Australians have always preferred to keep their faith private, and politics “out” of religion. But the two are intrinsically entwined, and always have been.
The pandemic has made politics raw because the impact of political decisions is felt immediately in the daily lives of citizens — and there are winners and losers resulting from those decisions.
Hospitals are losing staff to quarantines as rural COVID-19 cases rise, and administrators fear flu season will make it worse. And then there’s the politics.
Although it’s failed to deliver democracy to citizens, Nigeria is not the collapsed and disintegrated entity which a 2005 US National Intelligence Council analysis predicted it would become by 2020.
Given its natural resources and people, Nigeria should be a prosperous nation, but after 60 years of self governance, the country now ranks as the world poverty capital.
A recent Pew survey showed just how deep the divide has become, with about 40% of registered voters saying that they didn’t have a single close friend supporting a different presidential candidate.
Jonatan A Lassa, Charles Darwin University; Ermi Ndoen, Institute of Resource Governance and Social Change (IRGSC) Kupang; Rudi Rohi, Institute of Resource Governance and Social Change (IRGSC) Kupang, and Victoria Fanggidae, The University of Melbourne
A pandemic can amplify friction and tension between jurisdictions – especially when there are political differences and existing conflict.