2006年VOA标准英语-Nigerian Lawmaker: Poor Funding Hampering Niger

By Gilbert da Costa
Abuja
23 November 2006
 
The Nigerian military faces a huge task in checking the growing violence in the oil-rich Niger Delta¹, a remote region of mangrove² swamps. Inadequate³ funding is also being blamed for undermining the capacity of the military to take effective charge of security in the region.

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deployed4 to keep the peace guard the road leading into Buguma about 50km from the oil city of Port Harcourt Niger Delta area of Nigeria (File)" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070509/1555460.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Soldiers and police deployed to keep the peace guard road leading into Buguma about 50km from oil city of Port Harcourt in Niger Delta (file photo)

Violence in Africa's top oil producer has cut output by more than 20 percent since February, when militants⁵ fighting for regional control of the deltas⁶ oil wealth staged series of attacks on the oil industry.

 

The government responded by deploying⁷ thousands of soldiers to the region to check the growing militancy⁸.

 

Analysts⁹ say the situation has continued to deteriorate¹⁰ as the military appears to be having some difficulty in stopping the growing wave of hostage-taking in the Niger Delta.

 

In August, President Olusegun Obasanjo ordered troops, as he put it, to meet fire for fire by cracking down hard on militants responsible for most of the violence.

 

The Chairman of Nigeria's House of Representatives Committee on Navy, Anthony Aziegbemi, told VOA that inadequate funding is seriously undermining the capacity of the Nigerian navy, which is leading the military campaign in the delta.

 

"On a yearly basis, the capital allocation to the navy is about two billion naira or 2.5 billion, which is about $16 million," he said. "Can anybody tell me how you expect the navy to effectively protect a $100 billion investment with $16 million? It is not possible. It does not make sense."

 

The national president of the Petroleum¹¹ and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association, Peter Esele, wants the government to play down on the use of force and address some of the region's long-standing grievances¹². He says the government should come up with a plan for the regions development.

 

"We agree that you cannot develop the delta in one day. But you must have a road map, that, okay this is how we want the Niger Delta to look like in 10 years time," said Esele. "And then you now start following the indices that will bring about Niger Delta looking really like an oil producing area."

 

More than 150 oil workers, almost half of them foreigners, have been kidnapped and released unharmed in Nigeria this year.

A British oil worker was killed and two wounded in an attempt Wednesday to free seven foreign oil workers abducted¹³ from a Nigerian offshore¹⁴ oil field.

 

The killing¹⁵ of the British workers was the first time such a kidnapping ended in death for an expatriate employee. One Nigerian oil worker was killed during another rescue attempt earlier this year.

1 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。

2 mangrove   

n.(植物)红树，红树林

参考例句：

• It is the world's largest tidal mangrove forest.它是世界上最大的红树林沼泽地。
• Many consider this the most beautiful mangrove forest in all Thailand.许多人认为这里是全泰国最美丽的红树林了。

3 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

4 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

5 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

6 deltas   

希腊字母表中第四个字母( delta的名词复数 )； （河口的）三角洲

参考例句：

• Tidal channels, deltas, and washover fans are characteristically associated with offshore bars. 潮汐水道、三角洲和冲刷扇典型地与滨外砂洲伴生在一起。
• I know many of the early civilizations prospered on deltas. 我知道很多古老的文明都是在三角洲上蓬勃发展起来的。

7 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

8 militancy   

n.warlike behavior or tendency

参考例句：

• Full of militancy and revolutionary ardour, the people of all nationalities in the country are working hard for the realization of the four modernizations. 全国各族人民意气风发， 斗志昂扬，为实现四个现代化而奋战。
• The seniority system is another factor that leads to union militancy. 排资论辈制度也是导致工会好斗争的另一因素。

9 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。

10 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

11 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

12 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

14 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

15 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。