Can Nigeria replicate China's economic transformation?

Swapping Asia's giant for Africa's powerhouse can be a disorientating experience.

Leaving Beijing to go and live in Lagos is not a well-worn path.

But both Nigeria and China are the most populous countries and biggest economies in their respective continents, making them ripe for comparison.

I feel I've left behind the grey, imposing order of Beijing for the chaos and colour of Lagos, where fun and frustration are doled out in equal measure.

Part of the correspondent's condition is that your ears prick up at the slightest mention of a previous posting.

Imagine my surprise then when, watching last month's inauguration of the new Nigerian cabinet, a remark about the Great Wall of China cropped up during the opening address.

The point, I believe, that the official was trying to make was that the Great Wall was not in itself enough to protect China from invaders - the government and people need to be incorruptible as well. 

I say believe because the audio on the state broadcast briefly cut out.

In China, an audio glitch at such an important event would cause heads to roll in shame. In Nigeria, people roll their eyes and shrug it off.

It is just one small example of how the Chinese are known for getting things done, while in Nigeria there is a reputation for cutting corners.

Whereas Beijing is a city of smog (the killer downside to the country's breakneck development), Lagos is a city of generators (the sound of a nation failing to realise its economic potential because it can't get its power grid in order).

But when it comes to business, Nigeria and China are alike in one inspiring and infectious way.

Both possess an extraordinary entrepreneurial spirit, a can-do-attitude, that if you want to build something you'd better do it yourself. 

From street hawkers and small shop owners, to CEOs of large companies, people here survive and, occasionally, flourish despite all the obstacles.

As for a journalist operating in Nigeria, there is one major difference. 

Image copyrightGetty Images

Image captionMohammadu Buhari is shouldering the expectations of millions

In China, people would shut down at the sight of a foreign journalist, silenced by government repression. 

In Nigeria, people and politicians don't shut down, they unload. 

They talk and talk, and talk some more - they love it. 

Everyone seems to have an opinion on everything.

For a journalist this is both a joy and, as I am beginning to discover, a bit of a nightmare.

In China, people and particularly officials said barely anything, so you would spend hours parsing the meaning.

In contrast, in Nigeria you feel you are drowning in information and quotes. 

Working out what is actually true can be just as time consuming.

When I talk about China to Nigerians, there is an awe and respect that I have heard in many other developing countries about China's remarkable economic achievements in the past three decades.

And, interestingly, while in China the dizzying pace of change has now left many feeling unfulfilled by their material gains, in Nigeria there is a suffocating sense of people wanting meaningful change.

Nigerians want to see infrastructure built, they want better schools and hospitals, and, perhaps, most importantly, they want jobs to better themselves.

They want a government that will build and not pilfer. 

The Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe once wrote that there was nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character.

The author blamed the country's ills squarely on a failure of leadership. 

"The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of the personal example, which are the hallmarks of true leadership," he wrote.

There is now a sense that Nigeria could be at a turning point. 

Just as 1979 marked the start of China's economic transformation, many Nigerians hope that 2015 will be the beginning of a new era for their country.

They are placing their faith in the former army general they have elected leader, President Muhammadu Buhari.

With his no-nonsense style, he has already told his countrymen that they are too "unruly" and need to learn how to queue properly.

In a nation where politicians are notorious for plundering state coffers, Mr Buhari has a reputation for unimpeachable honesty and integrity.

People now believe that he will get roads and bridges built (rather than the money being stolen by corrupt officials) which in turn will help get the economy moving.

With almost two million Nigerians entering the job market every year, the country faces a demographic dividend or a demographic disaster.

One man is shouldering the expectations of millions. 

But can Mr Buhari pull it off? Evidence might suggest otherwise.

But then remember China. 

Thirty-five years ago the country was emerging from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution. 

Now, by some estimates, it is the largest economy in the world. 

With the right leadership, countries can be transformed.

Canada's Miss International Incident

You could say that Miss World Canada 2015 has been crowned Miss International Incident.

That's because her country of birth, China, has barred Anastasia Lin, a 25-year-old actor and classical pianist, from representing the country she now calls home, Canada, in the beauty pageant's finals at the tropical island resort of Sanya, Hainan, on December 19.

Lin's story has made headlines around the globe. But not in China. That's where censorship is state policy, dissidents are jailed and any criticism anywhere by anyone can be stifled by the long arm of President Xi Jinping's regime.

Academics, journalists, even Hollywood celebrities who speak out against human rights abuses in China are banned. So Lin is in good company, along with Richard Gere, Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Bon Jovi and other stars.

'Evil cult'

Her crime could be that she follows the spiritual practice of Falun Gong, which China has outlawed as an "evil cult". Its members have been jailed, tortured and, as reports suggest, murdered for their organs.

Miss World Canada Anastasia Lin poses with her crown before an interview at her home in Toronto, Ontario [REUTERS

It could also be that Lin doesn't just spout cliched paeans to world peace like beauty contestants typically do during the question-and-answer sections of pageants. 

Through her film roles portraying Chinese dissidents and her music performances playing their songs, she lives her conviction that everybody is entitled to freedom of thought, religion and expression.

In 2013, when she first competed for the Miss World Canada title, and was quizzed on her beliefs, she quoted the late Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker: "I am a Canadian free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I think wrong, or free to choose those that shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and for all mankind."

At first, her businessman father back in Hunan province celebrated. But then he went silent after hearing from authorities that suggested his daughter shut up.

Fear of reprisals

That pageant was when she first crossed China's repression radar screen. The second time was last May, when she won first place. At first, her businessman father back in Hunan province celebrated. But then he went silent after hearing from authorities that suggested his daughter shut up.

Instead, Lin went public with their threats, gave media interviews, wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post, and even testified before a US Congressional committee on human rights. Now her father won't talk to her and has cut off all financial support for fear of reprisals.

In a telephone interview with Al Jazeera from her Hong Kong hotel room, Lin admits: "I don't dare to contact my father nowadays. He's really scared."

Still, Lin was determined to go for the world crown. So the University of Toronto graduate in international relations and drama sold her car to finance her trip. But last week, while she was on the flight to Hong Kong, the Chinese embassy in Ottawa issued a terse statement, effectively calling her "persona non grata".

"Why did they wait so many weeks?" she asks. "I never got a definitive answer about my visa from the Chinese government and I lost contact with Miss World too, although they did offer me a spot in the 2016 pageant [in Jakarta]. It seemed they were very reluctant in answering my questions. I sent them my photographs but they never even put them on their website."

Soft-pedalling soft power

Considering the relationship the London-based Miss World Ltd has with China, that's hardly surprising. In 2003, as part of its attempt to soft-peddle its soft power, it opened its luxurious Sanya Beauty Crown Hotel complex specifically to host Miss World, which it has done five times since. The 2015 contest will be its sixth.

That China has offered generous financial concessions to Miss World Ltd is well documented. But that's nothing compared with the estimated $10bnthe regime invests annually to boost its image abroad.

As Lin told reporters at a news conference in Hong Kong last week, "Ask them whether they will also bar athletes from participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics if they hold views that the Communist Party disagrees with. If an athlete is of Tibetan or Uighur heritage, and advocates for the human rights of those peoples, can they compete in the Olympics? What if they practise Falun Gong? Or if they support democracy in China?"

Funeral For Tsar's Relative After Outback Death

Mr Kulikovsky lived at a caravan park in Katherine

Leonid Gurevich Kulikovsky, 72, was a direct descendant of the penultimate tsar and a distant relative of Queen Elizabeth II.

He died while walking his dog on 27 September in the town of Katherine, in Australia's Northern Territory.

His pet was sitting dutifully next to him when his body was found under a tree, according to Australia's NT News.

Mr Kulikovsky's body had been kept in a hospital morgue while authorities researched his identity and looked for relatives.

They found a sister in Denmark, his birth place, and a statement from his family said they had lost contact with him when he moved to Australia in 1967.

They had reportedly been trying to track him down just days before finding out about his death.

Mr Kulikovsky settled in Katherine - 220 miles (350km) south of Darwin - five years ago while driving around Australia in his retirement.

He apparently decided to stay in the town after having problems with his vehicle, said Russian consul Simon Andropov.

"Old Nick they called him, so he didn't even use his proper name," he said.

"He lived completely incognito; didn't tell anyone of his heritage or anything.

"But it seems he was a well-liked fellow, always cheerful."

Many Russian royals were murdered by the Bolsheviks after the country's 1917 revolution, but dozens of others - including Mr Kulikovsky's descendants - were able to escape abroad.

He previously worked at Sydney's water company and never married or had children, according to Mr Andropov.

Among the 50 people at his Darwin funeral were officials from the Danish, Russian and Northern Territory governments.

A wealthy family from the city has offered to pay for his burial because his estate did not have enough money to cover the cost.

Nigeria stocks fall to three-year low

Nigeria's stocks fell to their lowest level in almost three years as foreigners exited the market amid fading hopes that President Muhammadu Buhari's government can revive the Africa's largest economy, Bloomberg news agency reports.

All Share Index dropped 0.8% to 27,385.69 at close in the commercial capital of Lagos, the lowest since December 2012.

The gauge declined on all but three trading days in November for a monthly drop of 6.2%.

The government has not come up with a definitive policy for the economy," Pabina Yinkere, an analyst at Vetiva Capital Management Ltd, told Bloomberg.

"The continued lack of clarity is affecting the stock market," he added.

Some analysts say Mr Buhari, who came to office in May, has prioritized stamping out corruption while the West African nation's economy is growing at its slowest pace this century.

Predicting Putin's next move

As world leaders gather in Paris this week to discuss climate change, many were wondering if a possible meeting between the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin would take place.

According to Putin's spokesman it will not.

After the downing of the Russian SU-24 jet last week in southern Turkey, relations between Moscow and Ankara have been tense. According to the Kremlin, Erdogan must first apologise before Putin will meet him. 

Right now Russia and Turkey are engaged in a war of words. 

Putin says that Russia was "stabbed in the back" by Turkey when it shot down the warplane. Russia has since placed visa restrictions and limited economic sanctions on Turkey. Moscow has also demanded an apology, but Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, said that his government would not "apologise on an occasion when we are right".

Even so, Erdogan has said that he was "saddened" by the event but suggested that Moscow would be "playing with fire" if it retaliates on Turkish nationals living and working in Russia.

Complex relations

The West might view recent events between Russia and Turkey as a new phenomenon, but this fails to take into account the complex and fraught relationship between the countries.

The downing of the Russian jet is simply the latest drama in a saga that has been playing out since the middle of the 16th century. 

In one form or another, Russia has driven Turkish foreign and defence policy for centuries. Since 1568, Turkey and Russia have been to war 12 times. At least nine of the occasions have been over Crimea - which Russia illegally annexed last year.

Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire have contested regions in the Black Sea, the South Caucasus and the Balkans for centuries.

In one form or another, Russia has driven Turkish foreign and defence policy for centuries. Since 1568, Turkey and Russia have been to war 12 times.

In 1772, Russian troops raided and briefly occupied Ottoman territory in the Levant. Even during World War I, Russian troops got within 160 kilometres of Ottoman-controlled Baghdad. The ensuing friction led to much bloodshed.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan [AP]

After World War II, Joseph Stalin's designs on Turkey's Eastern Anatolia Region and Soviet Russia's wish to control the Turkish Straits were what originally drove Turkey into NATO's arms.

Continue backing Turkey

Although NATO members have been steadfast in their support for Turkey's actions in shooting down the Russian plane, there is no telling how long this support will last. 

Turkey has long been considered a troublesome ally inside NATO. As countries such as France start calling for a broader coalition to confront the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant that includes Russia, Turkey runs the risk of being left out to dry. 

This would be a shame. 

Turkey has been securing NATO's southern flank for decades. It also has the second largest military in NATO after the United States and it has been willing to use it.

During the Korean war, Turkey sent 15,000 troops as part of the United Nations Command, of whom about 20 percent were killed, wounded, or captured. It has participated in NATO-led peacekeeping missions in the Balkans. Since 2001, Turkey has  twice commanded the NATO mission in Afghanistan and has deployed thousands of troops there.

While Turkey can be a bothersome ally at times, especially under Erdogan's leadership, it is, on balance, an important member of the Alliance. 

NATO's leaders would be short-sighted if they marginalised Turkey for perceived closer cooperation with Russia in the fight against ISIL.

Even if the Kremlin changed course and Erdogan and Putin met in Paris this week, it would not change the animosity that now exists between the two leaders.

Russia's revenge

Erdogan can hold a grudge - as seen with his relationship with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. That   went in just a few short years from the two families holidaying together to Assad becoming enemy No 1.

For Putin, a leader always thinking strategically and a few moves ahead of his opponents, the downing of a Russian jet presents an opportunity to act aggressively and expand Russian influence elsewhere.

Last week Moscow bullied the wrong kid in the playground, writes Coffey [REUTERS]

Russia will seek revenge - and no brief encounter in Paris between Putin and Erdogan is going to change this.  But Putin might seek his revenge elsewhere. 

He could focus on the Baltic States, with Moscow taking another 500 metres of territory in Georgia. Putin could encourage pro-Russian separatists to breakaway in Moldova's ethnic Turkic region of Gagauzia. 

Or the Kremlin could back rebels in the Donbas region to bring about a breakdown of the Minsk II ceasefire agreement in Ukraine. In one way or another, all of these could cause problems for NATO and the West.

Russia regularly illegally probes the airspace of other NATO members, especially the Baltic States and the United Kingdom. 

But last week Moscow bullied the wrong kid in the playground and Lieutenant t Colonel Oleg Peshkov, a father of two, needlessly lost his life. If Russia would have only stayed outside Turkish air space this would have never happened.

No meeting in Paris could have changed this fact.

Luke Coffey is a research fellow specialising in transatlantic and Eurasian security at a Washington DC-based think-tank. He previously served as a special adviser to the British defence secretary and was a commissioned officer in the United States Army.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own.

How Airlines Are Using Social Media for Seat Selection

One of the greatest air travel anxieties is which random stranger will be seated next to you—especially when stress levels are already high for Thanksgiving travel. Will your next door neighbor be a loud snorer? Will they try to make conversation when you’d rather just take a nap?

Or are you the type that doesn’t mind striking up a dialogue at 30,000 feet? If so, the new trend of “social seating” might be for you. Airlines are increasingly allowing passengers who opt-in to share their social media profiles and use others’ to pick their seatmates. 

Climate change a low priority for most Canadians: Ipsos poll

As the Liberal government goes to negotiate a new climate agreement in Paris, polling shows that climate change is a low priority for most Canadians.

When presented with a long list of policy issues, only 13 per cent of Canadians chose climate change as one of their top three worries, according to an Ipsos poll provided exclusively to Global News. Forty per cent of Canadians chose health care, and 39 per cent chose unemployment. Climate change even ranked below crime and education.

“There are important issues and there are urgent issues,” said Mike Colledge, president of Canadian public affairs at Ipsos. While climate change is important, he said, day-to-day worries like a neighbour losing a job, or a parent in need of health services are almost always of greater concern.

However, according to the polling, he said, Canadians are open to action on climate change in a way that they haven’t been in a while. The Liberal government has “a great opportunity to lead, to have a conversation with Canadians.”

This is because 48 per cent of Canadians who have an opinion on the issue believe that the Liberal government should do more than the 30 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases proposed by the Conservatives. Nearly half of Canadians also believe that the government can address climate change and strengthen the economy at the same time. Slightly fewer people believe that climate change action will hurt the economy than those who believe it won’t.

“There’s a big honeymoon period here,” said Colledge. “Federal and provincial governments have done a good job in saying that we lag behind other countries.”

Politicians have said that we can do more, and Canadians are listening, he said. “And they’re listening on we can do this and grow the economy at the same time.”

Two years from now, if the economy hasn’t improved, the mood could shift, he thinks. So, it’s a good idea for the government to tackle it at the beginning of its mandate rather than closer to an election.

Global concern

Climate change is a global issue that requires global action. However, people in many other countries place climate change even lower than Canadians do.

In developing countries, said Colledge, “it’s really not an issue.”

“Some of the poorer countries, corruption and crime are higher up on their lists,” he said. With the exception of China – where air pollution is highly visible in cities – generally only developed countries rank it as a top concern.