Voting Causes Chaos(BBC News)

Six people were killed in Nigeria during a local government election in the northern state of Kano. The commissioner Mohammed Aminu Yesafu and his officers arrested many people and found numerous weapons on them including machetes and guns. Voters started casting votes on November 17Th and this is also when the violence began due to results being reported.

A total of 254 people were arrested for committing crimes such as arson, assault, murder, and damage to government property. Although it is just a small local election many people were outraged since it still dealt with money and power over the people. Kano is governed by the opposition, and it was the supporters of this party that were causing the chaos and violence. The current president is hoping to change the electoral system before the April elections to lessen the outbreaks and violence.

It is hard to believe how many people got out of control and reacted in killing others and destroying buildings. I know that the change of a leader can cause a great deal of difference in a political system but I didn't know that it could anger people this much. This was a very interesting article to read how just a small local election can affect so many people. Its hard to believe so many chose anger and violence.

Buses in Lagos (from BBC News)

Lagos is the capitol of Nigeria and home to more than 10 million people. One of the cities biggest problems besides its filth and over population is its transportation. Many people in the city can't afford taxis let alone their own vehicles so they depend on the large number of school buses as they way to get around the city. There are two types of buses the large ones are called molues and are suppose to sit 44 and the smaller ones called danfos are to sit 12. There are said to be around 1000 buses in the city. These buses are referred to by many as death traps for many reasons.
Even though the buses bring cheap transportation they have also brought many problems for the city. The buses are always over crowded and never stopping long enough for people to get on. The bus drivers are always wanting to stay on the go partly because that's what the people want. On the other hand many bus drivers are said to be drinking on the job and crazy. The over crowding and crazy drivers has caused a lot of mayhem in the city. There has been theft on the buses and many car accidents because of the drivers not obeying the law. I found another story from news24.com talking about an armed robbery where 8 people were killed and three buses were ambushed. It was said that the buses are targeted often because many people bring home large amounts of cash from the down town markets.
I found these articles to be very interesting. I had no clue that transportation in the larger towns would be this problematic. I figured that there would be a lot of chaos but not to the extent that many people fear their lives and have to pray when traveling on the buses. I also found on wikipedia's travels guide that they advise people coming to the town not to use the buses at all and pay the extra amount for taxis since there is so much crime and accidents involved with the buses.