Human Security Archive

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who is set to leave office next year after having served two terms, recently declared that he will leave the country “in a better place” than he found it. But his claim is at odds with the situation across the country, including a deepening insecurity that now grips Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Kyiv has barred adult men aged 18-60 from leaving the country and fleeing the war with their families—regardless of their training or fitness for military service. But is this policy strictly necessary, or could the war effort be helped by allowing men to leave the country?