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Cogesoa Reeac Servic
Updated July 15, 2019
Nigeria
Successive U.S. Administrations have viewed the U.S.-
Nigeria relationship as one of the most important in Africa,
given Nigeria's size, political role, and economic weight in
the region. It is Africa's largest economy and most
populous country, with Muslims and Christians constituting
nearly equal shares of the population. Nigeria has one of the
world's largest Muslim communities and Lagos, Nigeria's
commercial center, is among the world's largest cities. In
the United States, Nigerians represent the largest African
diaspora group.
Nigeria faces serious social, economic, and security
challenges. Its politics have been scarred by ethnic,
geographic, and religious conflict. Corruption and misrule
have undermined the state's authority and legitimacy. Years
of social unrest, criminality, and corruption in the south's
oil-rich Niger Delta have hindered oil production, delayed
development, and contributed to piracy in the Gulf of
Guinea. Perceived neglect and economic marginalization
have fueled resentment in the predominantly Muslim north.
Meanwhile, intercommunal grievances, competition for
resources, and banditry drive mounting conflict and
displacement in central and northern Nigeria.
With its neighbors, Nigeria continues to wage military
operations in the country's northeast against Boko Haram
and an Islamic State-affiliated splinter faction. Corruption,
mismanagement, and abuses on the part of Nigeria's
security services have hamstrung counterinsurgency efforts.
A severe humanitarian crisis in northeast persists: over
seven million people are in need of aid in the worst affected
states, with some isolated areas at risk of famine.
Politics and Governance
Nigeria is a federal republic with a political structure
similar to that of the United States. The country was ruled
by the military for much of the four decades after
independence in 1960 before transitioning to civilian rule in
1999. Subsequent elections were widely viewed as flawed.
Observers viewed elections in 2011 as more credible,
although they were followed by violent protests in parts of
the north that left more than 800 people dead and illustrated
northern mistrust and dissatisfaction with the government.
Nigeria's 2015 elections were its most competitive contest
to date and were viewed as a critical test for its leaders,
security forces, and people. In what observers widely hailed
as a historic transition, the ruling People's Democratic
Party (PDP) and its president, Goodluck Jonathan, lost
power to Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives
Congress (APC). The APC also won a majority in the
legislature. Buhari, a former military junta leader, and his
opposition coalition capitalized on popular frustration with
the Jonathan government's response to rising insecurity,
mounting economic pressures, and allegations of large-
scale state corruption, among other issues. Jonathan was
Nigeria's first incumbent president to lose an election.
Figure I. Nigeria at a Glance
Source: CRS. Map data from Department of State and Esri, Figures
are from CIA World Factbook and IMF, 2019.
Buhari won reelection in February 2019, defeating former
vice president Atiku Abubakar of the PDP. Buhari's APC
won large majorities in the National Assembly. The polls
were marred by allegations of fraud, widespread procedural
irregularities, and election-day violence that killed dozens.
The electoral commission's widely criticized decision,
hours before polls were due to open, to postpone the vote
by one week likely contributed to historically low voter
turnout. State elections held the following month also
featured significant shortcomings. One international
observer mission concluded that the 2019 elections did not
meet the expectations of many Nigerians, noting serious
irregularities such as vote buying and intimidation of voters
and election officials. Others described systemic failings.
The elections represented backsliding from the 2015 polls,
which were widely hailed as a step forward for Nigeria's
democratic trajectory.
Key human rights challenges include extrajudicial killings,
torture, arbitrary detention, and harsh prison conditions;
impunity for security sector abuses is widespread. The State
Department describes corruption as massive, widespread,
and pervasive.. affect[ing] all levels of government and the
security services, notwithstanding investigations launched
under Buhari, who campaigned on an anti-corruption
platform. A vibrant media face periodic harassment and
arrest, including under harsh libel and cybercrimes laws.
Security Concerns
Islamist extremist violence and a heavy-handed response by
state security forces have created a spiraling humanitarian
crisis in northeast Nigeria. Boko Haram grew from 2010 to
2015 to become one of the world's deadliest terror groups,
calling for an uprising against secular authority and drawing
on a narrative of vengeance for state abuses to elicit recruits
and sympathizers. Between 2013 and 2015, it expanded its
territorial control until neighboring Chad launched
operations, alongside Nigeria's to counter its spread. Boko
Haram has killed more Muslims than Christians, who
constitute a minority in the region where the group is most](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govbalu0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)