Abuja countries relocated their embassies to Abuja, and many maintain their former embassies as consulates in Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria. Abuja is the headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the regional headquarters of OPEC. Abuja and the FCT have experienced huge population growth; it has been reported that some areas around Abuja have been growing at 20% to 30% per year. Squatter settlements and towns have spread rapidly in and outside the city limits. Tens of thousands of people have been evicted since former FCT minister Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai started a demolition campaign in
Postal orders of the South African Republic Postal orders of the South African Republic The South African Republic's postal orders were introduced on 1 January 1898, which was also the date that the "South African Postal Union Convention" came into effect. The postal orders are inscribed in Afrikaans. Issued postal orders do not have counterfoils attached, as the counterfoils were kept by the post office for recording purposes. Any postal orders with counterfoils still attached are from books souvenired after the post office was captured during the Second Boer War. The South African Republic was the first country, along with the Orange Free State, to declare postal