2007年VOA标准英语-Nigeria's Northerners Face Challenges of Strugg

By Nico Colombant
Kaduna, Nigeria
20 April 2007

Nigeria's next president is almost certain to be a northerner, as the ruling party candidate and the two main opposition¹ leaders for Saturday's election are from that region. But analysts² say replacing the southern president Olusegun Obasanjo is unlikely to change the plight³ of northerners. The vast, mostly Muslim region, has struggled with change since the advent⁴ of elections and decentralized government in 1999. VOA's Nico Colombant reports from the northern city of Kaduna.

Nassir Abbas

"With the coming in of democracy, there was a kind of problem," said Nasir Abbas, who is with the Kaduna-based Civil Rights Congress non-governmental organization. "How do I mean? There was an issue of north-south divide."

Abbas says when the repression⁵ of the military was replaced with more freedom of expression, along with cuts in social spending, it gave way to a reawakening of regional identities.

"It was not a religious problem but is a political problem. And virtually the politicians were not able to deliver the dividends⁶ of democracy. That is why you tend to have the undesirable⁷ waste product of humanity. That is the teeming⁸ youths who are jobless, who are not working because of certain policy majors that are too hard to swallow," he said. "I mean the reform packages that are ongoing⁹. So therefore these are bitter pills for now, and the reform packages have not really addressed the issue of the downtrodden."

Abbas says introducing Sharia law, as has been the case in a dozen northern states, is not a problem in the long run. But he says identity-driven purposes can lead to communal¹⁰ violence, when they are used for instant political or criminal gain.

"Today, you see the chunk¹¹ of young men virtually idle, doing nothing, and they are at your beck and call whenever there is a crisis," said Abbas. "They have been used to unleash¹² terror, they have been used to maim¹³, loot, and to create havoc¹⁴ in the society."

Law professor and former legal advisor¹⁵ to military rulers, Auwalu Yadudu, agrees, but says this situation does not exist just in the north.

Auwalu Yadudu

"If one may add, this is not something limited to the north. I mean it takes its own form depending on which part of the country you are talking about," said Yadudu. "In the delta¹⁶ region you have people agitated¹⁷ for total control of their resources which they could not do during the military. And in other parts, also, you will find in the south, yes, you have people saying that we want to revive the Biafra secessionist move. So it is unfair to be selective in giving a sense as to what is happening in one area and not having a total view of what is happening across the nation."

Yadudu says when former military ruler and Christian¹⁸ southerner Olusegun Obasanjo emerged as the choice to win the 1999 election, he had to promise the military that when he stepped down his successor would be a Muslim northerner.

As it happens, former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, the main opponent to ruling party candidate Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, is also from the north.

But even when a northerner takes office, Yadudu says, it will not change the situation in the north.

"Whether it is Yar'Adua or Buhari who wins, you are not going to see some of these agitations¹⁹ and some of these reassertions of identities simply disappearing, simply because it is a Muslim from the north who becomes the president," said Yadudu.

A management and financial consultant²⁰ in the north, Suleiman Ilu, says northern regions have inherent economic handicaps.

"In the south, they are already industrialized. Whereas industries in [the main city of] Kano and the north are dying by the day because of so many factors which the southern economies have already overcome, for example NEPA. NEPA, National Electric Power Authority, which has been changed to Power Holding Company, the authority giving power, selling power to the people," said Ilu. "Southern industries have been networked to gas, so they do not need NEPA to operate, because they now work on gas. Whilst in the north we still depend on NEPA. And if you depend on diesel²¹, that diesel too is not available in the north. You have to pay three times what the southern industries will pay. So you see you are automatically priced out of the market. So this is why the industries are dying."

Ilu says the north should turn more to large scale farming, but that repeated promises to invest some of the southern oil profits to northern economic programs have fallen through amid corruption²², mismanagement but also previous efforts to pay off Nigeria's post-independence debt, which has now been mostly written off.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

3 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

4 advent   

n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临

参考例句：

• Swallows come by groups at the advent of spring. 春天来临时燕子成群飞来。
• The advent of the Euro will redefine Europe.欧元的出现将重新定义欧洲。

5 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

6 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

7 undesirable   

adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子

参考例句：

• They are the undesirable elements among the employees.他们是雇员中的不良分子。
• Certain chemicals can induce undesirable changes in the nervous system.有些化学物质能在神经系统中引起不良变化。

8 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

10 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

11 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

12 unleash   

vt.发泄，发出；解带子放开

参考例句：

• They hope to create allies to unleash against diseases,pests,and invasive species.他们希望创造出一些新群体来对付疾病、害虫和一些有侵害性的物种。
• Changing water levels now at times unleash a miasma of disease from exposed sewage.如今，大坝不时地改变水位，从暴露的污水释放出了疾病瘴气。

13 maim   

v.使残废，使不能工作，使伤残

参考例句：

• Automobile accidents maim many people each year. 汽车车祸每年使许多人残废。
• These people kill and maim innocent civilians.这些人杀死和残害无辜平民。

14 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

15 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

16 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

17 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

18 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

19 agitations   

（液体等的）摇动( agitation的名词复数 )； 鼓动； 激烈争论； （情绪等的）纷乱

参考例句：

• It was a system that could not endure, and agitations grew louder. 这个系统已经不能持续下去了，而且噪音越来越大。

20 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

21 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

22 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。