Nigeria
- previous-disabled
- Page 1of 2
- next
Snapshot,
April 24, 2013
For the second time in less than six months, polio vaccine workers in Pakistan have come under fire. For the gunmen, killing health care workers has been seen as a legitimate response to a nefarious extension of Western power. And, for the CIA, faux vaccine campaigns have sometimes been justified as part of the war on terror. Both sides are wrong: denying or providing health care should never be an instrument of statecraft.
Snapshot,
January 17, 2012
On New Year's Day Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan attempted what several of his predecessors had tried, and failed, to do in years past: roll back the national petroleum subsidy. A deal on Monday ended a nationwide strike, but Jonathan's tactics could make things worse.
Snapshot,
September 9, 2011
Despite claims to the contrary, Boko Haram has not yet coalesced into a formalized terrorist organization. Accordingly, fighting them with firepower will not work. Diplomacy and democracy will.
Snapshot,
April 15, 2011
Nigeria's elections this month are the most unpredictable since the restoration of civilian government in 1999. Will a fair and free ballot restore legitimacy to the embattled government, or will a fraudulent vote push the country further toward chaos?
Snapshot,
September 9, 2010
The January 2011 elections could tear Nigeria apart. Is there anything the Obama administration can do to help the country avoid North-South conflict or a military coup?
Essay,
Jul/Aug
2007
Nigeria's elections last April were among the most seriously flawed in the country's history, thanks largely to the manipulations of the U.S.-backed ruling party. With Nigerians increasingly clamoring for accountability, Washington's continuing support could generate more unrest -- and could pose a risk both to oil supplies coming out of Nigeria and to the stability of West Africa.
Review Essay,
Sep/Oct
2000
This House Has Fallen brings stark new details to a familiar story: the legacy of hatred, corruption, and mismanagement that brought Nigeria to its knees.
Review Essay,
Nov/Dec
1996
In his new book, Wole Soyinka fears Nigeria may be a farcical illusion. But unity is better than ethnic violence.
Essay,
Winter
1985
Through the improbable device of a military coup, Nigeria has been delivered from dictatorship. To be sure, the form of government remains a military regime, and almost certainly will for many years to come. In fact, much of the top leadership remains the same: the August 27 coup d'état was engineered by high-ranking officers in the fallen government of Major-General Muhammed Buhari and his powerful second in command, Major-General Tunde Idiagbon. Many officers who held key command and government positions under General Buhari continue in power. But the nature and style of rule have been transformed in ways that may have lasting implications for Nigeria's political future.
Essay,
Special
1984
There is always something new out of Africa," said the ancient Greeks, as recorded by Pliny the Elder. The contemporary Africa-watcher, however, might be forgiven for wondering whether it is not all more of the same. In 1984, as in 1983, events in southern Africa and the devastating drought and famine which cost the lives of countless tens of thousands again dominated the year. For Nigerians, the new year began with yet another military government, which had ousted the elected civilian administration on the last day of 1983. In Chad, civil war ground on with no solution in sight. Libya's unpredictable leader, Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi, continued to make headlines with stories ranging from the killing of a British policewoman in London to his dabbling in the affairs of Chad and other countries. At the United Nations, the controversy over Namibia continued to set records as the longest running debate in that organization's history. And U.S. suggestions that its policy of "constructive engagement" with South Africa was succeeding continued to be greeted with skepticism in many quarters.
- previous-disabled
- Page 1of 2
- next
