SUMMARY:Preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission is considered one of the most basic goals for curtailing the AIDS epidemic, and Nigeria is struggling mightily. In our series The End of AIDS, William Brangham and Jason Kane examine why this oil-rich nation is falling so badly behind, and profiles a unique, church-based program that’s showing real promise.
SUMMARY: While the Nigerian military has made significant gains against Boko Haram, killings by the group continue, with some civilians caught in the middle. As part of a week-long series "Nigeria: Pain and Promise," special correspondent Nick Schifrin reports with producer and cameraman Zach Fannin on the government's attempts to wipe out the militant group.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): Tonight, we begin a week-long series on Africa’s most populous country, “Nigeria: Pain and Promise.”
Special correspondent Nick Schifrin and producer and cameraman Zach Fannin spent more than a month on the ground there, chronicling a nation in the midst of an encouraging and impressive economic boom, but still plagued by income inequality, corruption and terrorism.
This evening, we look at the government’s attempts to wipe out Boko Haram, a terrorist group that killed more people in 2014 than the Islamic State we hear so much about.
While the Nigerian military has made significant gains, the killings by the group continue. As we report, some civilians are getting caught in the middle.
A warning: Some of the images in this report may be disturbing.
NICK SCHIFRIN (NewsHour): On the outskirts of Maiduguri, the men who protect the city fight with whatever they can find, 40-year-old shotguns and iPhone ear buds. Some carve their own clubs. Others patrol in floral and kitchen knives.
What they lack in weaponry, they make up for in divinely inspired confidence.
There’s a couple of shotguns. There’s a few machetes, a few knives, but that’s it.
ABBA AJI KALLI, Civilian JTF: Yes.
NICK SCHIFRIN: I mean, what would you actually be able to do if you ran into Boko Haram out here?
MAN: We chased them out of Maiduguri with stick and we didn’t even have a gun, and when they have AK-47, they have RPG on their hand, but we pushed them out.
ABBA AJI KALLI: God has put the fear of the Civilian JTF in their heart. Well done.
NICK SCHIFRIN:Fifty-one-year-old Abba Aji Kalli leads the Civilian JTF, for Joint Task Force. He used to be a government auditor. Today, he’s more comfortable on the front lines.
SUMMARY: Nigeria is a nation of superlatives. It’s Africa's richest country and its fastest growing economy. At the same time, millions still live in poverty and lack basic services like running water. As part of a week-long series "Nigeria: Pain and Promise," special correspondent Nick Schifrin reports on the country's massive economic surge, new millionaires, growing inequality and those fighting to provide new opportunities for all Nigerians.
SUMMARY: In Nigeria, where corruption is part of daily life, police officers routinely demand bribes, local government leaders pocket money meant for schools and the former national security advisor is accused of stealing billions from the military. As part of a week-long series "Nigeria: Pain and Promise," special correspondent Nick Schifrin reports on the challenges of fighting corruption.
SUMMARY: Nigeria made same-sex marriage and gay rights activism illegal last January. Since then, gay Nigerians say abuse and extortion have become commonplace by state-sponsored vigilantes, police and public mobs. As part of a week-long series "Nigeria: Pain and Promise," special correspondent Nick Schifrin reports on the threats and violence that LGBT citizens face in that country.
SUMMARY: NewsHour has focused in on Nigeria for a week-long series, “Pain and Promise,” examining the fight against Boko Haram, economic development, corruption and LGBT discrimination. Special correspondent Nick Schifrin and Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of "Americanah," speak with William Brangham about that country’s complexity.
SUMMARY: A series of suicide bombings rocked Nigeria today. They come as the Obama administration announced 300 U.S. soldiers would be sent to neighboring Cameroon. For more on the situation, Hari Sreenivasan speaks to Peter Pham of the Atlantic Council.
HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour): The deadly attacks in Nigeria this week come as the Obama administration announced 300 U.S. soldiers would be sent to neighboring Cameroon.
For more on all this, I’m joined now by Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center.
What does the U.S. hope to accomplish here? What kind of skills are we bringing?
PETER PHAM, Atlantic Council: Well, two things, Hari, first to provide better intelligence on the increase in cross-border activity of Boko Haram.
It’s no longer just a threat in Nigeria, but the group is reaching into Niger, into Chad and into Cameroon, so to monitor those movements. And then, secondly, to — once the full complement of the 300 U.S. personnel are there, to engage in some further training of Cameroon’s military.
Cameroon’s military has a unit, the so-called rapid reaction force, known by its French acronym BIR. The BIR has been U.S.-trained, has had U.S. cooperation and equipment since 2009. It’s one of the best military units in the region, and so bringing them up to speed, up to the level necessary to fight this new type of challenge that they’re facing.
HARI SREENIVASAN: And compare that to the rest of the neighborhood, so to speak, or their military capacity.
PETER PHAM: Well, Nigeria has the largest military in terms of personnel in the region, but, since 1999, when the military ceded power back to civilian rule, in an effort to avoid future military coups, the Nigerian military was starved of resources.
And where the resources were allocated, it was primarily to build up peacekeeping capability. And Nigeria has contributed very well to peacekeeping activities in Africa and places like Darfur, as well as elsewhere in the world. But the skill sets in peacekeeping are entirely different from war fighting, much less the type of specialized warfare, counterinsurgency, counterterrorism that Boko Haram calls for.
Chad has a battle-seasoned army, but it again faces a new type of challenge in Boko Haram. Niger is one of America’s best partners in Africa, but it’s a desperately poor country. It’s been a good cooperation in security cooperation, but it needs our help.
So, really, we’re struggling to find the units that can be trained up to the standards we need.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): We turn now to Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa. The troubled country, struggling with massive economic problems, corruption and an Islamic extremist insurgency, made history today, as it inaugurated it’s new leader, Muhammadu Buhari.
Nigerians celebrated their new president and a strengthened democracy today, as the country’s first democratic transfer of power was finalized.
MAN (through interpreter): It’s a new beginning with an honest man who is serious and focused and determined.
JUDY WOODRUFF: That honest man: Muhammadu Buhari, a former military dictator who calls himself a born-again democrat.
PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI, Nigeria (through interpreter): I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The 72-year-old former general vowed to take charge of the fight against Boko Haram militants, who control portions of Northeast Nigeria.
PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI (through interpreter):Boko Haram is a mindless, worthless group who are as far away from Islam as one can think of.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Just today, at least seven people were killed in Borno state, when suspected Boko Haram militants carried out twin bombings at a wedding party. Hundreds of Boko Haram captives have been freed by the military in recent weeks.
But the fate of the Chibok girls, whose capture sparked the global campaign to Bring Back Our Girls, remains unknown. The U.S. has assisted in that search, and Secretary of State Kerry was on hand today, reaffirming strong U.S.-Nigerian ties.
With the leadership change, the U.S. is reportedly now ready to expand military assistance. That could include sending more advisers to train Nigeria’s army. In addition to the fight against Boko Haram, Buhari inherits a host of other problems from outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan, chief among them, tackling institutionalized corruption, and reinvigorating Africa’s largest economy, which has faltered badly.
Nigeria faces a $63 billion national debt. And even though it is a top global oil producer, it is suffering a months-long fuel crisis.
SUMMARY: Nigeria’s new President Muhammadu Buhari has inherited a host of problems from outgoing president Goodluck Jonathan, including the fight against Boko Haram militants. Does Nigeria’s new leadership offer an opening for better relations with -- and more help from -- the U.S.? Judy Woodruff learns more from J. Peter Pham of The Atlantic Council.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): Longtime Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat today in his reelection bid in Africa’s richest and most populous nation. He lost by at least two million votes to challenger Muhammadu Buhari.
Jeffrey Brown reports.
JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour): Supporters of Buhari celebrated in the northern city of Kaduna, an opposition stronghold, as word of the results spread.
WOMAN (through interpreter): I am out because I am happy about the change of government.
JEFFREY BROWN: The winner, a Muslim and former military ruler, swept the Muslim north. Crucially, he also scored well in states across Southern Nigeria, where Christians predominate and Jonathan had his power base.
The outcome stunned the ruling party, and one of its officials even disrupted the electoral commission’s proceedings, charging, “We have lost confidence in you.”
But for Buhari’s All Progressives Congress party, the results were momentous.
LAI MOHAMMED, All Progressives Congress Spokesman: We are all happy because we are witnessing history, history in the sense that this is the first time in Nigeria that a sitting government would be voted out of power using purely democratic means.
JEFFREY BROWN: Buhari initially came to power in a military coup 30 years ago, but says he became an advocate of democracy after civilian rule returned to Nigeria in 1999. He says he will draw on his past experience to stamp out the violent Boko Haram militants.
MUHAMMADU BUHARI, Nigerian President-Elect: With my background as a military man, I think we have to quickly restore the morale of the Nigerian military and the reinforcement agencies by certainly getting weapons, retraining, and reorganization.
SUMMARY: Nigeria elected Muhammadu Buhari as their next president, unseating incumbent Goodluck Jonathan. What does the new leader bring to Africa’s richest and most populous nation? Jeffrey Brown talks to Nii Akuetteh of the African Immigrant Caucus about the nation’s fight against the militant group Boko Haram and for relations with the U.S.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): In Nigeria, surprising news came today that a cease-fire has been reached between the government and militant group Boko Haram.
Jeffrey Brown has more.
JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour): Word of the unexpected truce came from Nigeria’s official news agency.
WOMAN: The federal government and the Boko Haram sect have agreed to a cease-fire deal.
JEFFREY BROWN: Similar announcements in the past failed to bear fruit. But this time, Nigeria’s defense chief ordered government troops to halt all action against the militants. There was no immediate statement from Boko Haram.
It was also unclear whether a truce would mean the release of 219 schoolgirls abducted in April. They were among about 300 girls taken from this boarding school in the northeast town of Chibok and declared slaves. Dozens managed to escape. The fate of the others remains unknown.
Chika Oduah is a journalist reporting from Nigeria.
CHIKA ODUAH, Journalist: What we know is that Boko Haram has promised not to attack civilians and Nigerian troops are not supposed to shoot at Boko Haram strongholds. So, that’s what we have for now. As far as the Chibok girls, there are no details, but we do know that talks are ongoing until at least next week.
JEFFREY BROWN: Boko Haram has carried out a wave of bombings and suicide attacks over the past five years in a campaign to create an Islamic caliphate in northeastern Nigeria. Tens of thousands of people have died.
That and what’s been perceived as the Nigerian government’s ineffective response has fed a deep public skepticism, as “NewsHour” special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro found on a recent trip.
Sheik Abdur Rahman is the imam of a prominent Islamic charity.
SHEIK ABDUR RAHMAN: How can you move 300 girls, almost 300 girls, you know, in a state or in a region where you have declared a state of emergency, and nobody challenged the movement of the vehicles?
JEFFREY BROWN: Dozens of other girls, boys and adults have also been carried away, as Yemisi Ransome-Kuti points out. She’s a longtime activist from a prominent Nigerian family.
YEMISI RANSOME-KUTI, Nigerian Activist: Kidnapping is going on almost on a daily basis in the north, not just girls, but boys being recruited into the Boko Haram militia system.
SUMMARY: What’s behind the timing of the cease-fire between Nigeria and Boko Haram? Jeffrey Brown speaks with J. Peter Pham of the Atlantic Council about the motivation for both sides, why the abducted schoolgirls may have become a burden to their captors and what to expect from future talks.
I am Retired U.S. Navy (22yrs) and a Vietnam Veteran. After my Navy retirement I was in the computer related industry, now retired. In 2000 I was a registered Republican and voted for George W. Bush. Six months of having Bush in the Whitehouse forced me to re-evaluate my political stance. I had always thought of myself as a Moderate Republican, but was a Republican by "default" NOT because of close examination of the GOP. Due to what has happened in America since 2000, I now consider myself a progressive, and registered as a Non-Affiliated voter.
*Anti-First Amendment policies that attempt to turn America into a theocracy by enshrining ANY religious belief as law.
* Any attempt to suppress human or Constitutional rights.
* Any law or policy that supports discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, race/color, gender, sexual orientation, or any law that does NOT support Equal Treatment under the law.
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