Nigerian President re-elected, Violence in the North continues - voice of America

Scott Stearns. Dakar (Senegal), on April 18, 2011 a man jumps during a protest in northern city of Kano of Nigeria where running battles erupted between soldiers and demonstrators on April 18, 2011.

Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan President won re-election in a vote which provoked riots in the Northern States of the country which has supported its main opponent.

The results of all the 36 States of Nigeria, Chairman of the electoral commission Attahiru Jega announced that President Jonathan is the winner.

"Goodluck e. Jonathan of the PDP, have certified the requirements of the Act and scored the most number of votes is hereby declared the winner and his return elected," said Jega.

Voice of President Jonathan $ 22.5 million is nearly twice the number of second place finisher, former military leader Muhammadu Buhari, who won a little more than 12 million votes.? President Jonathan avoids an election tour, winning a quarter of the votes in at least 24 States.

That provision is intended to ensure that a Nigerian President has some national support and is not simply a regional candidate.? But a large part of the voice seems to have broken down on regional lines, with President Jonathan win the South and Mr. Buhari, winning the North.

The first results showing Mr. Jonathan head led to riots in some parts of the predominantly Muslim north.? In Kaduna State, home to the Vice President Namadi Sambo was burned and a 24-hour curfew was imposed after a prison was searched and detained released.

In the capital of Kano State, security forces fired shots in the air as young people who throw stones took the streets and chanted support for Mr. Buhari. Human Rights Watch, said at least 60 people have been killed in violence linked to elections since the first day of the month.

In his acceptance speech, President Jonathan said that his Government is taking all necessary measures to ensure the lives and property of all Nigerians.

"I forbid our leaders political and religious in their usual sense of patriotism to call on their followers reject all acts of violence and bitterness", stated President Jonathan. "As I have always said, political ambition of person not worth any Nigerian blood."

Mr. Jonathan thanked God and Nigeria's voters the opportunity to lead the country.

"In this election, we have found our unity as a nation under God, we reiterated our faith in democracy and emphasized our determination to fully to join the free world where only the will of the people is the basis of governance."? We will not let you down. ", he said.

The President Jonathan said he only there is no victor and not defeated as Nigeria is revealed to the world that it is capable of holding free, fair and credible elections.

"It is a victory for the livelihoods of our democracy, a victory which should celebrate all Nigerians - regardless of creed, ethnic origin or State of origin," says jonathan. "It is a triumph for our common destiny as a people with ideals shared dreams and hopes."

Mr. Jonathan congratulated the other candidates and said that the country is waiting for their continued leadership and commitment to build a nation.? The President said Nigeria must move away from partisan battlefields and find a national field of building a prosperous nation.

18-04-2011 Adio Samdio (Nigeria)

We thank God for the election of Nigeria, it was so peaceful.

19-04-2011 alwan m.mazen (USA).

It is important now the percentage of Muslims and Christians there before considering if there was any dishonesty in this election, or not.

19-04-2011 Maikudi kwajaffa (Nigeria)

The presidential election just concluded in Nigeria has been the most successful, free, fair and credible election ever conducted in the history of the nation. The opposition party should accept the result of good faith and look forward to the next provides in 2015. Policy is not a "do or die" business as violence erupted in the northern part of the country which led to the loss of many lives and properties. God bless Nigeria.

19-04-2011 zhu (China)

Riots is bad; people are victim

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Nigerians begin voting; Blast hits polling station in the town of North - CNN International

People holding a poster with portraits of candidate presidential retired Major-General Mohammadu Buhari and listier Pastor Tunde Bakare during a rally in Lagos on April 6.New: No deaths have been reported in the explosionThere have been riots, bombings and assassinations before the electionsNigerians attacks are voting Saturday for the House and the seatsThe elections put the legitimacy of Nigeria on the line

ibadan, Nigeria (cnn) , an explosion shook polling in a town in northeastern Nigeria as Africa's most populous nation began Saturday to vote in elections marred by violence and delays.

The explosion occurred at Maiduguri, the spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency Yushau Shuaib said. No deaths have been reported. the number of injuries was yet unknown.

Also Shuaib in Maiduguri, armed youths has defined a bright Government building, said.

A new head of election promised "free and fair" elections this year, but the election has already been ruined by attacks in bombings, murders and the logistical problems that have delayed the vote. Concerns are that continued violence could derail the vote total.

Nigerians began to vote Saturday for 360 seats in house of representatives and 109 seats in the Senate. Voting structure offset will make their return to the polls Saturday next to vote for a President and the following Saturday for a vote of Governors.

Despite domestic and international pressure, Electoral Commission of Nigeria was forced to delay the elections by a week after a logistical disaster of the country - of many materials to vote was not yet in the country until the day of the election and party logos were missing from ballots.

This is a huge setback, reminiscent of the problems of Nigeria's 2007 election, described by the European Union as the worst he had seen anywhere in the world with rampant vote-rigging, violence, theft of ballot boxes and intimidation.

The legitimacy of the country now stands on the three towers of polling stations.

On the eve of the vote, a bomb exploded in the Office of the independent National Electoral Commission in Abuja, in central Nigeria, officials said.

An official of the Government, which was not authorized to speak on the record, said on CNN eight people died in the attack.

Shuaib said that more than seven people were seriously injured.

"We condemn this cowardly and despicable, action which seems designed to instill fear in the Nigerians and paralyze their aspirations for a peaceful and credible election," the President of the electoral commission, Attahiru Jega, said in a statement. "Continue our deep sympathy to the families of all these young Nigerians who lost their lives or were injured."

Human Rights Watch estimates that at least 85 people have been killed in political violence so far.

As the country's most populous of Africa and its largest oil producer, Nigeria is important. Yet, despite its huge oil wealth, 80% of the population lives on less than $ 2 a day, according to the United Nations.

"Make no mistake: the test of honour is inevitably collective for all Nigerians,"the independent National Electoral Commission, said in a recent statement. "It is our national honour in the game and our relevance in the Affairs of the modern world, renamed. ?

Separately Friday, one man was killed and another seriously injured in an explosion in the city of Kaduna North, state news reported.

Police rushed to the scene and found not unexploded dynamite, according to the Commissioner of Police John Haruna Kaduna State, voice of Nigeria reported. They found more dynamite in a house belonging to he injured man, said the point of sale.

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Frigid North of Sweden, car testing is hot

Johan Fjellstrom/Lilab

By Ola Kinnander

The roar of the BMW breaks the silence of the frozen lake. The M5 powered by V8 to weigh the glittering snow tires are their grip on the ice runway. The driver, sound engineer chassis BMW Bernd Limmer, emerges wearing a thick coat and a big smile. It is a scene common to Arjeplog, a region in the North of the Sweden which inflates each winter with secret engineers speaking German, French, English, Japanese and Korean. BMW, the first constructor of luxury, tests of cars in this remote location 60 kilometres (38 miles) South of the Arctic circle to the sides of Daimler (DAI) Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Audi, Toyota Motor (TM), General Motors (GM), Ford Motor (F), FiatPeugeot, Saab, and Hyundai Motor.

Arjeplog is more important to car manufacturers wishing to optimize their vehicles for driving in extreme weather conditions, the automotive industry is a lifesaver for residents of Arjeplog 3,161. The region was fought after the sawmill industry is reduced in the 1980s and the closure of the local lead in 2001 mine. "The car test industry is absolutely essential for us, says Britta Flinkfeldt Jansson, Mayor of Arjeplog." Without that it would be probably starve of hunger, as our neighbouring municipalities. ?

The region of Arjeplog, slightly larger in Connecticut, was 8,727 lakes - which is 2.8 for resident - filled with water would be quite suitable for consumption. Public display boards carrying advertisements for "safari moose.". What attracted the automotive industry since the beginning of the 1970s is reliable chilliness of the region. This winter, temperatures have fluctuated around-20 C (-4F) almost every day, of ice on the lakes are still quite thick for the conduct. "Weather conditions are perfect, and when you drive around you are not much people - perhaps some reindeer," says Wilhelm ropes, Director of BMW test facility. Approximately 180 engineers convened at the test center at some point this season to work on the manufacture of more fuel-efficient cars fuel in cold weather and optimize their function autoblocker.

Arjeplog is the world largest winter, tests, rivals sites zone include Ivalo, Finland; West Yellowstone, Mont; of. Carson City, Nevada; and Millbrook, England. Francisco Carvalho, the IHS Automotive Analyst, said that these slopes provide manufacturers of motor vehicles with "the ultimate test for the small things that they cannot detect or predict in a laboratory".

About 9 000 representatives from the automotive industry to visit Arjeplog every winter, with approximately 2,800 engineers working on any given day. They will create some 500 jobs, accounted for on an annual basis and pump 700 million kronor (110 million dollars) in economy of the region, more than the municipal budget of the triple full Arjeplog of 190 million kroner. Tjintokk, the largest private employer in Arjeplog, has a single client: Volkswagen. The company provides trails, repair services, housing and some 180 for the constructor test drivers auto 1 of Europe. Volkswagen last year extended the contract for 12 years, said Soderberg of Karl-Erik Tjintokk, Director-General.

Arjeplog traces its history in 1973, when testing car German auto parts maker Robert Bosch tested an anti-lock braking system and obtained permission to use a runway for aircraft on Lake Hornavan. Opel, Mercedes, Volkswagen and Porsche were the first builders to join Bosch, which is always refining systems ABS in the region.

760 Of the Arjeplog hotel rooms are not enough to allow all visitors, so locals rent out their homes. Mayor Jansson, said engineers used Bosch his house three weeks this winter, while the family remained at their summer cottage. "Virtually every local citizen derives from revenues of the automotive industry," explains Stefan Oscarsen, head of the Argentis, a society that promotes the local economy. "I have never heard anyone complain about it."

Arjeplog stands in a battered region. The proportion of persons of less than 30 years in the County of Norrbotten in the quarter-more North of the Sweden is passed to a third last year in half in 1968 as young left employment and life in major cities, according to Statistics Sweden. While the population of Arjeplog has dropped 50% since the 1960s, he won the last three years.

Automakers attract another group to Arjeplog: photographers trying to photos of new models that can be sold to magazines of the car. Achtung Paparazzi warns a sign on the stand of safety in closed factory BMW. "Once they staged a fake accident with blinkers warning and reflective vests for test cars to slow down," Anders Lindberg, a driver for Tjintokk, said. "You just call and warn your colleagues."

The bottom line: Region of Arjeplog in the Sweden, just below the Arctic Circle, became the testing site for more than a dozen cars in cold weather.

Kinnander is a reporter for Bloomberg News.

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