NIGERIA'S SECURITY CZAR PULLED A mobile phone from his white gown to show a video of a man with his head wrapped in a full turban.
Addressing the camera somewhere in the scrubby badlands of northern Nigeria, the figure made a statement from behind mirrored goggles.
"This is one of the biggest bandits," National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu told Newsweek. "And he wants to stop fighting." Any respite from Nigeria's multiple mini-wars is a welcome relief to the giant African country, whose population of 220 million is forecast to pass that of the United States in little over a generation.
By then it could become the world's second biggest democracy after India's, but only if it can survive some of the greatest challenges of its existence. It is beset by Islamist insurgents, separatist movements, kidnapping and robbery.
Attempts at economic reform, along with capital flight exacerbated by cryptocurrency transfers, have led to a tumbling currency and soaring inflation in a nation that was already home to more of the world's extreme poor than all bar one country.
Nigeria sits near the bottom of international corruption leagues and has earned a reputation as a home to scammers who operate globally to trick Americans and others of their savings.
If the world's biggest Black nation can fulfill the potential it has long been credited with, it could become a driving force for the continent and beyond. American companies are in the forefront of those eager to invest. Nigerian authors, musicians, artists, businesspeople and global public officials have given the world a taste of its talents.
But failure and fragmentation could spell a disaster of vast scale, spilling conflict across Africa and sending an even larger human wave fleeing to seek safety and new lives in Europe and worldwide.
Denne historien er fra July 26, 2024-utgaven av Newsweek Europe.
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Denne historien er fra July 26, 2024-utgaven av Newsweek Europe.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Falling for Romance
A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters
Cracking the Norse Code
Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans
Monumental Shift
The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves
'OUR FOREIGN POLICY AND DOMESTIC REFORMS ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN'
It is a well-known fact across the globe that the North Korean regime is irrational and unpredictable, but we have been consistent in strengthening our defense posture against the threat from North Korea since the Korean War, and I believe that their conventional capability is much inferior to that of the Korean military.
'They Read My Eulogy As I Lay in an Open Grave'
Like Paris Hilton, Natasia Pelowski claims she was subjected to abuse at a teenage therapy program
Russian Economy Faces 'Burnout'
Vladimir Putin admits difficulties” as the country’s key interest rate reaches a historic high
China's 'Silent Chemical War'
The U.S. must investigate Beijing's role in the manufacturing of fentanyl that is killing Americans, says one mom whose daughter died after accidentally taking the illicit substance
HARSH HEADWINDS
President Yoon Suk Yeol's BATTLE to reform a South Korea beset with structural problems under the specter of an increasingly aggressive neighbor to THE NORTH
Bridget Everett
BRIDGET EVERETT NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D BE THE LEAD OF A TV SHOW. \"I come from the downtown world in New York, a cabaret singer, and these things just don't happen, you don't find yourself with three seasons of HBO.
Amber Ruffin
A LATE-NIGHT COMEDY SHOW ON CNN? YES, and it's a game show, too.
