Sixty years after political independence, it is clear that Nigeria has not fulfilled its huge potential, but with a supportive public culture it can transform that into success.
Young people’s lives in Niger Delta have not improved despite the setting up of development agencies
Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images
Africa is still witnessing an increase in social turbulence, unrest and protest. Only rapid, inclusive economic growth combined with good governance can make the continent less volatile.
Women carry goods across a makeshift bridge in the Ilaje slum in Lagos. Widening inequality is fuelling tensions across Nigeria.
Reuters/Finbarr O'Reilly
Protests are raising tensions in Africa’s most populous country, with agitators and federal troops clashing on the streets. But is Nigeria on the brink of another civil war?
Nigerian militants patrol the oil rich Niger delta region, the birth place of commercial kidnapping in the country.
EPA/Stringer
Tough socio-economic conditions, among others, make kidnapping a thriving business in Nigeria. A strong justice system along with stiff punishment for the crime are needed.
Nigeria needs a collaborative approach involving voluntary partnerships between the state, an international development agency, the business sector and civil society to solve its problems.
An oil rig in Angola. The country could see big reductions in export and revenue from fossil fuels as the world transitions to clean energy.
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It is important to nurture local companies and increase domestic participation in Africa’s emerging oil economies.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has moved to address environmental pollution and improve the livelihoods of the Ogoni people.
Akintunde Akinleye/ Reuters
Oil spills have long plagued the Ogoni people living in the Niger Delta. President Buhari is finally doing something about the pollution. But there are flaws in the government’s approach.
The oil fields in the Niger Delta are regularly sabotaged by people living in communities surrounding the fields.
Reuters
Chair of the Board of Trustees and Head of African Futures & Innovation at the Institute for Security Studies. Extraordinary Professor in the Centre of Human Rights, University of Pretoria
OIC-Manager for Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting at the African Development Bank and Lecturer (on leave of public service) at the Department of Economics, University of Uyo