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Nigeria

尼日利亞

Why northerners feel done down

為何感覺完了?

A terrorist insurgency has deepened a poor region'salready grave problems

恐怖叛亂—貧困的北方雪上加霜

THE roads are thick with traffic and pavementsthrong with hawkers selling phonecards, sunglasses and leather sandals. At night, streetcorners are lit up with a red glow from grills cooking spicy meat. But the bustle of Kano,Nigeria's second-biggest city and the commercial capital of the north, masks anuncomfortable reality: northern Nigeria is in steep decline.

主干道上交通甚忙，人行道上也擠滿了小攤小販，有賣電話卡的、太陽鏡的、還有皮革涼鞋的。到了晚上，街頭擺滿了燒烤架，紅紅的炭火甚是明亮。但是盡管卡諾是尼日利亞第二大城市和北方商業省會城市，這些喧鬧的景象掩蓋了不爭的事實：北尼日利亞猛走下坡路。

An increasingly bloody insurgency waged by Boko Haram, an Islamist terrorist group, hassharpened frustration over the disparity between the jobless north and the oil-rich south. Inrecent months Kano has been relatively stable, following a military offensive to contain theterrorists. But though the pause in violence has brought people back onto the streets, theyhave rediscovered other problems. “Stoves are gone, people selling beer have gone, there is nomarket, there are few customers and I haven't been able to save any money in months,” saysChineu Abason, sitting in her wooden-shack restaurant in Sabon Gari, a mainly Christiandistrict, where Boko Haram bombs have killed scores of people this year (see picture above).

博科圣地是一個伊斯蘭教恐怖組織，他們的叛亂越來越殘忍，這讓本失業人數眾多的北方與油多富有的南方差距更大了。最近幾個月里，軍隊打擊并牽制恐怖分子，卡諾相對穩定多了。但是，盡管叛亂暫時平息，人們重新回到了街道上，新的問題又來了。“我們沒有爐子，沒人賣酒，沒有銷售，顧客也很少，這幾個月里我都沒存到錢。”Chineu Abason坐在她自己木棚餐廳里說道。她的餐廳在Sabon Gari，這兒大多數人信奉基督教，僅今年就要大量民眾喪生在博科圣地轟炸下。

The fear of terrorism continues to cast a long shadow over the city and across the north.Bombings, kidnappings and bloody assaults by Boko Haram, as well as the army's efforts tokeep a lid on the fighting, have deterred investment. Farming, the north's main source ofincome, has been hamstrung. Consumer-goods companies say that insecurity has forced themto retreat from some areas. Commercial drivers say dangerous roads and military checkpointsadd 5-10% to their costs.

整個城市以至北方都沉浸在恐怖主義的恐懼中。不斷有來自博科圣地的轟炸、綁架和血腥襲擊，還有軍隊奮力回擊抑制恐怖勢力，這讓人們打消了投資的念頭。作為北方最主要的收入來源的農業也因此荒廢。一些日用品公司稱因局勢不安，他們在很多地區都撤回了公司。商務車司機說因危險路段以及軍事檢查點，他們的驅車成本都增加了5-10%。

Despite a construction boom across Nigeria, many foreign companies avoid the north. InFebruary seven employees of Setraco, an international construction company, were abductedin Bauchi state by Ansaru, a group that splintered from Boko Haram, prompting an immediateshutdown of the firm's operations up north. PZ Cussons, the maker of Imperial Leather soap,and Guinness Nigeria are hanging on but have been hit by the conflict, too.

雖然建設熱潮風靡整個尼日利亞，但是大多數外企自然而然地避開了北方。二月份，國際建筑公司Setraco的七名員工在包奇州遭到博科圣地分支組織安薩魯綁架，這立即導致公司北上的運營全部癱瘓。皇皮革浴肥皂制造商卡森國際和英國吉尼斯黑啤雖然站住了陣腳，但也不免受到了沖擊。

Even before Boko Haram's insurgency intensified nearly three years ago, the north wasstruggling. Unreliable electricity, cheap Chinese imports, smuggling and counterfeit goods havemade life hard for local companies. Vast spaces on Kano's edges have become industrialgraveyards. In rural areas the picture is bleaker still. Poor education puts off investors seekingskilled labour. Whereas the literacy rate in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital on the coast, is92%, in Kano it is 49%. In the north-eastern state of Borno, where Boko Haram got going, it is15%. Without better education, the region will struggle to attract investment or create jobs.The malaise is a useful recruiting tool for terrorists, as well as politicians with their eye on thetop.

甚至在三年前，博科圣地叛亂還未像如今越演越烈，北方就處于水深火熱之中。受到電力不穩，便宜的中國進口商品，以及走私和假冒商品的沖擊，當地企業生存異常艱難。卡諾廣闊的空間成了工業的墓地。農村的場景更加荒涼。這里教育程度低，投資者都不在這里找技術工人。相比而言，在尼日利亞沿海商業首都，92%的人會識字，而卡諾只有49%。東北部的博爾諾州盡力吸引來商投資創造就業機會。在這個經濟的萎靡期，恐怖分子正好招兵買馬，官員們此時則死死地盯著他們。

Northerners habitually complain that politicians have made personal fortunes from thebooming oil industry in the south, while failing to share its benefits. Mutterings of a north-southdivide have grown louder with the prospect of President Goodluck Jonathan, a southernChristian, running for a second term in 2015. Northerners resent what they see as a violationof an unwritten rule that the presidency should rotate every two terms between the largelyMuslim north and the mostly Christian south. A southerner has held the post for 11 of the past14 years.

北方人民常常抱怨官員們從南方石油產業中為自己撈油水，卻從來不與人民分享。總統古德勒克·喬納森是一位南方基督教徒，他很有可能參加2015的總統競選，這使得南北方分歧的抱怨聲更大了。在北方主要是穆斯林民族，而南方主要是基督教徒，南北方間有一條不成文的規矩：總統每兩屆南北輪換一次，現在完全違背了這個規則，這讓北方人民痛恨不已。過去的14年里，南方人就占了11年。

Nigeria's finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, insists that the government recognises thenorth's need. Nigeria has courted $20 billion of foreign direct investment in the past threeyears, 10% of the African total. Yet most investors set up shop in Lagos. “When we adviseinvestors coming to Nigeria, they don't even talk about the north,” says a South African bankerin the plush Hilton Hotel in Abuja, the capital, which lies between north and south. “It simplyisn't a consideration. It's the sad truth and it isn't about to change.”

尼日利亞財政部長伊衛拉強調政府深知北方人民的需求。過去三年里，尼日利亞獲外商直接投資200億美元，占非洲總額的10%。然而，大多數的投資者都在拉各斯開店。在位于中部的首都阿布賈的豪華希爾頓酒中，一位南方銀行家說到“我們建議投資者來尼日利亞，但他們并不談論北方。這不是簡單的考慮，這就是殘酷的事實而且暫時改變不了。”

There are few signs of revival in Kano, though it is nearly as big as Lagos. “Shoprite OPENINGSOON” is splashed on a red-and-orange sign where the Ado Bayero Mall, the north's firstmodern shopping centre, is going up. It has been a long wait: Shoprite, a South African fooddistributor, has been operating in Lagos since 2005.

盡管卡諾和拉各斯面積差不多，卡諾卻很少有復興的苗頭。紅橙相間的“Shoprite即將開業”字樣噴在AdoBayero購物中心，這是北方的第一個現代購物中心，正逐漸恢復過來。這是一個漫長的等待：Shoprite作為南非最大的食品經銷商，早在05年就進駐拉各斯運營。

Kano's state governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has poured millions into infrastructure. Taxisweave through huge concrete columns that will eventually support a flyover. But while three-lane highways are being built, feeder roads from rural communities remain decrepit. Amultimillion-dollar development, the Mega Five Projects, will have three posh housing estatesand two transport terminals.

卡諾的州長Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso投入了上百萬用于基礎設施。巨大的水泥柱下出租車往來穿梭，而上面將支撐起一座立交橋。但是正當三條高速公路建設時，通往農村社區的支路卻還是殘破不堪。投資百萬美元的5個大型項目將建成3個豪華住宅區和2個運輸站。

Such projects make little sense when many northerners, struggling to make a living, aredeciding to leave Kano in search of better prospects—down south. “It is the only logical wayfor the government,” says the owner of a big construction company. “Visible developmentgives the impression of stability and progress.” But it will not be enough to close the gulfbetween Nigeria's two halves. As a result, northerners are increasingly resentful.

努力謀生的北方人民決定離開卡諾尋找更好的出路---南下，這項工程就沒有太大的意義了。一個大型建筑公司的老板說道：“看得到的發展才會讓人覺得穩定和進步，這才是政府該有的邏輯思維。”但是，尼日利亞南北方的鴻溝一時還無法消除。因此，北方人民怨恨情緒日益高長。

【重點解析】

1.terrorist group 恐怖組織

例句:He was kidnapped and briefly detained by aterrorist group.

他被一個恐怖組織綁架并短暫拘禁。

2.scores of 很多;幾十

例句:Campaigners lit scores of bonfires inceremonies to mark the anniversary.

參加運動的人們在各種儀式上點起一垛垛篝火以紀念周年慶典。

3.as well as 既…又…;除…之外

例句:As well as many democrats, including jimmy carter.

同時也有很多民主黨人，包括卡特。

4.struggle to 努力;奮力

例句:Curiously, the struggle to survive has greatly improved her health.

奇怪的是，她拼命求生的抗爭使得她的健康狀況大有好轉。