Nigeria braces for elections amid Muslim-Christian rifts and Boko Haram threat

(The Christian Science Monitor) Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and has its largest economy. Yet the nation has only a brief democratic history and has experienced a host of serious rifts, including a bloody insurgency, corruption, and deep divisions between a poorer Muslim north and a richer Christian south.

So Nigeria’s elections early next year are hotly contested, with a united opposition challenging President Goodluck Jonathan’s ruling party.

Current dynamics could push Nigeria into its most volatile moment since a civil war in the late 1960s. However, optimists say that carrying off free and fair elections could help build a more mature democracy.