By Sheriff Folarin, Professor of International Relations, Covenant University The traditional leadership and redeemer posture of Nigeria in Africa has, in recent years, been put into question. Issues like corruption and infrastructural decay have held the country down from playing a leadership role in Africa. As have transitions from one poor leadership to another. A visionary leadership is lacking while public institutions are weak, inept and compromised. Decades of political patronage and nepotism have seen a corrosion of quality and…

A governor in north-east Nigeria has suggested efforts to defeat jihadist group Boko Haram are being undermined by elements of the security apparatus. Borno State's Babagana Zulum said President Muhammadu Buhari needed to know sabotage within the system was frustrating work to end the insurgency. Babagana Zulum was speaking bluntly days after his heavily armed convoy suddenly had to flee a town near Lake Chad because of sustained gunfire. The army blamed Boko Haram. The governor suggested soldiers were behind it and once again used the word sabotage. Image copyrightEPA Image captionNigerian security forces (file image) Babagana Zulum also questioned why the Nigerian army was stopping thousands of displaced people from returning home to their fields whilst soldiers were instead cultivating the land. Governor Zulum is not the first person to essentially suggest that corruption within the military is prolonging the people's suffering in north-east Nigeria.