It’s been a decade since Boko Haram morphed into a violent, radicalised, Jihadist sect after the death of its founder. Since then it has caused untold harm in Nigeria.
Across Africa, mainstream media have traditionally been the unrivalled custodians and originators of the public agenda. But this year social media took over as a new regime of information.
Inefficient policing in Nigeria has forced many communities to rely on vigilante groups for security. Despite using force and violence, many groups even have support from authorities.
Despite military successes against Boko Haram, Nigeria needs to face up to the unpalatable truth that military force alone will not win the deadly war, and start discussions about peace building.
The final article of our series on the historical roots of Islamic State examines the role recent Western intervention in the Middle East played in the group’s inexorable rise.
No-one imagined that it would take Muhammadu Buhari more than 100 days to form a cabinet. But, then again, Nigeria is no ordinary country and it has its own inherent logic.
Former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo led confidently on African affairs because they were elected by comfortable majorities at home and had solid control of their political parties.
What appears to be a peaceful transference of presidential power in Nigeria – unprecedented in the country’s history – has global significance in the fight against cultist jihadism.
A historic win for a former military ruler in a democratic election and a man who ran out of luck. But Nigeria’s new President Muhammadu Buhari has his work cut out for him.
The 2015 elections in Nigeria were chaotic, but the country’s voters displayed immense courage in showing up at all. More than 20 people were killed, not in electoral violence between competing parties…
Jan Smuts Professor of International Relations and Director of the African Centre for the Study of the United States (ACSUS), University of the Witwatersrand