The increasing number of unemployed graduates is threatening the sustainability of the nation’s economic development and sending disturbing signals to the global environment. Hundreds of thousands of university graduates are without jobs and over two million graduates join them every year. Youth unemployment rate is over 25%. There are several incidents of exploitation of job applicants by various government and private employment agencies. They charge desperate applicants a certain amount for an empty promise of securing jobs for them. Rather than reimburse the applicants for travelling long distances to write aptitude test, the agencies ask these very poor unemployed citizens to pay for being given the opportunity to participate in the recruitment exercise. Also many in the region are saying that local unemployed youth are being recruited by Boko Haram's brutal campaign of violence. There is an urgent need for job creation, reducing poverty and informal work.

Pray: for fair access to job opportunities;ay for ‘tomorrow's leaders’ to have opportunities to grow and develop their gifts and talents. (Ps.25:12-13)

More: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/dangers-of-rising-youth-unemployment/174483/

Despite its vast resources Nigeria is among the most unequal countries in the world. Poverty in the north is in stark contrast to the developed southern states, while residents in the oil-rich south-east complain that all the wealth they generate flows up the pipeline to Abuja and Lagos.This week, one hundred years after the mainly Muslim north and largely Christian south were united, Abuja hosts a National Conference of 500 delegates representing ethnic, linguistic and religious groups to discuss Nigeria's future. The conference will last three months and division of oil money and powers will be the main issues. Some Nigerians want more powers to be delegated to the country's 36 states. Some believe President Goodluck Jonathan wants to use the conference to change the constitution.The conference comes ahead of next year’s elections and amid almost daily attacks by militants wanting Islamic law in the north. (See Article 4 below). Discussing whether the country should be divided is barred. Some say they will still raise this issue.

Pray: that God’s purposes would be central to all discussions around economic and social situations. May every group discussion be free of hostile dialogue; may every ethnic group have a say in the nation’s future. (Ps.85:8)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26613962

 

 

More than 1,300 people have died in the past two months as an insurgent Islamist group, Boko Haram, wages a rebellion rooted in poverty, corruption, religion and geography. Boko Haram is believed to be responsible for killing at least 1,300 people in the past two months and more than 130 people in the past week. The radical sect claims ties to al-Qaida and has ambitions to impose sharia law on Nigeria's 170 million people. In Boko Haram's heartland, even the national military is outgunned in what is fast becoming a lesson to the world in how not to tackle an Islamist insurgency. ‘What is clear is that they are as ruthless as any Islamist group or terrorists anywhere in the world,’ said Antony Goldman, a west Africa risk analyst at London-based PM Consulting. ‘They're quite happy to hit soft targets, including schools. Some in the Nigerian administration expect this to be a problem for another 10 years.’

Pray: that ways will be found to control Boko Haram and bring peace to Nigeria. (Ps.46:1)

More: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/08/nigeria-state-war-islamist-insurgency

More than 2,000 people in northern Nigeria risked their lives by turning out for Sunday Mass while their city was being bombed. Describing St Patrick's Cathedral, Maiduguri, as ‘packed’, Father John Bakeni, the celebrant at the Mass, said people told him afterwards that if the attacks worsened they would prefer to die in church than anywhere else. Sunday's Mass took place after Boko Haram extremists launched one of their biggest armed campaigns of recent months, firing rocket-propelled grenades and mounting a massive assault on a military barracks. Hundreds died in the attacks, which were repulsed by the Nigerian military, but there were growing concerns about the government's capacity to hold back the extremists. The priest called on the world, ‘Please pray that this violence will stop.’

Pray: for religious freedom in Nigeria, pray protection for the church, pray the present persecution would end. (Job 34:24)

More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/nigerians.risk.death.to.attend.mass/36251.htm

‘Boko Haram has stepped up its violent campaign, with hardly a day going by without reports of a deadly attack by militants’, says BBC Nigeria correspondent Will Ross. Boko Haram gave a week’s warning that it would attack Mafa. Schools were shut and most residents fled to Maiduguri city (28 miles away). Military reinforcements were sent to Mafa, but soldiers lacked the firepower or numerical strength to confront the militants and when the attack took place on Monday they ran away with the villagers. There was no resistance. Also, two policemen were killed by a bomb on Monday morning and fourteen soldiers were missing. On Saturday night fighters destroyed the entire village of Mainok when gunmen attacked with assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and explosives, killing 47 people. Earlier on Saturday two bombs killed 50 in a densely populated area of Maiduguri - a city which Boko Haram has often targeted. On Friday 20 died in an army air raid on Daglun village. See also

Pray: for more international support for Nigeria’s counter-terrorist mission. (Ps.22:11 & 46:1)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26418161

  1. Nigeria: School raid in Yobe state leaves 29 dead
  2. Nigeria: Latest Boko Haram attack
  3. 106 Killed in Village Attack
  4. Nigeria: 60 Christians helped, 80 waiting for prosthetics

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