Nigeria: Unfinished Business After the Election

Fund for Peace

22 June 2011

New Report

Nigeria: Unfinished Business After the Election

Publication CR-11-18-UL

Published June 22, 2011

By Nate Haken, Annie Janus

Nigeria took a big step forward in its journey toward democracy in the recent April elections. But along with democratization comes resistance from vested interests who benefit from the status quo. This made the election a particularly violent one. Looking ahead, these vested interests are likely to continue resisting change, making President Goodluck Jonathan’s job very difficult.

Conflict in the oil-rich Niger Delta matters to the world: Nigeria is the fourth largest oil exporter globally. It matters to Nigeria: oil exports account for more than 80% of government revenue. But perhaps it matters most of all to the people who live in the Niger Delta. Now they have a “son of the soil” as President, with an overwhelming mandate from the last election. Will this make a difference in reducing militancy and criminality in the region?

UNLocK Nigeria is a project that engages with civil society organizations to monitor the conflict landscape from a local perspective for early warning and conflict prevention. In May, UNLocK participants met in Port Harcourt for a workshop, organized by the Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, during which they discussed recent trends and pressures. This report provides a summary of incidents and issues, compiled by the UNLocK network during the period immediately preceding and after the April elections.

Read the Report

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http://issuu.com/fundforpeace/docs/cr-11-18-ul-unlocknigeria-1106a

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http://www.fundforpeace.org/global/library/cr-11-18-ul-unlocknigeria-1106a.pdf