Idayat Hassan

The winner of Nigeria’s presidential election, Bola Tinubu is due to be inaugurated on 29 May but the opposition are challenging the results.Only 27 percent of voters participated in the election, the lowest turnout in the country’s history. And a recent BBC investigation has found evidence suggesting some results from the February election may have been manipulated.As well as the contested election results, the incoming president faces huge challenges governing Nigeria: the country is struggling with high inflation and an array of security threats – jihadist insurgencies in the north east, kidnapping and banditry especially in the north west, herder-farmer violence, and separatist violence in the south-west. It has huge oil wealth, but its oil industry has a documented history of corruption.President-elect Tinubu says he'll hit the ground running by cracking down on those trying to split the country. But can this veteran politician who proclaimed "it's my turn" unite it?Shaun Ley in conversation with:Nnamdi Obasi - senior Nigeria adviser with the International Crisis Group. Fidelis Mbah - a freelance journalist based in AbujaIdayat Hassan - director of the Center for Democracy and Development, a Nigerian think tank.also featuring:Katch Ononuju - special adviser to the Nigerian Labour party 's Peter Obi. Rinsola Abiola - an activist in the ruling All Progressives Congress Party, APC, and a supporter of Mr Tinubu.Produced by Alba Morgade and Ellen Otzen(Photo: Nigeria's President-elect Bola Tinubu sits at the International Centre waiting to receive his certificate of return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja on March 1, 2023. Credit: Olukayode Jaiyeola/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Soldiers in the West African country of Niger announced a coup on national TV last week, saying they had dissolved the constitution, suspended all institutions and closed all borders. The coup was widely condemned, including by France, the UN and West African regional body ECOWAS. Niger was seen as the last solid ally of the West in the Sahel region. It’s also a country seen as vital to U.S. counter-terrorism efforts in Africa. There are concerns that the security situation in Niger and across the Sahel could deteriorate further. President Bazoum's government has been a partner to European countries trying to stop the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean Sea, agreeing to take back hundreds of migrants from detention centres in Libya. He has also cracked down on human traffickers in what had been a key transit point between other countries in West Africa and those further north.On the programme this week, we look at why Niger matters and how the coup could be making a troubled region even more fragile. Why did the presidential guards turn on the man they were hired to protect? How did France squander its historic advantage in a Francophone country? Will this coup make the citizens of Niger safer — or are the only winners the armed groups who roam the Sahel? Could the crisis in Niger spread into a wider regional conflict?Shaun Ley is joined by:Paul Melly, consulting fellow at the Africa programme at Chatham house Idayat Hassan, senior associate for the Africa program of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and director of the Centre for Democracy and DevelopmentEbenezer Obadare, senior fellow of African studies at the Council on Foreign RelationsAlso featuring: Rama Yade, director of the Africa Centre at the Atlantic CouncilChris Ogunmodede, editor of the pan-African international affairs publication The RepublicPhoto: Supporters of General Abdourahamane Tchiani rally in Niamey, Niger - 30 Jul 2023. Credit: ISSIFOU DJIBO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock Produced by Max Horberry and Ellen Otzen