Nigeria's Online Blog

Tiger Woods, who spent a record 623 weeks as golf's number one between 1997 and 2010, has dropped out of the world's top 50 for the first time in 15 years after the latest rankings were released on Monday.
Woods, 35, is placed 51st having not won a tournament since the Australian Masters in November 2009.
The 14-time major winner first broke into the top 50 in October 1996 and remained there for 778 weeks before a persistent knee injury affected his appearances.
His form also suffered when revelations regarding his personal life in late 2009 led to a hiatus from the game as well as a divorce from his wife Elin Nordegren.

In a bid to arrest the decline Woods hired Joe LaCava as his new caddy in September following a split from former bag-man Steve Williams, the New Zealander who had been with Woods for 13 of his 14 major wins.
Woods is due to return to action at the Frys.com Open in northern California this week having not played since the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club in August, where he missed the cut after carding 77 and 73 for the opening two rounds.
Despite his slump, Fred Couples selected Woods as one of his captain's pick for the upcoming Presidents Cup match between the U.S. and an international team in November.

Briton Luke Donald retains his position as world number one, ahead of compatriots Lee Westwood and 2011 U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy in second and third respectively.

Steve Stricker is the top-ranked American in fourth, with Dustin Johnson in fifth and Germany's Martin Kaymer in sixth.
South Korean-born American Kevin Na has moved up to 62nd in the rankings after claiming his first US PGA Tour title as he won the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas.
Na, who lives near the course, snapped a 210 tournament winless streak after carding a final round 65 to finish two shots ahead of Nick Watney to snatch the $756,000 top prize.

Dictator Colonel Gaddafi’s youngest son Saif and three of his grandsons were killed last night in a NATO air strike, according to Libyan government officials

Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, a 29-year-old student, died in a bombing strike raid in the capital Tripoli.

The Libyan leader himself and his wife were also in the house at the time of the attack but both are said to have escaped unhurt.

The one-storey house is in a wealthy residential area just south of Gaddafi’s main compound.

The house was hit by at least three missiles. The roof had completely caved in and the bomb site was filled with mangled wreckage.

Saif, who had previously studied in Germany, was the youngest of Gaddafi’s six sons and shunned the limelight. He minimised public appearances, choosing to keep a low-profile, unlike his older brother, also called Saif, who was a prominent regime figure.

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said the airstrike was “a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country”.

He added: “The leader himself is in good health. He was not harmed. The wife is also in good health.”

As reactions poured in from all over the world to the announcement that Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. operation, President Barack Obama declared it "a good day for America."

"Our country kept its commitment to see that justice is done," Obama said Monday. The world, he said, is a better place because of bin Laden's death, and the successful operation reminds Americans that there is "nothing we can't do" when they work together.

Noting that patriotic crowds have gathered across the country to celebrate, the president said, "We're reminded that we're fortunate to have Americans who have dedicated their lives to protecting ours."

"As commander in chief, I could not be prouder," Obama said at a previously scheduled Medal of Honor ceremony.

Up-to-the-minute updates on bin Laden's death

A DNA match confirms with virtual certainty that Osama bin Laden was killed in the operation, a senior administration official told CNN Monday. Officials compared DNA of the person killed with bin Laden "family DNA," a senior administration official said.

There are also photographs of the body with a gunshot wound to the side of the head that shows an individual who is recognizable as bin Laden, a U.S. government official said. No decision has yet been made on whether to release the photographs and if so, when and how.

One of bin Laden's wives identified the body to U.S. forces, a senior U.S. defense official said.

The mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- the worst terrorist attacks on American soil -- was killed by U.S. forces Monday in a mansion in Abbottabad, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, U.S. officials said.

Four others in the compound also were killed. One of them was bin Laden's adult son, and another was a woman being used as a shield by a male combatant, the officials said.

How U.S. forces conducted the mission

A U.S. government official told CNN the operation that killed the founder and leader of al Qaeda was designed to do just that, not to take him alive. But another senior U.S. official told CNN the operation included instructions to arrest bin Laden alive if he surrendered -- however, no one involved expected that he would surrender.

Details of exactly how the raid played out have not been released.

In the operation, U.S. forces recovered "quite a bit of material," a senior U.S. intelligence official said. "There's a robust collection of materials we need to sift through, and we hope to find valuable intelligence that will lead us to other players in al Qaeda." A task force has been set up "because of the sheer volume of material collected," the official said. "That material is currently being exploited and analyzed."

Osama bin Laden, the face of terror

The successful operation sends a message to the Taliban in Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday.

"You cannot wait us out. You cannot defeat us. But you can make the choice to abandon al Qaeda" and participate in a peaceful political process, Clinton said.

"There is no better rebuke to al Qaeda and its heinous ideology," she said. "The fight continues and we will never waver."

Some doubted that the terrorist leader would ever be caught, she said, but "this is America... We persevere, and we get the job done."

Clinton also noted that bin Laden's death comes at a time of "great movements toward freedom and democracy."

Bin Laden's body was later buried at sea, an official said. Many Muslims adhere to the belief that bodies should be buried within one day.

The official did not release additional details about the burial, but said it was handled in keeping with Muslim customs.

Time: Bin laden operation

The death of the founder and leader of al Qaeda comes almost 10 years after the September 11, 2001, attacks. The announcement in the United States of bin Laden's death came on the same date -- May 1 -- that Adolf Hitler's death was announced in 1945.

Terrorists "almost certainly will attempt to avenge" the death of Osama bin Laden, CIA Director Leon Panetta said in a message sent to agency employees.

The operation was "CIA-driven," a senior administration official told CNN. Obama and Panetta considered all options, the source said.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, in a statement, said the "death of Osama bin Laden is an important success not only for the United States, but the entire world. Our efforts to combat terrorism, however, do not fixate on one individual, and we remain completely focused on protecting our nation against violent extremism of all kinds."

The Department of Homeland Security does not plan to issue a new alert, and would only do so if there is "specific or credible information to convey," she said. "... Our security posture, which always includes a number of measures both seen and unseen, will continue to respond appropriately to protect the American people from an evolving threat picture both in the coming days and beyond."

A Transportation Security Administration official said the TSA "continually evaluates the latest threats and screening measures which are implemented based on the latest intelligence."

U.S. diplomatic facilities around the world were placed on high alert following the announcement of bin Laden's death, a senior U.S. official said, and the U.S. State Department issued a "worldwide caution" for Americans.

The travel alert warned of the "enhanced potential for anti-American violence given recent counter-terrorism activity in Pakistan."

Among those who lost loved ones, there was a mix of celebration and remembrance. "While we can close the book on Osama bin Laden at present, for the parents and families there will never be closure," said Sally Regenhard, mother of a firefighter who died on 9/11, describing the day as "bittersweet."

"It's good to see an evil person receive justice," she added, "but it's very bitter to realize that so many good people met a brutal and needless death at the hands of this monster."

President's address to the nation

In an address to the nation Sunday night, Obama called bin Laden's death "the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda." Washington is nine hours behind Pakistan.

"Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan," Obama said. "A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body."

A congressional source familiar with the operation said bin Laden was shot in the head.

The killing of bin Laden was the culmination of years of intelligence work and months of following a specific lead, senior U.S. administration officials said.

Bin Laden had been "hiding in plain sight"

The key break involved one of the few couriers trusted by bin Laden, according to the officials. About two years ago, intelligence work identified where the courier and his brother lived and operated in Pakistan, and it took until August to find the compound in Abbottabad that was raided, they said.

According to the senior administration officials, intelligence work determined at the beginning of 2011 that bin Laden might be located at the compound.

Opinion: A victory for Obama -- and U.S.

Obama chaired five National Security Council meetings from mid-March until late April, with the last two on April 19 and April 28 -- last Thursday.

On Friday morning -- before visiting Alabama's tornado-ravaged areas -- Obama gave the order for the mission, the officials said.

Senior Obama administration officials believe the compound was built five years ago for the specific purpose of hiding bin Laden. U.S. forces carried out several so-called "practice runs" in order to minimize casualties.

Twitter user unknowingly reported attack

Footage that aired Monday on CNN affiliate GEO TV showed fire and smoke spewing from the compound where bin Laden was killed.

One resident in the city of Lahore said Monday she was stunned to hear bin Laden was in the country.

"But was it really him?" the woman said.

A senior national security official told CNN that officials had multiple confirmations that the body was bin Laden's, saying they had the "ability to run images of the body and the face."

A resident in Abbottabad, who did not want to be fully identified, said he was wary of making any personal statements or giving his reaction to the news. But he said the house where bin Laden allegedly was killed has been occupied by many people for the past five years.

Americans hit streets to celebrate

Half a world away, the scene outside the White House was one of pure jubilation.

Hundreds reveled through the night, chanting "USA! USA!" Others chanted "Hey, hey, hey, goodbye!" in reference to the demise of bin Laden. Many also spontaneously sang the national anthem.

In New York, a cheering crowd gathered at ground zero -- the site where the twin towers of the World Trade Center stood before bin Laden's terrorist group flew two planes into the buildings on September 11, 2001. Strains of "God Bless America" could be heard intermittently trickling through the crowd.

Bin Laden's death brings healing of old wounds

One former New York firefighter -- forced to retire due to lung ailments suffered as a result of the dust from ground zero -- said he was there to let the 343 firefighters who died in the attacks know "they didn't die in vain."

"It's a war that I feel we just won," he said. "I'm down here to let them know that justice has been served."

Bob Gibson, a retired New York police officer, said the news of bin Laden's death gave him a sense of "closure."

"I never thought this night would come, that we would capture or kill bin Laden," he said. "And thank the Lord he has been eliminated."

Bin Laden once reportedly slipped out of a training camp in Afghanistan just hours before a barrage of U.S. cruise missiles destroyed it.

He had been implicated in a series of deadly, high-profile attacks that had grown in their intensity and success during the 1990s. They included a deadly firefight with U.S. soldiers in Somalia in October 1993, the bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa that killed 224 in August 1998, and a bomb attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors in October 2000.

Opinion: A victory for Obama -- and U.S.

In his speech Sunday night, Obama reiterated that the United States is not fighting Islam.

"I've made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims," Obama said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, welcomed the death of bin Laden.

"As we have stated repeatedly since the 9/11 terror attacks, bin Laden never represented Muslims or Islam. In fact, in addition to the killing of thousands of Americans, he and al Qaeda caused the deaths of countless Muslims worldwide," the statement said.

While the death of bin Laden "is a significant victory," the war on terrorism is not over, said Frances Fragos Townsend, former Homeland Security adviser to President George W. Bush.

"We've been fighting these fractured cells. We've seen the U.S. government, military and intelligence officials deployed around the world," Townsend said. "By no means are these other cells nearly as dangerous as he is, but we will continue to have to fight in chaotic places."

After bin Laden: Share your thoughts

But for now, many Americans were soaking up the historic moment.

"It's what the world needed," said Dustin Swensson, a military veteran of the Iraq war who joined the revelers outside the White House. "(I'll) always remember where I was when the towers went down, and I'm always going to remember where I am now."

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to finalize a comprehensive partnership with Indonesia during his two-day stop in the Southeast Asian nation where he spent part of his childhood.

Obama, who arrives to Jakarta on Tuesday, is slated to meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and attend a state dinner. He will also visit the Istiqlal Mosque and give a public speech.

"In that speech, he'll have a chance to talk about the partnership that we're building with Indonesia but also to talk about some of the themes of democracy and development and our outreach to Muslim communities around the world, while also speaking of Indonesia's pluralism and tolerance as well," Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, said recently.

* Obama lived in the Indonesian capital from 1968-1971.

* Obama attended Asisi School in south Jakarta from 7 to 9 years old.

***Obama lived in this home in Manggarai in south Jkarta with his mother, stepfather and half-sister, Maya Soetoro, from 1970 to 1971***

Many African countries are blessed with oil and mineral wealth that has the potential to transform their economies. But historically, those resources have often been more of a curse than a blessing.

There are numerous examples of African nations where the discovery of natural resources has been followed by economic instability, conflict and environmental damage. So common is the phenomenon that it even has its own name -- the "resource curse."

Michael T. Klare is a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, United States, and the author of the books "Resource Wars" and "Blood and Oil."

He told CNN, "'Resource curse to me applies specifically to poor countries that don't have a lot of sources of wealth to begin with; then there's a discovery of a major resource -- oil or copper or gold -- that suddenly becomes a major source of wealth for that country.

"Theoretically the development of that resource could produce great wealth for that nation, but historically it leads to the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few -- those who monopolize the collection of rents from the mining or the drilling for oil -- and the exclusion of the majority from any benefit."

The result, said Klare, is repressive governments that cling to power, so they can monopolize the collection of resource wealth, and an impoverished population -- a recipe for conflict.

The resource curse is by no means limited to Africa, but the continent has produced some examples of the curse at its most destructive.

Government forces and armed groups have vied for control of resources, with the proceeds from their sale funding more weapons, which prolongs the violence.

Bloody conflicts in DR Congo, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone have all been partly funded by the sale of blood diamonds.

Klare explained violence can also come about when minority groups in a resource-rich area feel excluded from political power and the wealth generated by a resource. Sometimes, separatist groups try to claim ownership of the land where that resource originates -- such as in Angola's oil-rich Cabinda region.

As well as promoting conflict, extracting minerals and oil can also have a devastating environmental impact, such as in Nigeria's Delta region, the site of more than 6,800 recorded oil spills.

But resources can have a less obvious, more insidious effect on a country. Klare said resource-rich countries often become overly dependent on a single resource, to the detriment of the rest of the economy.

Equally, newly-found resource wealth can lead to corruption and cronyism. Nigeria is a prime example, where the country's own corruption agency estimates between $300 billion to $400 billion of oil money has been stolen or wasted over the last 50 years.

But there are exceptions in Africa that show resources needn't be a curse. Botswana, with its diamond wealth, and mineral-rich Ghana have both managed to benefit from their natural resources.

Paul Collier is a professor of economics and director of the center for the study of African economies at Oxford University, and an advisor to the IMF and World Bank.

He told CNN Botswana had benefited from having good leadership, a functioning democracy, and a competent civil service from the time its diamond-wealth was discovered in the 1960s.
He added that if a country is to avoid the "resource curse" it must build an informed civil society that is aware of the kind of issues involved.

"There's no substitute for building a critical mass of informed citizens," he said.

"It doesn't have to be everybody -- sometimes just 10,000 people, but it doesn't mean just get a good finance minister -- it has to be a bigger group than one or two technocrats.

"It means building an informed elite of ministers, civil servants, business people and civil society organizations."

To that end, Collier has helped set up the Natural Resource Charter, a website and 12-point plan aimed at helping the governments and citizens of resource-rich countries use those resources wisely.

As African countries discover new resource wealth -- such as recent oil finds in Uganda and off the coast of Ghana -- Collier believes they can learn from the continent's past mistakes.

"What's hopeful is people are much more aware of the issues," he said.

He gave the example of Angola, whose enormous oil wealth still has the potential to benefit the entire population..

"The stakes are enormous in Angola," he told CNN.

"Whether the present generation of children, by the time they're adults, will be living in an upper-middle income society, like [oil-rich] Malaysia, or whether they'll be living in a country that's stuck in levels like DR Congo and Nigeria -- that's what's at stake.

"Angola doesn't have to be run by a bunch of suits, it just needs to be run by a bunch of people who are concerned by their own children's future."