The Giant of Africa Is Failing

Nigeria is in big trouble. If a state’s first obligation to those it governs is to provide for their security and maintain a monopoly on the use of violence, then Nigeria has failed, even if some other aspects of the state still function. Criminals, separatists, and Islamist insurgents increasingly threaten the government’s grip on power, as do rampant corruption, economic malaise, and rising poverty.  

Most failed states in Africa—such the Central African Republic, Somalia, and South Sudan—are small or marginal; Nigeria, by contrast, boasts a growing population of 214 million. It is expected to become the world’