The Nigerian Rebellion
Nigeria, the most populous and richest country in Africa in competition with the South African Republic, has been experiencing a veritable popular insurrection for some days now, which threatens to lead to a real civil war. It was initially triggered in Lagos-the most populous city-by the protests of thousands of young people against political corruption, poverty, inequality and the traditional harshness of the police in their attempt to break up their vindictive but initially peaceful demonstrations.
When it came to cracking down, the forces of law and order confirmed the demonstrators' reasons: 18 people died in one night as a result of indiscriminate beatings and gunfire, and several hundred more were injured. Tempers flared up even more in the following days in the face of criticism and threats from the mayor, and the thousands of demonstrators, already better organised, on the 20th, the so-called "Black Tuesday", stormed the centres of power, institutions and media and held control of the city for two days.
Lagos was the country's first capital since independence from Britain in 1960. It has more than 20 million inhabitants and, although the capital was moved to Abuja in the centre of the country, it remains the main economic city. Demonstrations and consequent riots soon spread to other cities, including the present administrative capital, and the repression was compounded by ancestral hatreds between some of the 52 tribes into which the 200 million inhabitants are divided.
The incidents forced the government to resort to the army, which put a stop to the riots but further stirred up the mood. The protests, which began to be aimed at the police, gradually extended to other social demands such as galloping corruption, huge inequality and the poverty of many millions. Nigerians' per capita income is over 6,000 euros, one of the highest on the continent, but also less well distributed.
The President of the Republic, General Muhammadu Buhari, made a speech on television in which he acknowledged that the number of dead was 60, 11 of them police officers. His words, which seemed more like a harangue to the troops than a political message, far from appeasing the population with any kind of understanding or conciliatory promises in the face of the protests, were limited to accusing those who were demonstrating of causing incalculable damage and putting lives at risk. In response to the demands, he threatened further repression if they persisted in maintaining them.
The political stability of Nigeria, a country rich in oil and other raw materials, is not the first time it has been threatened. The war against Biafra's temporary independence is a long way off, but secessionist pretensions persist in other of the 36 states that make up the federation, while the armed forces continue to focus on combating the cruel Jihadist guerrilla of Boko Haram which, although very small and less aggressive, continues to control some areas and spread fanaticism to others.