Despite strikes, protests and an investigation that showed $6.8 billion had been stolen from the Nigerian public through the oil industry, Nigeria’s petroleum minister says investment and development in the oil and gas sectors have never before been more robust. Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke says by the end of the year, the country will have access to 1,800 more megawatts of power, a 50 percent increase.

Before she took the podium, Madueke was introduced as the “star of the show” that included more than a dozen ministers. The minister said she didn’t know she was the star, instead saying she thought she was the administration’s whipping post, subject to abuse and vilification.