Nigeria in 2014

Nigeria in 2014

Area: 923,768 sq km (356,669 sq mi)
Population (2014 est.): 177,156,000
Capital: Abuja
Head of state and government: President Goodluck Jonathan

Throughout 2014 the political scene in Nigeria was shaped by the upcoming 2015 elections. Pres. Goodluck Jonathan, who had lost his parliamentary majority briefly in 2013, adroitly unified rival factions within the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to obtain its nomination on October 23 as flag bearer for a second full term as president. The opposition coalition, the All Progressives Congress (APC), formed in February 2013 to unify Nigeria’s main opposition parties into a single entity, nominated former head of state Muhammadu Buhari as its candidate. Analysts forecast a closely fought campaign as the Nigerian economy declined and conflict in the northeast intensified. The publication of a monumental memoir, My Watch, by former head of state Olusegun Obasanjo, further stirred political controversy with his blunt criticism and revelations about many politicians, including President Jonathan. Earlier in the year, the release of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2013 Democracy Index showed that Nigeria had moved farther downward, to 121st out of 167 countries, a ranking categorized as “authoritarian.”

Nigeria’s economy started the year on a high note but underwent a steep decline in the last half. On April 6 the National Bureau of Statistics announced results of its rebasing of Nigeria’s national-accounts estimates, which for 2013 showed a sharp 89% upward revision of GDP, almost doubling the economy. Thus, Nigeria, with an average real GDP growth of 7% over the past decade, had surged ahead of South Africa as the continent’s largest economy, accounting for almost one-third of sub-Saharan Africa’s total GDP. The recalculation revealed rapid growth in mobile telecommunications, the Nollywood film industry, manufacturing, trade, real estate, private education, and financial institutions—all centred in southern Nigeria. Unfortunately, the country remained dependent on oil exports, which led to the deterioration of the economy as the world oil price plunged downward from a high of more than $110 per barrel in June to below $60 by the end of the year. Exacerbating the situation was the complete halt after July of oil exports to the United States, formerly its largest market. On November 25 the central bank devalued the naira, pegging it at 168 to the U.S. dollar, up from 155.

Sporadic violence continued in the southeastern oil-bearing zone and in Plateau state, but the main source of insecurity was Boko Haram, the Islamist militant group waging an insurgency in the northeastern states. Although President Jonathan, in his speech commemorating Nigerian independence in October, claimed that the government had made significant advances in the fight against the insurgents, that was not borne out on the ground. Since May, Boko Haram had intensified its attacks not only on government institutions, schools, military posts, and local villages mostly in the northeast but also on targets in central and north-central states. In addition, it expanded its activities into Cameroon and Chad. In August, Boko Haram proclaimed an Islamic state in areas under its control. More than 2,000 civilians had been killed in the first half of the year, and in the month of November alone, there were another 786 casualties, according to a London-based study, making Nigeria the second deadliest country for jihadist attacks, after Iraq. By the end of the year, some estimates held that more than 10,000 people had been killed, and and more than 650,000 internally displaced people had fled the conflict zone.

Meanwhile, in an effort to mobilize the government to take action against Boko Haram, international human rights groups focused on the case of more than 200 schoolgirls who had been abducted in Chibok by the militants on April 15. On October 17 the government announced that a cease-fire agreement had been reached with Boko Haram and that the schoolgirls would be released, but this did not materialize. Instead, Boko Haram launched a series of new offensives, which included a wave of deadly suicide bombings. On October 29 the rebels captured Mubi, a military centre and the largest commercial centre in Adamawa state. The militants also released a video featuring its leader, Abubakar Shekau, who denied the existence of a truce and declared that all the schoolgirls had converted to Islam and had married. By November, Boko Haram controlled large areas of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states. Its fighting forces appeared better equipped and financed than those of the government. In December the group was allegedly responsible for a raid on the northeastern town of Gumsuri, in which dozens were killed and as many as 200 people were kidnapped.

Nigeria mourned the deaths of two influential public figures. Ado Abdullahi Bayero, the 56th emir of Kano, died on June 6; he had served from 1963 as ruler of Kano. Historian Jacob Festus Ade Ajayi, a founder of the famous Ibadan School of History, died in Ibadan on August 9.

LaRay Denzer