Niger: Social issues take centre stage ahead of poll

Education, jobs and other social issues dominated campaigning for Tuesday’s presidential election in Niger, with little attention paid to the insecurity that had dogged parts of the country in the past and resurfaced this year. One of the few contenders to broach the issue of insecurity was the incumbent, President Mamadou Tandja, who promised as he launched his campaign on 23 October to tighten up surveillance along the western border, where cattle herders sometimes clashed with rustlers.