Nigeria: A crucial year for credibility

Almost five years after the end of military dictatorship, Africa's most populated nation shows a deep and pervasive sense of disappointment with the record of civilian government. After the wasted opportunities of President Olusegun Obasanjo's first term, his administration now has limited time left for completing belated reforms and making government more responsive to the country's pressing needs. No country provides a more graphic illustration of the curse of oil. Oil began flowing just as the colonial era ended, and has completely skewed the country's economic and public life. In the classic pattern of African oil states, power and wealth has up to now been concentrated in the hands of a corrupt élite.