Dog bites man alert!
Nigerian Satellite Blasts Into Orbit:

A Nigerian satellite blasted into orbit Saturday aboard a Russian rocket, propelling one of the poorest nations on earth into space for the first time.

Good to know they are spending their oil bucks on the important stuff! Hmm, how did they manage to build a satellite in the first place?

The NigeriaSat-1 was produced by British-based company, Surrey Satellite Technology, with the help of Nigerian technicians trained in Britain, Olaniyi said.

Indeed. And what's it going to be used for?

The government plans to use the $13 million satellite to monitor water resources, soil erosion, deforestation and disasters, space agency spokesman Solomon Olaniyi told The Associated Press.

It will be used to watch military facilities and the country's oil pipelines and infrastructure. Nigeria is one of the world's largest exporters of oil, but thieves siphon off hundreds of thousands of barrels everyday.

And the cops will go roaring down the dirt roads to catch some villagers with cans of gas? What a plan!