A Resurgent Boko Haram Is Bad News for Buhari’s Re-Election Bid in Nigeria

A Resurgent Boko Haram Is Bad News for Buhari’s Re-Election Bid in Nigeria
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari waves to the crowd during Independence Day celebrations, Abuja, Nigeria, Oct. 1, 2018 (AP photo by Olamikan Gbemiga).

Editor’s Note: Every Friday, WPR Senior Editor Robbie Corey-Boulet curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent.

For much of this year, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has tried to treat the Boko Haram insurgency and his upcoming re-election bid as two separate stories. As Obi Anyadike noted in an in-depth report for WPR last month, Buhari seemed to take his eye off the war in northeastern Nigeria, despite significant military setbacks, focusing instead on political jockeying in Abuja and elsewhere. One security analyst told Anyadike that the government’s priority was “regime security, not national security.”

In recent days, however, it’s become increasingly evident that regime security and national security may turn out to be one and the same. Brazen attacks by Boko Haram militants on Nigerian soldiers have fueled anger on the part of the public and military officials, forcing Buhari to scramble to defend his record. “This is a legitimate campaign issue,” Matthew Page, an associate fellow with the Africa Program at Chatham House, told Reuters recently. “The military strategy in the northeast has been failing. This type of failure to exert control over the national territory isn’t sustainable in the long run. It reflects really poorly on the incumbent president with the man on the street.”

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review