Report: Is Nigeria the next Iraq?
Shafaq News / The Nigerian newspaper "The Nation", said that Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, “is poised to become the third largest in the world by 2050. Based on this fact alone, one would think that the country is humming and purring.”
The report added, “Nigeria is teetering on the edge of becoming the next, bad version of Iraq. In Nigeria, conflict – bloody conflict – is normal, with religious and ethnic differences firmly serving as the recurrent flashpoints for violence that are feeding the regional instability across West Africa.”
“In recent years, the terrorist group Boko Haram, which literally means “against western education”, arose in the northern states and has slaughtered more than 20,000 innocent victims, displaced at least two million Nigerians, and kidnapped more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls – a move that afforded them international notoriety”, it explained.
The newspaper pointed out, “The unnecessary violence and bloodshed in Nigeria is symptomatic of an intensified religious conflict. And, it is worthy of our attention now – not later. As mentioned before, Nigeria is the largest democracy in Africa.”
“In fact, the rise of Nigeria’s population growth mirrors its ascending influence in global economic markets and geopolitical affairs. It is now sub-Saharan Africa’s largest economy and constitutes roughly 75% of the West African regional economy”, as by the report.
It noted, “Suffice it to say that a failure of government in Nigeria – sprinkled with an act of terrorism here and there – would have humungous ripple effects across the continent, not to mention regional global ramifications.”
Furthermore, the newspapers said that domestically, instability in Nigeria would also be “damning”, given our energy and oil interests – Nigeria is currently one of the top 7 crude oil suppliers to the U.S.
The Underwear Bomber and Boko Haram incidents, as by the report, provide just a taste of what’s to come alongside of an unstable and further radicalized Nigeria.
In the same context, the newspaper added that while the United States invested trillions of dollars to stabilize Iraq, there is little to show for it but a continued infiltration of terrorism, flow of impoverished refugees, and economic devastation. This is not acceptable.
“The alternative – doing nothing and ignoring the religious dimension of the conflict – will ultimately exacerbate the destabilization of Nigeria’s fragile democracy. Let’s not let indifference result in Nigeria become the next Iraq”, the report concluded.
