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Abuja – Nigeria risks revolution if the government does not address mounting frustration in one of the world’s most corrupt countries, a committee appointed by the president to probe post-vote violence said Monday.
“General insecurity of life and property in people’s houses and on the highways and kidnapping are adding fuel to the fire of public frustration and disappointment,” committee chair Sheikh Ahmed Lemu said when presenting its report.
“The true state of affairs could escalate to social revolution if preventive measures are not taken in time.”
The committee appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan issued the warning in its report to the government after having spent months investigating riots following April elections that left more than 800 people dead.
Jonathan pledged to implement recommendations in the report.
“How do we prevent subsequent occurrence is the key thing that is dear to me,” the president said when receiving the report. “On our part, we will follow your recommendations.”
Three days of rioting broke out in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north, where there was harsh opposition to Jonathan, who handily defeated his main opponent, former military ruler and northerner Muhammadu Buhari.
Jonathan is a Christian from the oil-producing south.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is roughly divided in half between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south. The north is the poorer and less educated of the two regions.
The country has long been held back by deeply rooted corruption that permeates nearly all levels of society.
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