian and military. Iswap is a breakaway group from Boko Haram and has loose ties to the Islamic State (IS). At the same time, violence continues in the country’s northwestern parts, where 40,000 people are believed to have fled their homes. In June, armed men have on several occasions attacked villages and shot the inhabitants, a total of about 80 people have lost their lives. The locals call the perpetrators a “bandit gang” who also steal cattle and loot business.
Coronary restrictions are lifted
June 1st
The government is lifting some restrictions, although experts warn that Nigeria has not reached the peak of the corona epidemic. The reliefs apply, among other things, to religious communities. The national curfew is shortened to 22:00 – 04:00. Crowds of people over 20 are still banned and restaurants and bars are not yet open. Even in the city of Kano, the economic hub of the north, which had a large spread of infection and many dead, the authorities have decided to partially lift the closure. Several government officials, including the governor of the central bank, have urged the government to ease restrictions on boosting the economy. The number of infected people in the country is estimated at just over 10,000 and 287 people have so far died of covid-19.
May
Dozens of dead in series attacks
May 28
Armed bandits on motorcycles kill a total of 74 people in a series of attacks against five villages near the Niger border in northwestern Nigeria. The violent men followed their fleeing victims and shot most of them in the head. For many years, northwestern Nigeria has been shaken by violence that is often rooted in rivalry over land. Attacks and counter-attacks are common, as are livestock theft and kidnappings. In an effort to stave off the violence, the country’s forces launch a bombshell the day before the bloody attacks against camps where suspected criminal groups are suspected of having their bases. The army claims they kill several hundred bandits, but the information is unconfirmed. The think tank International Crisis Group warns that jihadists in the Northeast are now starting to gain influence even in the Northwest.
Renewed attacks in several parts of the north
May 14
Northern Nigeria is shaken in many directions by violent attacks on civilian and military targets. In the state of Adamawa, six people are killed in what police describe as ethnic violence between the two peoples groups Hausa and Chabo. Several houses are burned down and hundreds of people flee. The day before, several people were killed in fighting between Nigerian soldiers and jihadists in the neighboring state of Borno, in northeastern Nigeria. UNHCR also reports unrest in the Northwest where about 42,000 people have fled disputes in the Nigeria-Niger border. Violent struggles between farmers and shepherds fighting for the right to water are common in the area.
New chief of staff appointed
May 13th
President Muhammadu Buhari appoints a former UN diplomat, Ibrahim Gambari, as new chief of staff. Gambari was Foreign Minister of Buhari’s military government in the 1980s and was appointed UN Secretary-General in 2005. He replaces Buhari’s former chief of staff, Abba Kyari, whose death in the suites of covid-19 has shaken the country politically.
Restrictions are lifted in Lagos
May 4th
Africa’s largest city, Lagos, reopens business after five weeks of closure. Police have on several occasions turned down violent protests against the coronary restrictions in the city, which has 20 million inhabitants. The capital Abuja is following Lagos relief, but some restrictions remain in both cities. In the northern state of Kano, experts note that the large number who have died in what has been called a “mysterious disease” have been infected by covid-19. Most restrictions to prevent corona spread in Kano are fixed. The capacity to test suspected coronary cases is low in Nigeria. To date, 2,500 infected have been found and 87 people have died as a result of covid-19. As a result of the pandemic, the world market price of oil has fallen sharply, which is hitting the Nigerian economy hard.
April
Many killed in the northwest
April 19
Armed men attack and kill 47 people in a raid on several villages in the northwestern state of Katsina. Over the past year, several hundred people have been murdered by criminal leagues ravaging the region. Thousands of residents have been forced to flee (see Sept. 27, 2019).
Top official dies in covid-19
April 17
President Muhammadu Buhari’s chief of staff, Abba Kyari, dies in covid-19 viral disease. Kyari was one of the country’s top officials and had a great influence on politics.
More dead in police violence than by covid-19
April 16
During the ongoing corona pandemic and more people were killed by the country’s security forces than by the covid-19 disease. In total, 18 people have lost their lives when police and military forcefully tried to enforce the restrictions imposed in parts of the country to stop the corona spread. Eleven people have died in covid-19. The National Human Rights Commission has received over a hundred testimonies of abuses and violations that the security forces must have committed. The country’s police spokesman criticizes the National Human Rights Commission for being too unspecific in its reporting.
March
Lagos and Abuja are quarantined
March 30
Lagos, with its around 20 million inhabitants, and Abuja are quarantined. Residents are ordered to stay at home and do only necessary matters such as the purchase of food, water and medicines. Most stores are closed. Nigeria currently has 131 confirmed cases of coronary infection and two confirmed deaths in covid-19 disease.
About 70 soldiers are killed by IS group
24th of March
At least 70 government soldiers are killed in an ambush against their car column in the state of Borno in northeastern Nigeria, the military reports. Jihadist insurgents shoot at military trucks with grenades. In the trucks are soldiers who are changing posts. Many soldiers are injured and others are carried away by the attackers, who are believed to belong to an IS-faithful outbreak group from Boko Haram.
The land borders are closed
March 23rd
To try to curb the spread of the sars-cov-2 corona virus, Nigeria is closing all land borders, prohibiting visits to the refugee camps in the Northeast and urging all Lagos residents to stay home.
Crowds are prohibited
March 22
The Corona pandemic means that Nigeria is imposing additional restrictions on churches and mosques, airports and bars. Crowds of more than 50 people are no longer allowed.
Entry ban from 13 countries
21 March
Nigeria faces entry ban for citizens from 13 countries hit hard by the new corona virus, sars-cov-2, which caused a pandemic. The countries concerned are China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Nigerians returning home from these 13 countries are quarantined for 14 days.
Measures against coronary pandemic
March 19
Nigeria closes all schools and limits the possibility of holding religious gatherings in the two major cities of Lagos and Abuja. The state of Ogun and several regions in the northwest are doing the same. The measures are an attempt to limit the spread of the new corona virus, which caused a pandemic. When the decisions are made, Nigeria has twelve confirmed cases of coronary infection.
The Emir of Kano is deposited
March 9
The Emir of Kano is deposed by the state governor and kicked out of his palace and his emirate. The traditional leader, called Muhammadu Sanusi II, has since his inception in 2014 been involved in a series of conflicts with the Kano authorities, who are now putting their foot down. The emirate has been around for a thousand years, but it has become increasingly complicated to retain the traditional kingdom of modern-day managed Nigeria, when conflicts of power easily arise. There are dozens of similar traditional kingships or sultanates in Nigeria. The traditional leaders have no formal political powers but often have a large informal influence on the inhabitants. The traditional realms are usually financially dependent on the state for its existence.
February
Investments in small farmers and young entrepreneurs
February 27th
The government allocates $ 248 million to loans for small-scale agricultural projects and $ 20 million to young entrepreneurs in the technology industry.
Opposition politicians are sentenced to prison
February 25th
A court in Abuja sentenced Olisa Metuh to seven years in prison for embezzlement and money laundering. Metuh was a high-ranking spokesman for the then ruling party PDP under President Goodluck Jonathan. Metuh was convicted of channeling 400 million naira (about $ 1.1 million) of state funds to Jonathan’s failed reelection campaign in 2015. The transaction must have been under the orders of Jonathan’s national security adviser Sambo Dasuki, who himself is charged with embezzling $ 2 billion from defense funds that would have been used in the fight against Boko Haram. Jonathan refuses to appear in court for questioning. Dasuki testifies but remembers nothing about the transaction. President Buhari sees the verdict against Metuh as a success in the promised fight against corruption, while critics accuse him of exploiting the corruption trials to gain opposition.
Abacha’s stolen money should be refunded
February 4th
More than $ 300 million, which President Sani Abacha embezzled from the Nigeria Treasury and placed in the Jersey tax haven in the English Channel, will be returned to Nigeria. The money was laundered via the United States during Abacha’s time in power in the 1990s and transferred to Jersey. The money was discovered at a bank on the island in June 2019. Under an agreement between Nigeria, the US and Jersey, the US and Jersey each receive $ 5 million. In 2014, US courts ruled that Abacha had stolen the money from the Nigerian Treasury. Thereafter, a five-year litigation took over the money. In the past, Swiss authorities have also returned $ 300 million to Nigeria from Abacha’s accounts. Negotiations are ongoing on $ 30 million invested in the UK and $ 144 million in France.
January
US facing entry restrictions
January 31
US President Donald Trump imposes restrictions on entry into the United States for nationals from six countries: Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Tanzania. In the past, Trump has done the same for citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and North Korea as well as Venezuelan political officials. The decision, according to US authorities, is because these countries have been unwilling or unable to follow certain basic rules for, among other things, identity control, information exchange and public safety. The rules begin to apply on February 22 and the focus is on people who want to settle in the US, not just visit the country.
