Nigeria- Presidential Election 2011

Between candidates Goodluck Jonathan and Buhari, I would probably vote for Jonathan. Nigeria, with its rapidly growing and young population, has an immense amount of potential to be one of the top economic nations in the next decade. Even though it has huge potential, this presidential election will decide if the country will take advantage of that, and become one of the leading countries in Africa. Choosing the wrong leader, however, could prove to be disastrous to Nigeria because of the fragile state that it is in. It is for this reason why the next leader of Nigeria must bring stability to the country. While Goodluck Jonathan certainly is not an ideal candidate for Nigeria, he is no doubt a better choice than Buhari. Being a fairly new country, it is important that Nigeria has a civilian leader to ensure its citizens that their system of government works and is not corrupt. Buhari, while some of his promises might be aspiring, does not have a record to back them. Buhari had been involved with government corruption and broken promises, displaying that voting for him would be a risk- a gamble that Nigeria in its current position simply cannot take. Overall, the most important aspect that the next Nigerian President could bring to his country is stability and a sense of unification; something that Buhari could probably not do by looking at his past records.

Sources:
http://naijan.com/nigeria-presidential-candidate-list-for-2011-and-their-empty-promises/

Nigeria- Biggest Problem

According to an article on CNN, currently one of Nigeria’s most serious issues has to do with the divisions within the country. Written in March 2010, author Tom Evans writes how the ex-President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, claims that the violence that had killed at least 200 people in Nigeria had nothing to do with tensions between the Christians and Muslims living there. Rather, the violence was sparked by “ethnic, social, and economic problems.” Tribal culture is still very prominent in Nigeria, and the ex-President discussed how if one group has land that is “encroached upon by another” group, they would fight back. He also mentions that Nigerians who are indigenous to a certain area feel as if they should be able to obtain a job there, and feel resentment when someone who is not native to that area is able to find employment when they can not. Obasanjo says that this violence is not based around religion as he cites the fact that Nigerian religious leaders “have come together and deliberated on the problems in Jos, which lies on a faith-based fault-line between” the Muslims and the Christians. Nevertheless, the source of violence aside, citizens of Nigeria are displaying their discontent with the government, dealing “from corruption to unemployment.” This makes it hard for Nigerian officials such as police to control the violence, as the citizens don’t look at the police as a source of justice. Instead, citizens believe that “local governors are trying to get away with as much as they can.” Ultimately, the violence is caused by unhappiness among the Nigerian people, and being such a fast growing country, the government of Nigeria needs to quickly find a way to make its people happy.

Sources:
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-03-10/world/nigeria.violence.obasanjo_1_president-umaru-yar-adua-nigerian-president-olusegun-obasanjo-nigerian-capital?_s=PM:WORLD