Live streams

Nigerian President Appoints More Cabinet Ministers

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, (File)

TEXT SIZE - +

Last updated on: July 11, 2011 8:00 PM

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed several new Cabinet ministers, including naming career diplomat Olugbenga Ashiru as Nigeria's new foreign minister.

Jonathan also appointed Bart Nnaji as power minister, as he continues to fill out his Cabinet after being sworn in for his first full term as president last month.

The Nigerian president has yet to officially assign a position to World Bank managing director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, but it is widely believed the economist will take her former job of finance minister. She has already been approved to take a Cabinet post.

Okonjo-Iweala served as finance minister under former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo. She was widely praised for negotiating the cancelation of nearly $20 billion of Nigeria's debt in 2005.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

Featured Videos

Your JavaScript is turned off or you have an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.

Video

US Oil Surge Could Impact Mideast Geopolitics

The United States will account for a third of new oil supplies over the next five years, and will become energy self-sufficient in 20 years, according to a new report by the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA). Although U.S. oil imports from Arab Gulf countries increased last year, analysts predict the U.S. will lose its dependence on Middle East imports, which is expected to have a huge impact on international relations and the balance of power. VOA's Henry Ridgewell reports.