NIGERIA
More People Equals More Strife
Nigeria’s president blamed communal violence that has killed at least 83 people on the country’s rapidly expanding population.
“While the land size has not changed and will not change, urban sprawl and development have simply reduced land area both for peasant farming and cattle grazing,” Reuters quoted a statement from the office of President Muhammadu Buhari as saying.
Since Dec. 31, at least 83 people have been killed in clashes between Muslim cattle herders and Christian farmers, mostly in the central state of Benue.
Nigeria’s population was around 63 million when the West African country gained independence in 1960, compared with a population now “estimated at close to 200 million,” the statement explained. According to the United Nations, Nigeria will become the world’s third largest population, behind India and China, by 2050.
Strife is rare among Nigeria’s 250 different ethnic groups, split about 50-50 between Christians and Muslims. However, the Islamist Boko Haram continues to plague the country with suicide bombings and other attacks.
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