A recent ranking released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of The Economist magazine on 25 African cities has placed Lagos and Abuja among the top four cities in Africa with the highest cost of living.
The key results of the cost of living rankings per city reveal that Abuja is the second most expensive city in Africa with a total expenditure score of 107.4. Lagos comes fourth with 100.8 total expenditure.
Ranking first on the list as Africa’s most expensive city is Luanda in Angola with a score of 131.8, while Addis Ababa came last with a score of 60.8.
In other rankings, Abuja emerged as the 12th city in terms of consumption of alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics, while Lagos took the 21st position among the 25 cities surveyed.
In terms of money spent on transportation, Lagos and Abuja emerged 15th and 22nd out of the 25 cities, scoring 107.5 and 91.7, respectively. Top on this list is Abidjan with 172.0 score spent on transportation, while Alexandra in Egypt came last with a score of 71.7.
The Economist Intelligence Unit produces regular reports on the “reports on the liveability”, and cost of living of the world’s major cities, which receive wide coverage in international news sources.
This Day
Friday, June 14, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Nigerian cook lone survivor in shipwreck - Survises 2 days under sea
Of the 12 people on board, divers recovered 10 dead bodies while a remaining crew member has not been found.
Somehow Okene survived, breathing inside a four foot high bubble of air as it shrunk in the waters slowly rising from the ceiling of the tiny toilet and adjoining bedroom where he sought refuge, until two South African divers eventually rescued him.
"I was there in the water in total darkness just thinking it's the end. I kept thinking the water was going to fill up the room but it did not," Okene said, parts of his skin peeling away after days soaking in the salt water.
"I was so hungry but mostly so, so thirsty. The salt water took the skin off my tongue," he said. Seawater got into his mouth but he had nothing to eat or drink throughout his ordeal.
At 4:50 a.m. on May 26, Okene says he was in the toilet when he realized the tugboat was beginning to turn over. As water rushed in and the Jascon-4 flipped, he forced open the metal door.
"As I was coming out of the toilet it was pitch black so we were trying to link our way out to the water tidal (exit hatch)," Okene told Reuters in his home town of Warri, a city in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta.
"Three guys were in front of me and suddenly water rushed in full force. I saw the first one, the second one, the third one just washed away. I knew these guys were dead."
What he didn't know was that he would spend the next two and a half days trapped under the sea praying he would be found.
Turning away from his only exit, Okene was swept along a narrow passageway by surging water into another toilet, this time adjoining a ship's officers cabin, as the overturned boat crashed onto the ocean floor. To his amazement he was still breathing.
FISH FEASTED ON THE DEAD
Okene, wearing only his underpants, survived around a day in the four foot square toilet, holding onto the overturned washbasin to keep his head out of the water.
He built up the courage to open the door and swim into the officer's bedroom and began pulling off the wall paneling to use as a tiny raft to lift himself out of the freezing water.
He sensed he was not alone in the darkness.
"I was very, very cold and it was black. I couldn't see anything," says Okene, staring into the middle distance.
"But I could perceive the dead bodies of my crew were nearby. I could smell them. The fish came in and began eating the bodies. I could hear the sound. It was horror."
What Okene didn't know was a team of divers sent by Chevron and the ship's owners, West African Ventures, were searching for crew members, assumed by now to be dead.
Then in the afternoon of May 28, Okene heard them.
"I heard a sound of a hammer hitting the vessel. Boom, boom, boom. I swam down and found a water dispenser. I pulled the water filter and I hammered the side of the vessel hoping someone would hear me. Then the diver must have heard a sound."
Divers broke into the ship and Okene saw light from a head torch of someone swimming along the passageway past the room.
"I went into the water and tapped him. I was waving my hands and he was shocked," Okene said, his relief still visible.
He thought he was at the bottom of the sea, although the company says it was 30 meters below.
The diving team fitted Okene with an oxygen mask, diver's suit and helmet and he reached the surface at 19:32, more than 60 hours after the ship sank, he says.
Okene says he spent another 60 hours in a decompression chamber where his body pressure was returned to normal. Had he just been exposed immediately to the outside air he would have died.
The cook describes his extraordinary survival story as a "miracle" but the memories of his time in the watery darkness still haunt him and he is not sure he will return to the sea.
"When I am at home sometimes it feels like the bed I am sleeping in is sinking. I think I'm still in the sea again. I jump up and I scream," Okene said, shaking his head.
"I don't know what stopped the water from filling that room. I was calling on God. He did it. It was a miracle."
Monday, June 10, 2013
Video - Nigeria behind in child education
Several years ago UNESCO set itself a target of getting every child in school by 2015. The organisation now admits that goal woould not be reached, with 57 million children around the world out of education in 2011. In Sub-Saharan Africa the number of children out of school has remained at around 30 million in the last five years. Nigeria has the worst record with over 10 million children were out of school in 2010.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Eagles slump in FIFA rankings
Africa Champions Nigeria were surprisingly three steps down on the monthly FIFA Rankings released Thursday by the world football governing body as they dropped from 28th to 31st spot.
The Eagles played out a 2-2 draw against CONCAF Champions Mexico in a high profile friendly in the United States and also defaeted the Harambee Stars of Kenya barely 24 hours before the latest rankings by FIFA was realeased.
Despite the drop in the world rankings, the Eagles maintained thier status as the fourth highest ranked team in Africa behind Ivory Coast, Ghana and Mali.
Algeria, Tunisia Zambia as well as Burkina Faso, Central Africa Republic and South Africa completes the list of Africa's top ten teams
World champions Spain remained top of the global list, while Ivory Coast, 13th in the world, retained No 1 spot in the African rankings.
It is expected that the upcoming FIFA Confederations Cup and the latest round of qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil will ensure plenty of movement in the next edition of the FIFA Ranking.
For the latest edition of the rankings, FIFA said the results of 30 friendlies up to 2 June were taken into account, while it said the results of the FIFA World Cup qualification matches on 4 June is to be included in the next edition.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Nigeria beat Kenya 0-1 in world cup qualifiers
Nigeria winger Ahmed Musa scored a late goal to dim Kenya’s hopes of reaching the 2014 World Cup final to be held in Brazil after the Super Eagles won 1-0 at Kasarani on Wednesday .
Musa latched onto a through ball from John Obi Mikel to beat his marker David ‘Cheche’ Ochieng’ before beautiful chipping the ball over the advancing goalkeeper Duncan Ochieng’ in Kenyan goal.
The win now takes Nigeria back to the top of Group F with 8 points while Malawi are second on six after battling to a 0-0 draw with Namibia in a match played in Blantyre earlier on Wednesday.
Kenya, who had win to keep alive their hopes of gracing the World Cup final, started the match badly with defender Brian Mandela almost handing the visitors a quick goal in the 1st minute of the match.
The South African-based defender failed to deal with a loose ball after restart allowing Nigerian striker Brian Ideye to charge forward but the Super Eagles' star could not find the back of the net with keeper Ochieng’ to beat.
Five minutes later, Musa Ahmed beat the Kenyan defense but his attempt to pick out an advancing Sunday Mba was blocked by Brian Mandela.
The Kenyans were having a great time in midfield and Oman-based Jamal Mohammed was showing some awesome creativity though he appeared self-fish sometimes.
In the 10th minute with Kepha Aswani advancing towards the Nigerian goal, Mohammed hesitated and allowed the Nigerian defense to recover lost ground.
One minute later, Nigeria had their first free-kick which Chelsea star John Obi Mikel lifting it high towards the Kenyan goal and rested on the side netting.
Duncun Ochieng in goal threw the ball quickly to a running Victor Wanyama but he failed to keep it into play. In the 13th minute, the visitors got their second free-kick just near the Kenyan goal but Musa Ahmed's shot was defended well.
Kenya got the first corner in the 24th minute when Francis Kahata efforts to beat Efe Ambrose in the Nigerian defense ended in vain.
Ambrose was forced to come out and stop Kahata once again in the 29th minute after Jamal Mohammed had picked him out with a splitting pass but Stars could only get a corner from the effort.
Kepha Aswani making his return to the Kenyan team after a long time was a pale shadow of himself and he looked injured as he time and again limped. He never made any effort at goal allowing Vincent Enyeama to have a long rest in the first half.
Nigeria got their first corner of the match in the 34th minute when a goal bound Musa Ahmed was stopped in his tracks by David Ochieng.
Four minutes later, Ahmed's shot was deflected by Mandela and calmly picked by Duncun Ochieng’, who made a throw to Johanna Omollo and he made the first attempt at goal but his effort was stopped by Vincent Enyeama.
The Kenyans were gaining confidence as the first half wore off and Peter Opiyo made the second shot at the Nigerian goal in the 39th minute.
Nigeria got their second corner in the 43rd minute but it was the home team who ended the first half on a high note with Victor Wanyama coming close only to shoot wide.
The worst would come with less that 15 minutes left to play, Stephen Waruru giving away possession cheaply in the opponent’s third, a counter attack resulting in Ahmed Musa lifting the ball over an advancing Duncun Ochieng.
Musa latched onto a through ball from John Obi Mikel to beat his marker David ‘Cheche’ Ochieng’ before beautiful chipping the ball over the advancing goalkeeper Duncan Ochieng’ in Kenyan goal.
The win now takes Nigeria back to the top of Group F with 8 points while Malawi are second on six after battling to a 0-0 draw with Namibia in a match played in Blantyre earlier on Wednesday.
Kenya, who had win to keep alive their hopes of gracing the World Cup final, started the match badly with defender Brian Mandela almost handing the visitors a quick goal in the 1st minute of the match.
The South African-based defender failed to deal with a loose ball after restart allowing Nigerian striker Brian Ideye to charge forward but the Super Eagles' star could not find the back of the net with keeper Ochieng’ to beat.
Five minutes later, Musa Ahmed beat the Kenyan defense but his attempt to pick out an advancing Sunday Mba was blocked by Brian Mandela.
The Kenyans were having a great time in midfield and Oman-based Jamal Mohammed was showing some awesome creativity though he appeared self-fish sometimes.
In the 10th minute with Kepha Aswani advancing towards the Nigerian goal, Mohammed hesitated and allowed the Nigerian defense to recover lost ground.
One minute later, Nigeria had their first free-kick which Chelsea star John Obi Mikel lifting it high towards the Kenyan goal and rested on the side netting.
Duncun Ochieng in goal threw the ball quickly to a running Victor Wanyama but he failed to keep it into play. In the 13th minute, the visitors got their second free-kick just near the Kenyan goal but Musa Ahmed's shot was defended well.
Kenya got the first corner in the 24th minute when Francis Kahata efforts to beat Efe Ambrose in the Nigerian defense ended in vain.
Ambrose was forced to come out and stop Kahata once again in the 29th minute after Jamal Mohammed had picked him out with a splitting pass but Stars could only get a corner from the effort.
Kepha Aswani making his return to the Kenyan team after a long time was a pale shadow of himself and he looked injured as he time and again limped. He never made any effort at goal allowing Vincent Enyeama to have a long rest in the first half.
Nigeria got their first corner of the match in the 34th minute when a goal bound Musa Ahmed was stopped in his tracks by David Ochieng.
Four minutes later, Ahmed's shot was deflected by Mandela and calmly picked by Duncun Ochieng’, who made a throw to Johanna Omollo and he made the first attempt at goal but his effort was stopped by Vincent Enyeama.
The Kenyans were gaining confidence as the first half wore off and Peter Opiyo made the second shot at the Nigerian goal in the 39th minute.
Nigeria got their second corner in the 43rd minute but it was the home team who ended the first half on a high note with Victor Wanyama coming close only to shoot wide.
The worst would come with less that 15 minutes left to play, Stephen Waruru giving away possession cheaply in the opponent’s third, a counter attack resulting in Ahmed Musa lifting the ball over an advancing Duncun Ochieng.
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