Activist Abubakar Dandubai who led youths and students last Sunday to protest against government policy on how to run the refinery was arrested and detained in Zinder Central Prison. Even long before the drilling of the oil wells and coming into being of the refinery, many communities around the uranium-mining town of Arilet in Agadez are not happy with the government because of sustained neglect as a result of many years of rigorous uranium exploration in the area. Dandubai described as criminal the domestic price of petrol approved by government, saying there should be fuel subsidy to cushion the hardship being faced all over the country.

Dandubai, who is a national leader of MPPAD, a movement established to ensure quality life and development in Niger, picked hole in the sharing of key personnel employed to run the oil refinery, saying six out of the nine top staff of the oil refining company recently engaged are from one area. He said this should not be so as all appointments should be spread across the country’s eight regions for every part to have a sense of belonging.

The activist also said the plan to lay pipelines from the oil town of Agadem to another country for easy export will be at the expense of Niger and its people as it clearly be seen as a great opportunity to steal the country’s oil.

But Niger’s Minister of Energy and Petroleum Resources Foumakoye Gado did not shy away from the challenges the Nigerien government may likely face as the country has now become an oil producing nation. He said far-reaching measures have been taken to give everybody a sense of belonging in the sharing of oil wealth as the government is set to embark on various aggressive development projects all the country for quality life.

The minister said the fuel price, which many in all parts of the country described as high, was in the interest of the country as proceeds generated from the fuel sale will be used to provide infrastructure and other good things for the betterment of Nigeriens. He said the price was informed by high cost of the oil project and government will in six months time set up a committee to review it.

A total of $600million was the initial amount agreed in 2008 between the Nigerien government and China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) for the building of the refinery but the amount was later jerked up to $980 million when Issoufou Mahamadou took over as president. The drilling of oil wells in Diffa region and building of the refinery all began in February2008 by a Chinese firm, SORAZ Engineering Company after the then country’s president, Alhaji Tanja Mahamadou, laid its foundation stone.

Niger is one of the world’s top uranium exporters, but 80%of the population is employed in subsistence agriculture. The country has consistently ranked at the bottom of the UN Human Development Index, rising from the bottom of the index in 2009 to number 167 of 169 countries in 2010.Traditional subsistence farming, herding, small trading, seasonal migration, and informal markets dominate an economy that generates few formal sector jobs. Fourteen percent of Niger’s GDP is generated by livestock production–camels, goats, sheep, and cattle. Fifteen percent of Niger’s land is arable, found mainly along its southern border with Nigeria. In 2010, the economy showed strong growth (8% growth rate in real GDP, up from -1.2% in the drought year of 2009).

In 2009, 64% of export earnings were from uranium, 20.5%were from livestock, and about 6% from other agriculture, most notably onions. Actual livestock exports far exceed official statistics, which often do not include large herds of animals that are simply walked across the border to markets in Nigeria. Some hides and skins are exported, and some are used for handicrafts.

The new government actively seeks foreign private investment and considers it key to restoring economic growth and development. With the assistance of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and international financial institutions, it plans a concerted effort to revitalize the private sector. Niger has attracted significant investment over the years, in uranium, the petroleum sector, cellular communications.

Niger has a rich history. Long before the arrival of French influence and control in the area, Niger was an important economic crossroads and the empires of Songhai, Mali, Gao, Kanem, and Bornu, as well as a number of Hausa states, claimed control over portions of the area. For its first 14 years as an independent state, Niger was run by a single-party civilian regime under the presidency of Hamani Diori. In1974, a combination of devastating drought and accusations of rampant corruption resulted in a military coup that overthrew the Diori regime. Lieutenant Colonel Seyni Kountche and a small group of military ruled the country until Kountche’s death in 1987.