Farai Gunda, FORBES
(Forbes)—With the continent’s most populous nation, Nigeria heading for presidential elections coming up this Saturday, the White House released a video of President Barack Obama’s message to the people of Nigeria earlier this morning. “Nigeria is a great nation and you can be proud of the progress you have made. Together you have won your independence, emerged from military rule and strengthened democratic institutions,” remarked President Obama during the opening of his message.
The Nigerian general elections, the country’s fifth elections since the end of military rule in 1999, will enable voters to elect the President and members to the Senate and to the House of Representatives. Originally scheduled for February 14th, 2015, the country’s quadrennial elections were postponed by six weeks to March 28th, 2015. According to news reports, the delay was due to the Nigerian government’s attempts to reclaim large parts of the north-eastern region of the country from the extremist Islamic insurgent group Boko Haram.
###