Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has warned that the rampant poverty that plagues oil-rich Nigeria felt most acutely in the north is fueling the religious violence now tearing at the nation.
Speaking Monday night in Lagos at the ThisDay Awards, an annual ceremony hosted by Nigerian newspaper magnate Nduka Obaigbena, Clinton admitted he remained “really worried” about the security challenges in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation.
“You can’t just have this level of inequality persist. That’s what’s fueling all this stuff,” Clinton was quoted as saying by The Associated Press.
New government statistics released Monday showed that in Nigeria’s northwest and northeast, regions besieged by Islamic insurgents, about 75 percent of the people live in poverty.
Analysts say that poverty, despite decades of military rule by leaders from the north, coupled with a lack of formal education has driven the region’s exploding youth population toward extremism.
Clinton urged Nigerians to embrace their similarities, and asked the government to speed public works projects such as providing electricity.
“It is almost impossible to cure a problem based on violence with” violence, Clinton said. “You also have to give people something to look forward to when they get up in the morning.”
However, Clinton acknowledged Nigeria cannot rule out using military or police force when dealing with the instability.
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