Nigeria
Following nearly 16 years of military rule, a new constitution was adopted in 1999, and a peaceful transition to civilian government was completed. President Olusegun Obasanjo has had to manage a petroleum-based economy, whose revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement. Longstanding ethnic and religious tensions also remain a challenge to economic growth and political stability. Political liberalization, enabled by the return to civilian rule in 1999, has allowed militants from religious and ethnic groups to express their frustrations more freely, and with increasing violence.
Nigeria is one of the world's largest oil producers, but the industry has produced unwanted side effects. The booming trade in stolen oil has fuelled violence and corruption in the Niger delta, where the industry is based. Few of the local residents have benefited from the oil wealth, and there is strong resentment on this point, resulting in persistent and disruptive protest actions -- including abduction and hostage-taking.
Nigeria's economy is heavily dependent on hydrocarbons extraction, which accounts for 90-95% of export revenues, over 90% of foreign exchange earnings and nearly 80% of government revenues.
In October 2002, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) awarded the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon. Both Cameroon and Nigeria had claimed the Bakassi peninsula, a 1,000-square-kilometer (400-square-mile) area located in the Gulf of Guinea that is believed to contain significant reserves of oil. The ICJ authorized Equatorial Guinea to intervene in the case in October 1999 on the basis of the country's arguments to protect its legal rights in the Gulf of Guinea as the maritime boundary between Nigeria and Cameroon is determined.
Presidential and National Assembly elections will take place on April 21 2007, while the state governor and regional assemblies will occur the preceding week, on April 14. Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is widely believed to be preparing to run. Former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida, also a ruling-party member, intends to run, possibly as an independent.
Travelers to and expatriate residents in Nigeria should exercise a high degree of caution and keep themselves informed of developments that may affect their safety. In recent years, the central and northern regions of Nigeria in particular have seen serious intercommunal violence and unrest that has led to thousands of deaths. These areas include the cities of Kaduna, Jos and Kano, as well as the Niger River delta area (including Warri) and the Bakassi Peninsula on the Nigeria/Cameroon border.
Separatist aspirations have been growing, prompting reminders of the bitter civil war over the breakaway Biafran republic in the late 1960s.
The imposition of Islamic law in several northern states has entrenched divisions and prompted thousands of Christians to flee, further polarizing different regions. Inter-faith violence appears to be rooted in poverty, unemployment and long-standing territorial disputes, aggravated by tensions dating back to the colonial era. The government is under pressure to improve the economy, which experienced an oil boom in the 1970s, but which has been severely undermined by corruption and mismanagement.
The conflict between tribal groups in the Niger River Delta area continues and expatriate workers are often taken hostage, though are usually released unharmed. There has also been unrest in the states of Adamawa, Benue, Plateau and Taraba. Unrest and violence can occur without warning throughout Nigeria and street youth gang violence occurs frequently and can result in fatalities if resisted.
The causes and locations of the ongoing civil and sectarian unrest vary. Locations where outbreaks of violence have occurred include the Lagos area, southwestern Nigeria, the oil-producing states in the southeast, and Kaduna State in the north. There has been an increase in the number of unauthorized vehicle checkpoints. These checkpoints are operated by armed bands of police, soldiers, or bandits posing as or operating with police or soldiers. Many incidents, including murder, illustrate the increasing risks of road travel in Nigeria. Reports of threats against firms and foreigners associated with the petroleum sector recur from time to time, including a threat by rebels in the Niger Delta region in September 2004 to target expatriate oil workers. The rebels lifted the threat after beginning talks with the government on October 1, 2004.
Fresh sectarian violence has broken out in a number of Nigerian cities, particularly in the north, over the issue of instituting sharia (Islamic) law, and central regions. Religious, ethnic and political enmities - often intertwined - have fueled outbreaks of communal bloodshed resulting in more than 10,000 dead since President Olusegun Obasanjo was first elected in 1999. In one bout of sectarian violence, Christian attackers killed over 500 Muslim villagers in May 2004.
In addition to inter-ethnic tension, there have been persistent attacks against oil companies by youths protesting the environmental degradation of indigenous homelands and their marginalization in terms of federal resource allocation. The attacks have resulted in disruptions of oil production, domestic supply and exports.
The illegal fuel siphoning as a result of a thriving black market for fuel products has increased the number of oil pipeline explosions in recent years, resulting in thousands of deaths. In one case, a pipeline rupture caused by pipeline thieves resulted in an explosion that wiped out an entire village.
Pirates operate in the Bayelsa area of the Niger Delta and have engaged in a number of fatal attacks against commercial shipping in recent years.
